Worship: Ritual or Relationship?
And He said to him, "'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)
This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:27)
I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Romans 12:1)
Several times in past issues, I have mentioned the difficulties which have been created in the community of believers by emphasizing form instead of substance. This month, I want to devote time and space to exploring that subject more fully.
At the outset, let me affirm that I have no quarrel with believers wanting to assemble to praise God and fellowship with one another. What does concern me is that, in our time, Christian worship is popularly defined by what goes on when we are so assembled.
The privatization of Christianity, in this country in particular, is an indictment of the flaccid faith of believers. We have placed so much emphasis on assembly that for practical purposes we have mostly neglected the living out of our faith in every day life.
Christ reduced the law to two overarching concepts: 1) have a right relationship with God, and 2) have right relationships with others. God entered the Mosaic Covenant with the Jews and laid out point by point how they were to conduct their affairs. It was a fairly complete set of instructions but it didn’t discuss all the possible permutations which might arise. Christ focuses on the principles which were foundational to the specifics that God gave Israel: principles of relationship.
They were a type which looked forward to its fulfillment in Christ as He ushered the kingdom of God into a fallen world. If we want to see the consequences of that transition, all we have to do is look at the book of Acts and witness the assembly at Jerusalem. Forgive the lengthy quote, but it is very instructive to us.
"And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:42-47)
How did we get from this type of relationship to what what we experience today as "church"? To be sure, they lived in special times under special circumstances that shaped how relationships were lived out, but the critical point is that they had relationship.
Except for rare situations, most Christians living in this country today have nothing that approaches this type of commitment to God or one another. Even Christians who have enjoyed close relationships with others for decades rarely involved themselves significantly in one another’s life. The rare exceptions are glorious to observe.
Somehow, we have forgotten that we are commanded to love. That should tell us something about the nature of love. It is not mushy, gushy, feel-good sentiment. It is a sense of profound caring about others. Such love is impossible if God’s love does not reside within us. It is His love which never fails.
So, while we are commanded to love, it is God who works within us to fulfill the command – if we don’t try to substitute a counterfeit love for His gift.
All too often, we excuse ourselves from the personal ministry to which God has called us. It is easier and a lot more convenient to pay others to do what God requires of us. The problem is compounded in that we think we have done our duty when we drop an offering in the plate.
God demands so much more. In fact, He wants everything! He doesn’t see our lives as compartments which are "ours" and "His" like we sometimes do. Every aspect of life is a matter of relationship with Him and service to Him. How well do we do at capturing those opportunities for His glory? The condition of our society is the best indicator we have. You be the judge.
The above passage from James is the only place in the scripture that defines "true religion." It is no small matter that it addresses relationship to others (the weak and helpless), but it goes further. We are to keep ourselves "unspotted" by the world. Let’s follow that a bit, because it has a relationship aspect.
The word in the Greek is the antonym of spilos which means defiled or stained. It is this root James uses later in 3:6 when he writes of the tongue defiling the whole body. If you want to diagnose what destroys more relationships than anything else, stick out your tongue and say "Ah"!
The way we treat the relationships we have largely determines the type of relationships we will have in the future. We are either on the path to better ones, or our actions broadcast to others that relationships with us are risky. (to page 2)
If we don’t like the relationships we have, we make the painful observation that they are the product of past conduct. It does us no good to blame other parties for their part in our poor relationships. We need to give our attention to our own failure to heed the two greatest commandments.
Christ certainly teaches that we are to confront one another when there are problems, but He also makes it clear that we must first confront our own "mote" (Mat. 5:23; 7:3-5). In other words, the first and great commandment must be kept before it is possible to keep the second.
That is why John warns that those who don’t love each other demonstrate that they do not love God (1 John 4:20). Right relationship with God is worship that expresses itself in right relationships with others.
It is much more comfortable to substitute institutional rituals for right relationships. So, it is not surprising that we tend to follow that course of action.
We convince ourselves that God isn’t really serious about this relationship business, but know He’s dead serious about our showing up on Sunday or whenever the doors or open. He’s serious about the "thou shalts" and "thou shalt not" but He doesn’t intend for us to get too serious about all this relationship business. Does He?
I’m not advocating the neglect of proper behavior here (i.e. "keeping the commandments") but I am encouraging us to look beyond them, because that is precisely what Christ did.
It is not enough that we do not steal from neighbor. We are to love him and seek his best. We are not intended to seclude ourselves in stained glass mausoleums and tell the world, "We’re here when you’re ready to see it our way." We are to engage the world meaningfully.
The truth is, even in Christian fellowships, we rarely engage one another in meaningful ways. It is easy to settle into a comfortable relationship with a small circle of close friends. But, unless that is an open circle that actively encourages the involvement of others, it will die. It may continue to exist but it will be comatose and on life support.
