DID VICTORIA OSTEEN REALLY SAY THAT?

There is a great deal of confusion in the contemporary church over the purpose of worship. This confusion has been building for several decades and it again burst into the open a couple of weeks ago when Victoria Osteen said, “When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy.” I don’t mean to “pile on” because I’m not certain she meant to articulate it in that way, but that’s the exact quote.

In recent years I’ve struggled to understand what is happening to worship in many churches. It seems to me that much of the music being referred to as worship is really not worship at all. The music is often very loud, which is fine, and it’s often celebratory, which is also fine. But it seems like it’s mostly about . . . me! I have left service after service with the feeling, “Well, that was nice but we really didn’t enter into worship—we really didn’t praise and worship the Lord. We attended a concert!”

It has bothered me but I didn’t know how to classify it until I read the following from one of Robert Webber’s articles on “The Focus of Worship.” (The late Robert Webber was Professor of Ministry at Northern Seminary and the Director of the Institute for Worship Studies.)

“Too many people who lead worship do so with the ‘audience’ in mind. Even using the word ‘audience’ implies a wrong focus on worship. So, how has the notion of a ‘worship audience’ led to what I’ve named a ‘romantic narcissist’ worship? First, narcissism means to be ‘self-focused.’

“A narcissistic worshiper is one whose primary question is, ‘What’s in it for me?’ The ‘romantic’ angle has to do with the current emphasis on worship as a realized emotional and even romantic relationship with God.”

Narcissism is sometimes defined as “excessive self-admiration and self-centeredness.”  American Christianity is filled with the spirit of narcissism. We are in love with ourselves and evaluate churches and ministries based upon how they make us feel about ourselves. If that person, church or ministry makes me feel good and wanted, then they are a good ministry—or so we think.

In Revelation 3:14-20, the apostle John recounts the words of Jesus regarding the church in Laodicea. This is the last of the seven churches and I think most of us would agree that according to prophecy, we are the Laodicean church. Listen to the words Jesus uses to describe this church: “You say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (3:17, ESV).   

One of the gentle ways to move away from this spirit of deception is to refocus our worship. We need to stop singing worship songs that are essentially about me and my need for affirmation. Our worship needs to be about Him and His saving work on this earth. We need to worship the Creator and not the creation. Worshiping the creation is an exchange of truth and leads to serious problems (see Romans 1:18-25).

True worship does have a powerful impact on the worshiper; when we really enter into worship of God Almighty, He responds by embracing us and we know it because we experience His presence and His joy (see Psalm 22:3).

While at times I am dismayed over much of the current “worship,” I am extremely hopeful about what I believe is being birthed in the church. Over the last 500 years, virtually every time there has been a significant “renewal” or “awakening,” it has been accompanied by a breakthrough or change in worship.

When Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the cathedral door in Wittenburg, Germany, at the same time he was writing some of the great hymns of the church, including “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” This was revolutionary music in a church that for centuries had been chanting or singing psalms set to music. Not everyone greeted this new music with enthusiasm, however. 

In the 1870’s, D. L. Moody and Ira Sankey conducted great evangelistic crusades in the U.S. and England. For over 300 years the church had been singing the great songs of the faith written by men such as Luther and Isaac Watts. Moody and Sankey introduced what would become known as “gospel hymns” where the story of salvation was sung to a recognizable tune. It was revolutionary and not at all well received. When Moody went to England and began to conduct crusades and Sankey started to sing one of the new songs, in some services up to half the crowd walked out of the building in protest.

In the 1960’s, churches began singing worship choruses instead of all the verses of a hymn. That was no small change, and again it was not greeted with universal enthusiasm—but slowly the change was embraced.

What am I saying? I believe that we are on the edge of an explosion of forward progress in the church. I don’t particularly like much of the music of the contemporary church but what my spirit tells me is that worship has not yet found its new voice—but it’s trying to and it will!

We will find the new voice of worship if we are committed to Him and willing to pray, listen and obey.

THE ROCK

I am fascinated with the life of King David. I think the thing that intrigues me most about him is how human he was. Yes, he was known as the greatest warrior king in the history of Israel but at times he also made a mess of his life. David went from being the killer of Goliath to being the seducer of Bathsheba and the murderer of her husband. If David were alive today and applied for ministerial credentials, the majority of evangelical denominations would throw him out on his ear.

Through all his ups and downs spiritually, David found ways to express his love for God. Indeed, he messed up more than once but he also ’fessed up and God forgave him. We can learn much from just observing this aspect of David’s walk before the Lord. Too many of us try very hard to hide our faults from the Lord. We try too hard to solve these issues on our own without His help and continue to make a mess of our lives.

