Not A Lifestyle

I was in church this Sunday when our Senior Pastor made the following statement during his teaching, "Jesus is not a lifestyle!". It got my attention. It also reminded me of another statement, "worship is a lifestyle". Since then, those two thoughts have been rolling around on the inside of me.

There is a whole lot of motivational teaching about these days (both christian & secular). In fact, the majority of it is based on principles which God established that will work for you whether you know God, or you don't (but that's a whole other subject). Incidentally, I wholeheartedly agree that Jesus wants His followers to be blessed, whole, healthy, prosperous, victorious; He wants them to reach their full potential and fulfil their destinies - in short, to be "successful". Jesus himself said, "...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John 10:10).

There is a danger here though of letting these blessings, or "by-products" of salvation become the focus of our attention. It is easy to see how we could fall into the trap of treating our faith as a lifestyle enhancing add-in. This form of thinking keeps us at the centre of our lives ("What's in it for me?") and demeans Jesus' position as Lord.

Jesus is so much more than that. He is referred to as "the Prince of Life" (Acts 3:15); Psalm 36:9 says, "with You is the fountain of life"; Jesus said of himself, "I am the bread of life" (John 6:35 & 48); He is "the Author & Finisher of our faith" (Heb.12:2); John 1:3-4 says, "All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Jesus is not a lifestyle - He is Life!

We owe everything to Him - all that we have and all that we are. Paul said, when he was in Athens (Acts 17), "The God who made the world and all things in it, ...He is Lord of Heaven and earth" (v24); "He gives life and breath and all things to all" (v25); "in Him we live and move and have our being" (v28). Paul also stated (in v26 & v27), "He has made all nations of men ...to seek the Lord". Surely, the truth of all the above should inspire us to want to seek Him and to live a lifestyle of worship.

Worship needs to be more than just an event that occurs on a Sunday morning (though that is part of it). Worship must be a heartfelt expression, filled with love & gratitude, and given in response to a living God who has freely given us "all things" (Rom 8:32); surely, the least we could do is to freely give Him all that we have & all that we are, all that we do & all that we think - every day. This expression of worship should permeate every part of our lives; the outworking of which should naturally cause us to live a life of obedience and submission to the Lord of Life.

Let all that Jesus is and all that He has done cause you to live a life "worthy of the calling" (Eph 4:1); a life that glorifies the King of Kings & Lord of Lords; a lifestyle of worship.

For the Audience of One

I can't remember where I first heard this expression, but it's one that has stuck!

I was sat in my lounge recently - with my guitar, worshiping - just me & God. During that time, I was gently reminded again of why it is I do what I do; you see, I had forgotten.

There is a lot of preparation that goes into a Sunday service; choosing the songs, communicating the list with the rest of the team, practicing the arrangements; then getting to church early, setting up the stage, PA & instruments, tuning & sound checking, then final rehearsals; all before we pray & get changed, ready to start the worship service.

Of course, once the service starts there is a whole new set of "balls to juggle"; listening to God (trying to find the "flow"), communicating any spontaneous changes in song structure with the rest of the band (as they happen), trying to ensure the congregation know where we're going; making sure the children leave in time for their ministry & worship is finished to give the Senior Pastor (or whoever's preaching) their allotted time.

In amongst all of the mechanics of making a Sunday service happen, I had lost my primary focus. So, as I sat in my lounge with my guitar, worshipping with tears on my face, I remembered that first & foremost, my worship is "for the audience of One", that is Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage you (whatever your involvement in the worship service), to never lose site of why you are there, or who it is you're there for. Let all of your service overflow from the abundance of having spent time with Him. To those involved in leading worship especially, begin by leading your own heart - at home, when no-one else is looking. So that whether you find yourself "all alone, or in a crowd", your worship will firstly be "for the audience of One".

Sing Praises With Understanding

Psalm 47:7 says, "For God is King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding."

The Hebrew word for understanding means to carefully consider, to be well thought-out and consequently to be intelligent, having wisdom.

Let's look at this verse from two perspectives. Firstly, I believe that as we carefully consider God, who He is and all He's done, our only possible reaction must surely be to "sing praises". There can be no other response than to give praise and to glorify the God who "is King of all the earth". So we begin to understand (as far as our minds can) the God we praise.

Secondly, I believe that the praises we sing, or the act of worship itself should also be carefully considered and intelligent. So we begin to understand our expression of praise; how, why and when we sing, shout, clap, raise our hands, kneel, dance (whatever the expression).

We were made in the image of an intelligent, creative God. Lets offer Him intelligent, creative praise!