Immature Concepts
We continue to be led by immature concepts in our assemblies. It’s easy to see as they proclaim a worship assembly in “spirit and in truth” when we do neither of those things.
First, in truth. A “worship activity” that calls for us to “be where You are, we don’t want to worship from afar” is totally lacking the truth. Other songs call for us “to enter the presence of God, for He is Holy,” or “Come, Now is the time to worship.” They sound good and have catchy tunes but miss the reality of the new covenant. Jesus is the truth and is the full revelation of God to man. He proclaims that he is the one who will come to reside with us. He promises that his own spirit will indwell man unlike the time of Old Testament worship when worshippers had to go to the place where God was. Remember, God dwelled in Jerusalem in the temple (also in Bethel and Gilgal during the divided kingdom.) Those were the only acceptable places of worship and Jews came to the feasts to “be where God was” but that residence of God was only a shadow of the truth. Now, God dwells in those whom he chooses. Our bodies are the temple of God. I feel sorry for those who have a need to “go where God is,” as it manifests their lack of understanding about where God dwells. It’s not just semantics. It is a statement that lacks understanding and truth and will continue to feed the thought of going to worship God in a place and time.
Secondly, in spirit. Since the truth is that God has chosen to dwell in man through the spirit of Jesus, our worship or service to Him is totally different. We don’t have to go anywhere to worship and are called to “continually offer our bodies as living sacrifices,” according to a Jew who should know the difference between the two worship types. Paul, in Romans 12:1-2 tells us what worshipping in spirit means. It has nothing to do with singing or any other “act” that has been proclaimed by man. The continuing call to worship in the assembly is an immature call that disregards the truth of Jesus and the call to continually offer ourselves up to God or “live for the praise of his glory.” Glorifying God has never been about lips, but lives. The fruit we bear for God is always shown as the things we do for each other as commanded by Jesus who also glorified God by his obedience. Claiming to glorify God in some other way misses the truth of Jesus and the spirit by which we worship.
Jesus looked at the fig tree in Mark 11 and was disgusted because of it’s good leafy looks but lack of fruit. Next, he saw the same thing in the temple in Jerusalem. It had “beautiful stones”, as one of disciples remarked in Luke 21:5 but did not produce fruit. Do our temples only look and sound good or do they bear the fruit of Jesus’ command to love one another? Claiming a transformed life is easy. It may look good, it may sound good, but absent the fruit of love in a life of sacrifice, it is nothing to God.
Don Campbell
First, in truth. A “worship activity” that calls for us to “be where You are, we don’t want to worship from afar” is totally lacking the truth. Other songs call for us “to enter the presence of God, for He is Holy,” or “Come, Now is the time to worship.” They sound good and have catchy tunes but miss the reality of the new covenant. Jesus is the truth and is the full revelation of God to man. He proclaims that he is the one who will come to reside with us. He promises that his own spirit will indwell man unlike the time of Old Testament worship when worshippers had to go to the place where God was. Remember, God dwelled in Jerusalem in the temple (also in Bethel and Gilgal during the divided kingdom.) Those were the only acceptable places of worship and Jews came to the feasts to “be where God was” but that residence of God was only a shadow of the truth. Now, God dwells in those whom he chooses. Our bodies are the temple of God. I feel sorry for those who have a need to “go where God is,” as it manifests their lack of understanding about where God dwells. It’s not just semantics. It is a statement that lacks understanding and truth and will continue to feed the thought of going to worship God in a place and time.
Secondly, in spirit. Since the truth is that God has chosen to dwell in man through the spirit of Jesus, our worship or service to Him is totally different. We don’t have to go anywhere to worship and are called to “continually offer our bodies as living sacrifices,” according to a Jew who should know the difference between the two worship types. Paul, in Romans 12:1-2 tells us what worshipping in spirit means. It has nothing to do with singing or any other “act” that has been proclaimed by man. The continuing call to worship in the assembly is an immature call that disregards the truth of Jesus and the call to continually offer ourselves up to God or “live for the praise of his glory.” Glorifying God has never been about lips, but lives. The fruit we bear for God is always shown as the things we do for each other as commanded by Jesus who also glorified God by his obedience. Claiming to glorify God in some other way misses the truth of Jesus and the spirit by which we worship.
Jesus looked at the fig tree in Mark 11 and was disgusted because of it’s good leafy looks but lack of fruit. Next, he saw the same thing in the temple in Jerusalem. It had “beautiful stones”, as one of disciples remarked in Luke 21:5 but did not produce fruit. Do our temples only look and sound good or do they bear the fruit of Jesus’ command to love one another? Claiming a transformed life is easy. It may look good, it may sound good, but absent the fruit of love in a life of sacrifice, it is nothing to God.
Don Campbell
posted by Don Campbell at
10:36 AM
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