Casual Worship

From www.pulpithelps.com/blog

Living in the Southern United States, I pass several churches each morning on my way to the office. One in particular has a large sign out front trumpeting the latest, greatest ministries and programs they offer. For the past several weeks, however, the sign has advertised something they call “Casual Worship”, presumably a low-key service to attract young adults and other unchurched individuals. Good for them in trying to reach out to people who’ve left churches for all the wrong reasons but haven’t been let go of by God. Bad for them in a choice of words (and perhaps methodology)–true worship is anything but casual.

Ever since the fall, God has required that sinful men approach him with the greatest reverence for his holiness. Before Christ, this took the form of the Levitic priesthood, the tabernacle and temple, and the rituals of sacrifice and cleansing. Our Lord isn’t some spiteful, whimsical deity who wants us to go through a maze to find him, but a gracious God whose sheer being means that coming near him on anyone’s terms but His means death. Non-casual worship is God’s gift–He wants to fellowship with us, we’re the ones who made it very difficult by rebelling against Him.

In Christ, we have access to God’s throne, but God is no less holy today than he was in the Old Testament. Though God no longer cares explicitly about what we wear or eat in His presence, He is as concerned as ever with the attitude of our hearts. He can’t abide someone who abuses the privilege, coming to Him as if He was of no more worth than any other of our friends and acquaintances. Worship of God should be the most intentional thing we do, consuming our thoughts and actions and shaping every area of our lives.

Whether we mean to do it or not, too much of our worship is extremely casual–routine for routine’s sake is casual; ignoring God 6 out of 7 days is casual; leaving church without conviction is casual. Our God is not a casual God–everything He does has layers of meaning and purpose calibrated perfectly to His will. How dare we put Him in any sort of box? From now on, when I drive past that sign, I’ve asked God to make it a reminder to me to remember who He is and to avoid “casual worship” at all costs.

(January 2009)

Taken Captive: Cultural Heresies and the Church—Part 3

Editor’s Note: This is the third of 10 articles on living up to Paul’s challenge to stay true to the principles of Christ rather than those of the world (Col. 2:8).

Tradition Number 3—Selfishness, Gratitude, and the Sanctity of Life

Much has been made of our cultural self-absorption and ingratitude, but nowhere are these attitudes more evident than in issues of human life. Abortion, euthanasia, and other morally dubious medical practices such as embryonic stem cell research represent an exaltation of self as much as a devaluation of life.

Each January is set aside as a month for us to celebrate God’s gift of life. Intentionally, this observance coincides with the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 decision officially condoning abortion. Since that time, the lives of over 40 million children in America have ended before they ever saw the light of day. Another 40+ million children are killed around the world each year.

What could drive so many women to make the decision to terminate the lives of their children? At best, they are worried about providing for their children and are either unwilling or unable to avail themselves of the options available for their child (such as adoption and crisis pregnancy support). At worst, especially in the developed world, they simply refuse to have their lives encumbered by responsibility. Many who favor abortion have even abandoned the line of reasoning that assumes that a child is not a person until birth—it no longer matters to them. They have no guilt about taking what they acknowledge as human life. Legally promoted abortion is a monument to selfish behavior and ingratitude toward the Creator of life.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide likewise reflect a worldview that usurps God’s value of life for a self-determined assessment. Whether by one’s own wishes or by the decision of someone else, ending a human life on our timetable rather than resting in God’s is to distrust His perfect will. Granted, the quality of one’s life looms large in such decisions, often seeming more important than the inherent value of their life. God’s definition of quality, however, and His plans for illness and disability may be hidden from us. It is not for us to decide whether someone lives or dies—our responsibility is to care for the afflicted and honor God by trusting Him to work out His glory through their lives.

Destroying life in the name of curing disease, as proponents of embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and other such practices seek to do, is another attempt to chart our own course and disregard God’s gifts. None of the proposed benefits of these endeavors could ever trump the value of the lives taken to produce them—the decision should never be made to trade a life whose potential is unknown for one whose is.

Most, if not all, of today’s life issues involve looking for escapes from the consequences of sin. Unwanted pregnancies seldom come from stable, God-honoring marriages; death and disease are the direct and unavoidable results of the fall. Standing for life means taking the hard road of unselfish concern for others and patient trust in God. Carrying a baby to term and raising children is not easy; caring for the disabled, elderly, or terminally ill can be extremely taxing. When those responsibilities are undertaken with a view toward God’s plan, however, they become a joyful obligation.

Promoting a culture of life starts with cultivating Spirit-led, others-focused relationships based on valuing the lives of others. The roots of abortion are found in misguided love and failed marriages; euthanasia is anchored in viewing our elders as out-of-touch burdens to our resources rather than sources of wisdom and guidance.

As the Church leads the charge to protect the sanctity of God’s image in the wider culture, we should be careful to lead by example.

When divorce rates in the Church are comparable to those of the population at large, promiscuity pervades our youth, and infidelity is not uncommon, we are not leading.

When we whisper about irresponsibility when couples marry before completing their education, have children before they are “financially stable”, or produce a larger family than we deem “prudent”, we are letting the world rather than the Word dictate our understanding of the family. When we refer to children born outside of our plans as “accidents”, we show disdain for God’s authority over all life.

When we neglect our aging relatives or institutionalize them without medical necessity, disrespect our elders and ignore the valuable experience they have to share with us, we are following the crowd, not the Lord.

