Monday, May 01, 2006

Am I part of the problem or a part of the solution?

Do you remember one of the many times when the children of Israel had disobeyed God, and God released snakes among them, and many died? Then the people got it right with God and He had Moses create this bronze snake on a pole so that when the people were bitten by the snakes, all they had to do was look at the pole and they would be healed.

Some 800 years after that we read that Hezekiah ?...also broke in pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made, which was called Nehushtan. Up to that time the people of Israel had burned incense in its honor.?

They had dragged this pole with a bronze snake on it around for over 800 years. They had named it and worshiped it. Somehow what God had created for their life, had been turned into an object for worship itself.

Today while driving back home over the prairies, I was thinking about this, this tendency towards taking what God gives us, and focusing on it, maintaining it, stroking it, keeping it alive long after its dead. And in doing so, we take our eyes off of the One we worship.

And I thought how something could still be giving life to someone, and it could be an object of Idolatry for the next person.

Liturgy.
For one person it gives the language and form to free them to worship the living God. For the next person it´s a rote process or habit that they practice which, for them, died long ago. They just don´t know it.

We as ?Evangelicals,? do the same thing.

For some of us the God given gift of gathering, of fellowship and worship, has become our 800 year old Bronze Snake on a pole. We find more comfort from the activity, than from the One we worship. We demand certain things need to be included in a Sunday morning service, or else it won´t be what it once was. And somewhere in those demands, the gift of corporate Worship becomes just another idol in need of being torn down.

Yes, some people gather and corporately worship God in ways that give life and take the venom out of them. But there are some who feel that the form and structure and location and time of that corporate worship are more important than God himself. Because if it isn´t ?Just so,? then they can´t worship God.

I´ve been pastoring for a few years and I know that this is just how it is for some people. Who does what, where and when on a Sunday morning becomes more important than worshiping God.

But, what just dawned on me tonight is the fact that for many of these people, I am a huge, integral part of their Idolatry.

And I confess, that makes me sick to my stomach.

9 comments:

  1. Bravo. I applaude your bravery and boldness as well as your insight and wisdom. May your neck remain free of stretch marks.

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  2. I hear what you are saying Randall and I agree that the focus on God can be lost. May I comment though, that I am a man of structure as I'm sure many more are. I'm not saying I depend on it but I feel less distracted when things are in the norm.



    In those cases I feel more able to focus on what is at hand. I try to regularly examine my heart when I worship corporately to ensure that I'm not just going through the motions. There have been times when things were switched up for a service and it took me a while to refocus. Some people thrive on change and newness and some on routine. I suppose it can be a weakness but it is my hope that those cases of a preference of routine we never let it become idolatry and never stop welcoming a healthy change.

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  3. Thanks for your honesty. Great post.



    This is a bit of a lesson in perspective. Dixie and I both read your post this morning and we each understood it to mean something different.



    I took it to mean that you are the bronze snake: not that people worship you, but that you have become essential to worship, i.e. "Randall isn't here today, I can't worship" or "Randall is the only pastor I can trust" or what have you.



    Dixie took it to mean that you feel you have 'aided and abetted' those who want the service "just so".



    I'm not sure which you mean, but either way it's food for thought.

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  4. Jay;



    I'm not opposed to structure and order, in fact that is why I enjoy exploring worship with a good liturgy.



    But what if worship doesn't go the way I want it to go, and I refuse to enter into worship, because I don't like the way it's going.



    I'm not saying change is holy, or new is holy. I'm speaking to the condition of peoples hearts when they gather to worship.



    Hey, even "New Worship" people (For lack of a better term) can be guilty of worshiping worship, rather than worshiping God.



    And, some people refuse to enter into worship because it's not done a certain way, or with the "Right" people.









    Marc;



    Some people must have a sermon, before it?s considered a legit worship service. Some people need 2 old hymns, or praise and worship, or an offering, or a guitar, or a pastor.



    I?m saying that if that?s what it?s about, then we are missing the point. At that point we start to lift up something that is more important than the One who grants us life.



    I feel sometimes like I validate those feelings, because I am a pastor, and for some people I am a part of what they consider a church to be.



    I do try to enlighten and teach them where to place their trust and worship, and there are many in the church who do understand this and seek to worship the living God. But yesterday was a profound moment for me when I realized that, for some people, I am a part of their worship of a form or process, rather than the living God.



    And that scares me.

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  5. You said it Pastor. Should I find myself in the position of bowing at your feet instead of walking beside you, just whopp me on the side of the head, preferably not with something bronze.



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  6. I hear your words Randall. I think you've hit upon a real possible problem and I hope that when you express to those you have been given responsibility of their need to focus on God that they hear it.

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  7. Wow. Your honesty absolutely amazes me.



    (But not to the point of idolatry...*grin*)

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