Its Worship, or Its Not

1 kings 22 – 19… I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’

“One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will entice him.’

22 “‘By what means?’ the Lord asked.

“‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said.

“‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’

23 “So now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”

How many deceiving mouths open in God’s name and declare that worship for God is not worship unless it pleases the worldly senses? I’m sure mine has deceived, but no more. Worship and discipleship should never be conditional to satisfaction of your own sensory pleasure, “Everyone leaves service wanting more of what they liked and less or none of what what they didn’t, so ITS BEST TO SEGREGATE AND GIVE PEOPLE WHAT THEY LIKE,” from the mouth of deception. Hymnal vs. screen, hymns vs. radio hits, old vs. new, well-lit vs. darkness, acoustic vs. electric vs. organ, soloist vs. choir, brass vs. synthesizer… various requirements before things can be considered worship. If churches really sang what they meant songs would be more like,

 

“where You go, I’ll go (as long as its comfy,)

where You stay I’ll stay (if I’m enjoying myself,)

when You move I’ll move (if I feel like it)

I (might) follow You.”

 

When I started attending a church’s “contemporary service, I was approached by a man from the traditional service and he encouraged me to attend a “real worship” service, as he had deemed the new to be unworshipful. This encounter led me to believe that the contemporary service was for open minded people who believed that it was all for God and didn’t have to be a certain way.  To my surprise and disappointment, a new pastor took over 18 months later, with a mindset just as narrow as that I had encountered before, only this time traditional words were deemed “bad words” and had been the focus of a “swear” jar in that pastor’s previous church which was entirely contemporary. Staff in that church had to pay to use words like sermon, sanctuary, pulpit, or bulletin. Copyright dates, not language, were said to diminish a songs worshipfulness. And the age of high visibility staff and volunteers became subject to discrimination, as well as preferred marital status, because people “needed to see someone they could relate to” involved before they would come back, and by people the focus was young adults who could help increase the statistic of christenings, i.e. they wanted more babies born into the organization than member funerals.

Pleasing senses so more people, or, the “right” people will like you… sounds a little whore-ish, does it not?

Its not contemporary, traditional, modern, classic, progressive, retro, etc. Don’t allow yourself to be a conditional disciple. Don’t fall for the deceptions. Its worship, or its not.