It always saddens me to see this. People who have been friends for years gradually come to the place where, though they enjoy one another’s company, they rarely involve themselves in one another’s lives. They won’t call on them for help until the need becomes desperate, and they may not call even then. They no longer keep up with each other. Then, one day comes a phone call or announcement in the bulletin informing them of the other’s difficulties or death. It is almost as if they have been marking time in their relationship, just waiting for the final, "Halt!"
Healthy Christian relationships attract other Christians and outsiders. All too often, we see others we would like to know better, but we never approach them. The reasons are varied but they usually center around fear of rejection. So, we settle for a handshake, or perhaps a hug, a smile and a few non-committal words of greeting.
We go through the motions but we remain hungry for the substance of worship: relationship. My background in the behavioral sciences tends to make me a people watcher and an investigator of social behavior. What you are reading here is based on decades of observation.
While there have been wonderful exceptions in my own life, most Christians I’ve met just plain don’t want to be bothered with Christian relationships. They live their lives with pigeon-holed efficiency and there just isn’t room for the lack of predictability that real relationships bring. They know that real relationships place demands on them and those demands have a way of coming at inconvenient times.
The problem comes when they realize their needs could be ministered to by deep relationships with others and they are bankrupt. They are at a loss to call on those whom they have so neglected and so they deny themselves the comfort and aid God made available through relationship. How sad that is.
Coming together to celebrate our life in Christ, to honor God with praise, thanksgiving and adoration, and to edify one another can be a rich time of blessing. But if it is just icing on a cardboard cake, it is an offense to God.
Though The Living Bible is a paraphrase and has significant problems, I really like the way it expresses some things. 1 Peter 3:8 is one of those verses, "And now this word to all of you: You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds."
The recipients of that instruction were living in the trying "last days" and suffering a "fiery ordeal." I pray we can learn to enjoy that kind of relationship without similar persecution, and that we will cease to settle for ritual when God makes it possible for us to enjoy rich relationships.
God Moves in Mysterious Ways
I hope that by the time you receive this you will have taken the time to go see Gods and Generals. While I risk offending some of our readers, this production is too important to let pass without comment.
I frequently speak of our country’s founders and their desire for a free America where God is honored by the obedience of the people. Nothing in the history of this country has done more to subvert that intention than the tyranny of Abraham Lincoln in sending union troops into sovereign states to overthrow their legitimate governments.
Though the slavery issue became an associated issue, it was not the proximate cause of Lincoln’s action. Lincoln had the burning desire to hold the union together at all costs: even the usurpation of the powers of the federal government.
God’s and Generals is the prequel to previous movie Gettysburg and is part of a trilogy (The Last Full Measure will complete the series). It tells the story of the war for southern independence from the perspective of Stonewall Jackson and it is a powerful telling.
This is without question a "Christian" movie. The major characters are depicted as people who honor God and seek to live in faithful obedience to Him. Scripture is read and quoted repeatedly and Christ is celebrated as Savior. Apart from the violent battle scenes, this would be a G-Rated movie. Use discretion with small children, but be sure your family sees this film.
Now to the mystery. This movie was produced by none other than Ted Turner. God had an ultra-liberal (communist if you will) spend millions of dollars to fund the production of a powerful movie that is diametrically opposed to everything he believes. It is unlikely the Christian community would have ever produced such a movie, but this Godless man did.
Some will argue that seeing the movie will just give Turner millions more to produce the typical muck that comes from Hollywood and I suppose there is some truth to that concern. At the same time, if Christians go out in mass to see this film and follow up with buying the DVD or VHS tape, it will send a powerful message to the industry that we will support this type of production.
Personally, I think the benefits far outweigh any negative of supporting a derelict genre. I am convinced they are going to produce movies whether or not we pay to view them or not. By showing them we are a viable market, we can influence future productions. I hope you’ll join me in doing that.
God’s and Generals will challenge your perceptions of the war between the states but I encourage you to do your homework and understand why the south was upholding the law of the land in the face of tyranny. If you want to know more, Thomas DiLorenzo’s The Real Lincoln is highly recommended.
To challenge your thinking, I offer an excerpt from Lincoln’s first inaugural address where he in essence confesses that what he did just a little over a month later was unlawful:
"Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the Southern States, that by the accession of a Republican Administration, their property, and their peace, and personal security, are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. Indeed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches when I declare that ‘I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so.’"
Slavery was wrong and it brought reproach upon this country, but it was not the issue that started us down the slippery slope away from just government. It has a lot more to do with big money and misguided nationalism. Things haven’t changed much.
So what does all this have to do with our faith? Recovering our history as a country is essential to recovering the rightful authority of the people and the states so that we might once again have a system that honors God. It’s that relationship thing you know!
Dating the Book of Revelation
One book you may wish to add to your library is Before Jerusalem Fell by Ken Gentry. His scholarly look at this important issue may not be the easiest reading you do, but it will certainly be educational.