Such actions and attitudes reflect the “me-first” demands of our sin nature instead of a life of gratitude for Christ’s sacrifice.

Scripture makes it clear that the self-focused life produces worry and disobedience to God. Gratitude, on the other hand, flows from an understanding that “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it” (Psalm 24:1). When we live as stewards of God’s possessions, generosity comes easily. Giving of time, resources, and even “security” to care for those He has placed in our lives becomes a natural response to the gift of life we’ve been given.

Even as we show the world God’s model of life and family, we should also do everything in our power to change our culture. This can and should include things like operating crisis pregnancy centers, educating women on options other than abortion, promoting and participating in adoption, and volunteering to care for the elderly or disabled.

The most important strategy, however, is what should always be our first calling—speaking God’s Truth. We cannot call ourselves pro-life if we do not value an unsaved soul as much as we value an unborn child. 1 Peter 3:9 tells us that God wants all to come to repentance, and we should do all we can to ensure that every life is given the chance to respond to His call.

Long Delayed Part 2

From Dec. 2008
Taken Captive: Cultural Heresies and the Church—Part 2

Editor’s Note: This is the second of 10 articles on areas in which entrenched unbiblical attitudes tend to hold sway in the Church. We are seeking to encourage believers to live up to Paul’s command to “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).

Tradition Number 2—Legalism and License

Few subjects within the Church have as much variation among believers as our interpretations of personal holiness. On the one hand, few would argue that Christians shouldn’t pursue right living. By the same token, what is meant by “right living” and to what degree it is to be pursued perennially causes strife between individuals and denominations.

This is an area in which we are often given to extremes, each of which gratifies Satan more than it glorifies God or edifies His Church.

Many Christians interpret the freedom we have in Christ very liberally. While rightly recognizing that the old Law has no claim to one saved by grace, they tend to run far with their freedom and often pay similarly little heed to Christ’s commands. They often have few standards for how they behave, what they choose to eat and drink, what they wear, and what traditions they follow.

For those who fall into this camp, the focus of the Christian life is on the love of Christ and the community of the Church rather than the holiness of God and doctrine.

Approaching personal holiness from this angle has many potential pitfalls. As Paul so forcefully warns us in 1 Corinthians 8, our freedom can easily become sinful if we lead a weaker brother into activities that he sees as contrary to the faith. Scripture is clear that personal liberty should always take a back seat to the health of the Body.

At a deeper level, it is very easy for us to have a simple view of holiness because it requires little of us—if all we understand of the Christian life is freedom, our view is likely informed more by the world than by Christ. The sacrifices to which He calls us do not resonate with a “freewheeling” Christianity. This end of the spectrum is characterized by what Bonheoffer called “cheap grace”—its low view of sin and righteousness can mar our witness by blurring the distinctions between the Church and the world and open us up to the temptations of the enemy to “love this present world” and desert the faith as Demas did (2 Tim. 4:10).

The opposite extreme is represented by legalism—in short, the view in which personal holiness is of paramount importance. Those in this camp go to great lengths to avoid the appearance of worldliness and take very seriously God’s call to “Come out from their midst and be separate. . . and do not touch what is unclean”(2 Cor. 6:17 reiterating Isaiah 52:11). Very little in their lives is free from rules and traditions, and they often spend a great deal of time and effort to follow them strictly.

This perspective is a problem when the motivation for holiness is pride rather than the Spirit’s leading—righteousness for righteousness’ sake is never God’s desire. The Pharisees took great care to be “holy” in every aspect of life but Christ saw right through their “righteousness” to their pride, calling them “whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside

are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanliness” (Matt. 23:27).

Legalism becomes grievous sin when it leads us to believe that we have within ourselves the ability to attain God’s favor, but as Paul so firmly states in Gal. 2:20, “if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” Such a lifestyle finds its roots in the self-determination of the stoics and leaves no room for God’s transforming grace. Even when well intentioned, we cannot live up to the required standard (Rom. 3:10, 23). This leads us to rate our sins, judging others and ourselves by the “severity” of our wrongs rather than by God’s standard (that all sin is equally offensive to Him and destructive to our relationship). We look down on others by applying our personal convictions to their lives rather than allowing God to lead them.

A strong devotion to holiness does not have to be wrapped up in legalism, however.

Just as we dishonor God in pursuing righteousness on our own, we honor Him highly when this pursuit is borne out of love for Him and gratitude for His ultimate sacrifice. Jesus’ statement, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” sets personal holiness as an outcome rather than a condition of belief. His concern is not with individual sins but with sin (that is, whether we pursue Him or pursue ourselves).

As with so many issues, our craving for “black and white” certainty in this area leads us astray from Christ’s call. Does the Lord want us to live in righteousness? Absolutely. Did He fulfill the law and set us free? Completely. But His command was neither “keep the Law” nor “be free”—He confronts us with something much simpler and yet so difficult that we can’t hope to live up to it outside of the Spirit’s enabling: “Follow Me.”

The extremes of legalism and license represent the world’s ideas of how to live life, not God’s. When we follow Him, however, we confound those who seek to dismiss Christians as either prudes or hypocrites. Spirit-led holiness motivated by love is perhaps the most distinctive marker of the faith; it is a picture to a dying world of the hope of forgiveness. Such an attitude is vital if we are to have the impact we are designed for.

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