One of the most beautiful expressions of David’s love for the Lord is found in 2 Samuel 22:1-4 and in the parallel passage Psalm 18:1-3. David penned these words in gratitude as he thanked the Lord for protecting and delivering him from his enemies, including King Saul, who was attempting to have David killed. Here is Psalm 18:1-3 (ESV):

“I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.”

When I see repetition, as on the word “rock” in verse two, my curiosity kicks in and I have to try to understand what the writer was saying. In this case the best way for me to grasp the meaning was to go to the original language (Hebrew) and see the meaning for these words.

Twice David speaks of the Lord as being his “rock.” Each of these words is different in the Hebrew and each is rich with meaning for us. Each word expresses an aspect of God’s protection and character that is just as meaningful for us today as it was for David.

The first use of the word rock (cela) suggests the idea of security, shelter, concealment.

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.”

David was forced to run from the assassins of Saul for seven years. After a number of attempts to hide, David and the men with him finally ended up secure in a cave called the Cave of Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1). In fact, David was so well hidden there that when Saul and his army passed by the cave opening, they had no idea that David and his men were inside.

This is a picture of the safety of grace that becomes ours when we put our life fully into the love and care of God through Jesus Christ.

Child of God, don’t let the devil deceive you about your security in Him. As long as your life is hidden with Christ, the devil cannot pry you out of that security.  You are in God’s hands—and God and the devil are not co-equals. The enemy will lie to you! He will play on your emotions and insecurities and tell you he can but he can’t. He is a liar and a deceiver and he is not able to take you from the cleft of the Rock! You are in the fortress of God and even though you may be under attack, the enemy cannot prevail!

In the second part of Psalm 18:2, David exclaims, “My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge.”

This second use of the word rock is taken from the Hebrew word suri and suggests the idea of being strong and immovable, a large mass of rock. The use of the word here is borrowed from Deuteronomy 32:4:

“The Rock (suri), his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”

And Isaiah 26:4:

“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock (suri).”

This second use of the word rock in Psalm 18:2 speaks of more than a hiding place; it speaks of a bedrock foundation, a mass of rock on which a building can be safely built.

Jesus gives us a word picture of being anchored to bedrock in Luke 6:48 when He says, “Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.”

He is my Rock—and I love Him—and I trust Him—and my life is built on Him!

ALL THE FIERY DARTS!

For the last several weeks this blog has been focused on the apostle Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 6:16: “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (ESV). The two previous blogs are archived and can be accessed by clicking on Blog Archives to the left.

Each time we engage in worship, each time we pray in faith, each time we open the Word of God believing that God is going to speak to us, we are performing an act of faith. Each time we step out in faith like this, we are reminding the enemy that a part of our armor is the “shield of faith.”

In war, the Roman legions marched toward the enemy, and the soldiers often banged on their shields with their swords as they marched. The horrific rattling, banging sound of thousands of shields and swords was meant to frighten the enemy. When we raise our shield of faith and declare the “sword of the Spirit (the Word of God)” we are, by faith, declaring the victory of the Lord over all the power of hell.

I recently did some research on what Paul meant when he used the term “flaming/fiery darts.” I always thought he was referring to arrows that had been set on fire, like we see in some of the epic movies. I was close but my understanding was a little incomplete.

When Paul speaks of “flaming darts,” he is speaking from a first century Roman context. The world Paul lived in was dominated by Roman military might. Roman soldiers maintained the rule of Rome throughout the world that Paul lived and ministered in. In fact, Paul constantly used the prevalent Roman soldier to illustrate truths he was teaching.

The “flaming darts” were not exactly arrows. They were more like very thin, hollow pieces of reed or bamboo. Into the hollow portion, flammable liquid was inserted and somehow sealed in. Into one end of the hollow portion a wick was inserted and just before the dart was to be used, the wick was set afire. The soldiers then threw or launched the dart filled with flammable liquid at the enemy. When the projectile hit, it would shatter, splashing the liquid, and setting the burning wick on fire. This was a first century equivalent of a “Molotov cocktail” or an incendiary bomb.

It was to protect against these flaming darts that the Romans got rid of the small metal shields used in warfare and moved to the larger wooden shield covered in leather. The Romans soaked their leather in water before going into battle so that when the flaming darts of the enemy came, the “soaked” leather would extinguish the fire. And we are to raise our “soaked” shields of faith so that when the attacks come, we are ready!

The flaming darts are not primarily going to be attacks on your physical person, attacks of sickness or disease. The majority of the “flaming darts” will be attacks of temptation, lust, greed, disappointment, discouragement, jealousy. The attacks will be against your faith, your mind or your emotions.