Dating the book of Revelation has long been a matter of debate but earlier in Christian history, most scholars held to a date prior to A.D. 70. That is problematic for a futurist interpretation of biblical prophecy and most popular contemporary scholars hold to a date in the mid 90's.
Why is this important? Well, if John wrote Revelation in the mid to late 60's claiming that these things "must shortly come to pass" the events associated with the fall of Jerusalem sure seem to fit the bill. Hence, attaching a yet future significance to them is hard to support.
By building a case for a late date, they are able to keep a straight face while holding to the idea that John had to be talking about events post A.D. 70. It’s a convenient view, but as Gentry lays out quite well, the facts just don’t support such a view. I’ll leave you to read for yourself what he has to say.
In the meantime, consider a rather obvious question. If a late date is correct, why does John not speak of the destruction of Jerusalem?
As we have seen previously, the pattern of scripture is teaching, testing, teaching, etc. Over and over again we have the biblical record of each cycle. The Jews are taught and then given the opportunity to live out what they have received. After their failure, God points out the calamity that befell them and the reason for it.
It would be quite extraordinary if John, writing 25 years after Jerusalem fell, failed to mention how God had fulfilled what the apostles, prophets and Jesus foretold. One can hardly imagine a more powerful sermon illustration than the overthrow of the Jewish system and its utter destruction.
John does not mention these events in Revelation but it is rife with imminency statements and one is hard pressed to demonstrate that he didn’t expect the consummation of the ages in his generation.
Much of the focus on a late date for the book derives from the presupposition that its events are yet future. But for that assumption, a first century fulfillment easily emerges from the biblical text.
Gentry is anything but light reading, but a little mental exercise never heart anyone. Put on your workout suit and have at it!
The Apprentice’s Journal
Well, spring is here again and the garden is flooded again! I’ve managed to get a out a few onions and some brussel sprouts but I haven’t been able to till the soil and get the other plants in the ground. I do have a few carrots left over from the fall and three cabbage plants I put out last spring are finally beginning to form heads. How’s that for slow growing?
The red buds and plum trees are in full bloom. Tulips and other bulb plants are popping up around town adding their color and beauty to the world I am blessed to experience daily. The weeds are getting a head start on the grass and there are still leaves from last fall that need to be dealt with. They can wait awhile longer while I just enjoy the glories of renewal that are evident all around me.
The pileated woodpeckers have been attempting to nest in a dead pine tree on the property behind our house. As fast as they get a hole made, the squirrels decide it would work well for them. The woodpeckers occasionally show up to remove the nesting material the squirrel left behind and it remains to be seen who will win in the end.
The male golden finch are putting on their spring colors and seeking the favor of the females. The robins and bluebirds dropped by for a few days to devour the seeds on our tallow tree. They looked like Christmas tree ornaments with their orange and blue colors shining in the sunlight.
However spring manifests itself in your neck of the woods, I trust you will take the time to rejoice in the beauty that is but a reflection of our Father’s glory.
It was good to hear from several of you this month. I’m always encouraged by comments, positive or negative because that tells me you are still reading. Your generous gifts are also appreciated. While this newsletter is my gift to you, I am limited in how many I can afford to send and your gifts make it possible to share with even more folks. Thank you!
I’ve quoted G. K. Chesterton a few times in past issues and noted that he is one of my favorites. A couple of months ago, I noticed that a program about him airs on EWTN (the Catholic network) on Saturday afternoon (4 p.m. CT). It is a moderated program with commentary about Chesterton and portrayals of him. It is at the same time, thoughtful and humorous and I highly recommend it (and his books).
One of my favorite scenes is a question and answer session following one of his lectures. A woman in the audience asked him what he did when he came to the conclusion he had previously been mistaken on an issue and had to change his view.
Chesterton replied, "My dear lady, on such occasions I invariably commit suicide."
He loved to laugh and was not remiss at laughing at himself. He was a large man and on one occasion was having difficulty getting out of a cab. Someone suggested that he try to slide out sideways. He replied, "I don’t have a side!" I suppose I enjoy him because that is the kind of comment I might make.
If you would like to see the videos but don’t have cable access, there are two 13 part series available. Each series is $39.95 and is available online at www.chesterton.org or by calling 952-831-3096.
Beyond the humor you will find sound biblical reasoning on a variety of issues and that is where the real treasure lies. I hope you will enjoy "The Apostle of Common Sense" as much as I do.
It’s hard to believe, but we are about to celebrate the first birthday of grandson #2, Joshua Wade King. He’s just gotten the hang of walking and is mobile enough to give big brother Geren considerable grief. What a blessing they both are! Granna usually goes into withdrawal if she’s away from them more than a couple of weeks so we look forward to every visit. They are indeed an heritage of the Lord.
Till next time ~ Jim