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Daring, not Dull

Paul Estabrooks, a friend of mine who lives in Ontario Canada, wrote a book not long ago, entitled Secrets to Spiritual Success. One of the stories he tells is the testimony of a Chinese physician, affectionately know as 'Auntie Esther', who worked in China during the days of the infamous Tiananmen Square massacre:

'During the cultural revolution', she said, 'I was called in by my superior one day. At that time I was in charge of eight large pediatric wards in my hospital. The communists were cracking down on people who did not toe the current party line. My superior warned me that I should deny my faith and join the communist party or I may have to fact the serious consequences of job demotion and salary reduction.

'A few days later, I was rudely awakened by 4 nurses who roughly pulled me from my bed and marched me to the hospital. En route they stopped at a barbershop and shaved off half of my hair. In front of the rest of the staff, I was confronted to renounce my faith in Christ and join the communist party.

'I responded, "I can't deny Jesus. I love Jesus!" At the mention of His name, they threw me down on the ground and cursed. Later, the communist cadre at my hospital tore the stethoscope from my neck and said, "You are no longer Esther; you are now The Fool".'

For the next 11 years, Esther lived in the basement of the hospital and obediently submitted to her new task - cleaning the floors and toilets of the hospital wards that she previously headed. Her already meager salary of approximately $50 per month was reduced to $15 per month - and she had to buy the cleaning materials from this salary. The rest was spent for food.

But Esther practiced the presence of Jesus in her job. She sang as she toiled. With a twinkle in her eyes she said, 'My hospital had the cleanest floors and cleanest toilets in all of China!'

Hospital staff would come to her and with great envy question her source of joy in spite of her troubles. To these questions, Esther would respond, 'When you have Jesus I your heart, it doesn't matter what job you do or what position you have. It only matters that you love Him and are faithful and loyal to Him!' Paul Estabrooks, Secrets to Spiritual Success, pp.17-18

As we have studied lifestyle worship together during these recent days, we seen several distinguishing features of worship when it becomes our way of life. The first distinction is that lifestyle worship is simple, not easy. The second is that lifestyle worship welcomes heart, not formula. Distinction #3 is this: Lifestyle worship is daring, not dull.

The lifestyle we're talking about centers on our worship of God. Listen again to these words of William Temple:

Worship is the submission of all our nature to God;
it is the quickening of conscience by His holiness;
the nourishment of mind with His truth;
the purifying of imagination by His beauty;
the opening of the heart to His love;
the surrender of will to His purpose
...and all of this gathered up in adoration,
the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable
and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness
which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin.

True worship is observable. You observed it vicariously a moment ago in the life of the Chinese physician known as Auntie Esther. True worship leads to significant action. Our hearts express themselves in our lives. Such living leads people into meaningful nonconformity.

Until Christ's second coming, true worshipers will be in the minority. However, their worshiping hearts are undaunted by cultural norms. They will mount up with wings as eagles, soaring above the barnyard chickens. Their worshiping hearts will lead them to step out of the ordinary in ways that vary from one eagle to the next.

When you or I dare to be different in the spirit of Romans 12:2, it may make headlines. This is what God did, for example, with the ministry of the apostle Paul. He was a very high profile person. One illustration of a high profile ministry today, led by a man with a worshiping heart, is that of Dr. James Dobson through Focus On The Family.

Other times, our daring to be different may be a very private matter of the heart, known only to God. It may involve, for example, our decision to do something we may not normally do, but are doing now as an expression of our love for God. Other times, it may involve not doing something, and choosing not to do that as an expression of our love for God. Whether public or private, momentous or mundane, when you or I make that simple, daring decision as an expression of worship, it becomes our "I love You!" to God.

I'd like to dare you today! I dare you to do something as a personal expression of your love for God. It may show up in the way you spend your time during the day ahead. It may show up in the way you spend your money in the day ahead. It may show up in the way you use the gifts and abilities you received from God. Whatever it is, make it a love-gift to God!