Real Worship

A new book that I had ordered came in yesterday called Vintage Jesus, Timeless Answers to Timely Questions, by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears. I have heard a couple of messages by Mark Driscoll and I like him. He is pretty radical in his delivery, but what I have heard, I have benefited from (please don't take this as a blanket endorsement). Also, John Piper had him speak a couple of years ago at the Desiring God Pastor's Conference and Piper spoke at Mark's conference a few weeks ago...so any friend of Piper's is a friend of mine. :) Anyway, back to my new book...I started reading a chapter entitled "Why Should We Worship Jesus?" this morning and the following story struck me in a powerful way.

"A downside to being a pastor is that you never get to attend pro football games on Sundays. While I thank God for TiVo, I do long to attend the occasional game to join other lazy people in complaining about the performance of highly trained athletes.

God answered my prayers when our hometown Seahawks were playing a Monday-night game, and someone in the church had an extra ticket, which made me as happy as a redneck getting a ticket to a motorcycles-on-ice show. As a hometown homey I was thrilled because our team won. As a Christian I found it to be an intriguing example of worship.

As I sat among nearly seventy thousand fans, I wondered what the impression of Old Testament Hebrew worshipers would be if they could have been teleported to the game. My guess is that they would have assumed they were at the worship service of an enormous cult.

While zoning laws in our city essentially forbid us from building a large church, the football stadium was built at a cost of 450 million dollars (with roughly 300 million dollars of that money coming from public monies such as taxes). Every ticket for the entire season is expensive yet sold out. Our seats at the game I attended were in what Paul calls the 'third heaven' and cost about forty dollars each. In addition, parking, a hot dog, and a beer cost about the same as a year's tuition at a state college. The help of a Sherpa was required to haul it all to the high altitude where the seats were.

People walked many blocks in a driving rain that was so Old Testament that parts of the city were flooded, rivers had spilled over their banks, and mudslides were leading the nightly newscasts. Nonetheless, seemingly every seat in the stadium was filled, and fans stood in the rain for the entire game--not even using the seat they paid for--wearing the team colors and screaming, while music blared through the sound system and half-naked young women provided the eye candy.

In short, I was at a worship service with a congregation that was larger, more devoted, more generous, and more vocal than any church in America.

As I enjoyed the game I was reminded of words spoken to me some years before. A dear friend of mine is a pastor who also runs an orphanage and a Bible college in India. He converted to Christianity after being raised Hindu. We have spent a considerable amount of time together over the years in both the United States and India.

When I was in India, the false worship that permeated the culture was disturbingly obvious to me. As I walked through the villages I continually came upon small shrines alongside the road dedicated to various local gods. Inside the small huts were food gifts along with blood from various animal sacrifices. As we drove near the beach I also saw large crowds of Hindus with their faces painted, undergoing ceremonial washings in the sea, seeking to appease their angry gods. There were ongoing feasts and festivals throughout the villages that included loud music and cheering, along with excessive alcohol and food consumption. It seemed that people spent much of their time and money in worship to idols and demons, which was heartbreaking.

Some days later I was teaching church-planting pastors from local villages who were an incredible encouragement. In a private discussion with one pastor's wife, I asked her if she had ever been to the United States. She replied that she had been once but had been deeply troubled by all the idolatrous worship she witnessed in the United States. At first, I was stunned that she would accuse my culture of being idolatrous, but as I sat at the Monday-night football game, it became apparent to me that sometimes we see only the errors of worship in someone else's culture while neglecting to be as objective in our own culture. I too was surrounded by people no less religiously zealous who had painted their faces to gather together and cheer on their gods who happened to play quarterback, tailback, and such, while wearing replica jerseys in tribute and giving one another high-fives in celebration whenever one of their gods made a great play." (Vintage Jesus, pg 163-165)

I don't believe that the take-away here is to try to make our worship services look like a football game. Neither do I take it as a condemnation of enjoying sports. I believe what it illustrates for us is that worship is a lifestyle, not an event, even though we should regularly worship at corporate gatherings alongside other believers (Hebrews 10:24-25). But it is a delight, not a duty. It is an expression of love. The folks at the stadium don't mind forking out their cash or using large amounts of their time thinking about and planning for a big game, so why do we not choose to live a lifestyle of worshiping and enjoying the Creator and Redeemer of our lives? Take a look with me at another stadium of worship and enjoy the One worshiped there with me.

"Then I looked, and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures, and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. They said with a loud voice: The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!

I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and everything in them say: Blessing and honor and glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!

The four living creatures said, 'Amen,' and the elders fell down and worshiped." (Revelation 5:11-14, HCSB)

Falling down before Him,
Jon