Worship, An Adventure

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind...Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.Romans 12:2-3

Alfred North Whitehead, Whitehead, Alfred North (1861-1947), British mathematician, metaphysician and interdisciplinary thinker generally recognized as one of the greatest 20th-century philosophers. had an interesting and thought- provoking perspective on worship:

The worship of God is not a rule of safety—it is an adventure of the spirit....

For almost a decade, I have had the privilege and responsibility of helping people in their long-range financial planning. Occasionally a couple will claim to want their investments to out-pace inflation-yet they cling to investment tools characterized by maximum safety of principal (and, generally, low return). Clearly, their priority is safety, not growth.

Sometimes a baseball analogy helps them understand the dynamics of their decision-making: You can't get to second base unless you take your foot off first! The same analogy applies to true worship. Making Romans 12 the story of your life can take you out to the margins of comfortableness.

King David, in II Samuel 6, certainly had a different perspective on worship than did his wife, Michal! This is the occasion he danced before God and Israel "with all his might"-and without his royal robes-as the ark of the Lord was being carried into the City of David. His act of worship was met by Michal with utter contempt and disdain. One person's "adventure of the spirit" may be another's dismay!

During the past couple weeks, we began walking down a hallway lined with the portraits of women and men whose lives help us understand the kind of person God wants each of us to become. As we walked down that hallway, we caught a sense of the adventure of worship experienced by these spiritual kinsmen. For example, we learned from Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus that - in God's eyes - loving Him takes precedence over serving Him. In Hannah, whose long-postponed motherhood gave us the Old Testament hero Samuel, we saw an excellent example of abiding in God, and waiting on Him, even in hard times. There are more to come.

Before continuing our walk down the hallway, however, let's look at several common threads connecting these contrasting acts of worship. Woven into these lives are 5 features of lifestyle worship. While these characteristics may be constant from one person to another, the way they are expressed in the lives of different individuals can vary a great deal. Let's take a look at one of these features of lifestyle worship today.

Distinction #1: Lifestyle worship is simple, not complicated.

When Jesus came into her home, Mary simply stopped rushing around, sat down and listened at His feet. This simple act was far less complicated than the frenzied preparations that her sister Martha was making.

When Hannah found herself denied motherhood year after year, she did a simple thing: She went to the house of the Lord, worshiped Him and made Him a sacrificial promise.

Lifestyle worship is simple. It is simply the heart expressed in life. A healthy Christian simply seeks daily to follow Christ's example. As His life expressed worship, so should ours. Think of it as the word 'Christian' is spelled: It is 'I' following 'CHRIST.' Our agenda is simple: To embody meaningful Christian living. That is, our lifestyles must be characterized by observable expressions of our worship of God. (Observable need not suggest well-publicized, by the way.)

Christians live as forgiven and adopted children of God in a corrupted world system. We are pilgrims. While we belong on the planet Earth temporarily, our permanent citizenship is in heaven.

Some of the "cultural norms" around us do not fit us. They reflect one master; we have Another. It comes as no surprise, then, that at times our behavior will not conform to the societal norms of others near whom we live or work.

"If," you ask, "our agenda is to embody meaningful Christian living, then is there also such a thing as meaningless (insignificant) Christian living?" As we look around and within, we must acknowledge, "Yes."

At times we follow Christ distantly, as Peter did just prior to Christ's crucifixion. Bolstered by a sympathetic group (in church meetings, for example), we may mouth the right words and make the right moves.

However, sometimes our worship wanes and we melt into the crowd while in hostile territory (e.g., the Monday marketplace). At those times we each provide our personalized example of meaninglessness, of eternal insignificance (no matter how much resulting money we make or power we wield). Peer pressure? Social facilitation? Give it any label you wish, but it still looks a lot like compromise.

© 2007 John Garmo. If you would be interested in using this article, please contact us at Info@MissionToChildren.org.