Having It God's Way
Theme of the Week: Church: It's Not About Me
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1, NIV) Bonus Reading: Philippians 2:1-5
"Please turn in your hymnals to page 158," says the pastor, "and bring your sheep to the front to be slaughtered."
That's not exactly what we hear in church every weekend. In the Old Testament, worship and sacrifice went hand-in-hand, but today these two are not as easily connected. Maybe they should be.
I hate to admit it, but I've grumbled to my wife about a worship song that was "so 1990s." I've complained that my favorite pastor wasn't teaching. Not my finer moments. Now, it's normal and okay to have preferences. But I'm concerned with how we respond when things are done according to another's preferences.
Complaining and grumbling reveal a heart of selfishness and entitlement. On the other hand, I can choose to sacrifice having it "my way." I can peacefully and joyfully sit through a song I don't like, realizing that the church is not there to serve me. I am there to worship God—the God who unselfishly sacrificed his Son for me.
Thankfully we don't offer animals to God anymore (too messy on the new carpet), but we are still called to sacrifice in our worship gatherings. Let's put our preferences aside and turn the focus back on God. This is our worship.
—Jason Kliewer
My response: How do I respond to worship preferences that aren't my preferences?
Thought to Apply: The church exists to train its member through the practice of the presence of God to be servants of others, to the end that Christlikeness may become common property.—William Adams Brown (clergyman and theologian)
Copyright © 2010 by the author or Christianity Today/Men of Integrity magazine.
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