My Worship, My Terms

I have mentioned in the past the need to be careful in worship. Let me remind everyone of my feelings on the matter: we do not have carte blanche to worship God in whatever manner seems good and proper. What has rekindled another look at the subject? Reading my Bible.*

Clean out the culture
After Israel was to go into the Promised Land, they were commanded to clear out all vestiges of idolatry, whether by cutting down, burning, or otherwise destroying completely (Deut 12:2–4). Why would this be requested? People want to experiment and try something culturally relevant just to see what happens, but this never ends well. Remember the golden calf incident (Exod 32)? The people requested this image because that was what other nations did. Moses laid down a warning to head off these ideas:

If the Lord your God destroys before your face the nations whose land you go to inherit, and you inherit them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you not seek to follow them after they are destroyed from before your face, and do not inquire after their gods, saying, “How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.” You shall not do thus with the Lord your God; for every abomination the Lord hates they have done with their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. (Deut 12:29–31)

When someone gets a harebrained idea to bring in what works in the world stop, drop, and roll. Put out the fire. Keep damage to a minimum.

Don’t go rogue
The Lord wants His people to worship together, but not just anywhere. He wants us to seek out where He places His name. Where is that? During the wilderness wandering, the Lord’s presence was evident because the pillar that led and protected the people would be above the tabernacle, demonstrating that God was dwelling in the Holy of Holies. After Israel entered the land, the Lord’s presence was at the tabernacle in Shiloh, then in the temple in Jerusalem. People knew where to go and were expected to go where God was because He was there. Where else can one bring sacrifices and offerings to the Lord if He is not there? In short, one cannot worship the Lord if He is not present. Besides the animal and grain offerings, there is a little considered aspect of coming together: you shall rejoice before the Lord your God (Deut 12:7, 12, 18). The time together was meant to be that of joy for how the Lord blessed and to share the blessing with those doing the ministry. This can’t be done off by yourself.

Why should people make the effort to come together? Besides what I give above, the main reason was that God will give the people rest within their inheritance. Those in the wilderness who followed their unbelief did not enter rest, but the next generation saw the promise fulfilled. The promise of rest still remains, so we seek to enter that rest (Heb 4:1–11) with all its blessings and benefits (Eph 1:3–14).

Go to where the Lord is
Where should believers worship now? In churches with other believers. That is where the Lord is. That is where we give of what the Lord has blessed. This is where we rejoice with others. This is where we enjoy our rest.


* You should do the same. It’s amazing what you’ll find.