The flaming darts of Roman warfare did not look all that lethal, all that menacing. If launched in daylight, you could hardly see the long, thin projectiles coming. While looking innocent in flight, when they impacted and shattered, pain and death was released. How many times have I heard people say that they didn’t understand how dangerous and hurtful their problem would become until it was too late? Thousands and thousands of men and women in the church today are hooked and devastated under the control of pornography because they thought it would be no problem to spend a few minutes of personal time looking at porn. That quick looking was the launching of what seemed like a harmless projectile that exploded in their mind with devastating consequences. Current polls indicate that up to 50 percent of church-going men and over 20 percent of women are addicted to pornography.

When the enemy attacks and attempts to cripple your spirit and control your mind and emotions, it is time to take your stand in faith—it’s time to raise the shield! “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Romans 5:1-2, ESV).

If the embracing of sinful thoughts or sinful behavior opened the door to the attack, then confess that sin according to 1 John 1:9, know that God will forgive you, and then take a stand in the freedom of grace that Jesus Christ has provided for you. Declare that you are God’s child, brought into relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Declare that “greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world” and that the power of the enemy is broken in your life! Declare that you are raising the shield of faith on the authority of the Word and in the name of Jesus! Declare that by the shed blood of Jesus, “I am free!” And declare that the flaming darts of the enemy are extinguished by your faith in God, because God’s Word says so!

SOAKED AND GLAD OF IT!

In my previous blog entitled “Taking up the Whole Armor of God,” I wrote briefly about how Roman soldiers soaked their leather-covered shields before going into battle. In this way, when the enemy shot flaming arrows at them, instead of their wooden shields catching fire, the wet leather would extinguish the fiery darts.

There is a wonderful truth here for us in a world that is becoming increasingly dangerous. The picture of the “soaked” shield extinguishing the flaming arrows of the enemy has a very practical application for us.

First, we need to understand the definition of “soaked.” To be “soaked” means to be thoroughly saturated by immersion in water or another liquid.

I believe Paul wants us to understand that we can be “soaked” as followers of Christ. When we are “soaked” we have a shield of faith that is a strong defensive weapon and it will quench all the fiery darts that the enemy is shooting at us.

The question, then, is how to get “soaked” so that our shields are ready for battle. I don’t think the answer is complicated or requires some kind of extreme sacrifice but it does take effort and discipline on our part. I believe that “soaking” takes place when:

1. We are regularly immersed in the Word

In a recent survey of hundreds of evangelical Christians, only 19 percent indicated that they read the Word daily, and an additional 36 percent said they did so “a few times a month.” Biblical illiteracy among evangelical Christians is at an all-time high. 

God gave Joshua clear instructions for success in his life and ministry: “This Book of the Law (the Word of God) shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).

How did Jesus quench the fiery darts the enemy shot at Him during the wilderness temptation? He answered the devil’s deception with the shield of God’s Word (see Matthew 4:1-11). “Soaking” in the Word means that we are there more than a few times a month!

2. We are regularly immersed in prayer

God talks to us through His Word and we talk to Him in prayer — He wants us to be in “conversation” with Him. Relationship cannot grow without communication.

A tragedy in our current church world is that relationship with God through prayer has been diminished to literally nothing. Prayer gatherings have been phased out in favor of fellowship with each other and teachings on how to be successful at bowling (or something equally innocuous).

A Christian who does not have a meaningful prayer life is a Christian destined for failure in his spiritual life! The soaking of prayer has been replaced with the dryness of contemporary thinking!

Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need.”

3. We are regularly immersed in worship

 “You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3). God responds to the praises of His people who, through their worship, maintain His kingship in their lives.

Worship is important, both at church and during our personal devotional times. Some days during my prayer time, I don’t ask the Lord for a thing; all I want to do is worship Him. I give thanks, I praise Him and I worship in song, and it’s most often during these times of worship that I experience His presence most intensely!

Proud people don’t worship or pray, and God withdraws from the proud (see 1 Peter 5:5). However, He responds to the humble who worship and pray. When we are soaked with His presence we are protected from the snares of the enemy!

“For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite’” (Isaiah 57:15).

4. We are to pray in the Spirit

 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”  (1 Corinthians 6:19).

I often wonder how many Christians really believe that they are indwelt by the living presence of His Spirit. It seems to me that many of us believe it as a concept but not a reality because we tend to live our lives without any overt acknowledgement of the indwelling Holy Spirit. You don’t have to be a Pentecostal/Charismatic to learn to pray in the Spirit and to be soaked “in the Spirit.”

Ephesians 6:18: “Praying at all times in the Spirit.”

Again, it doesn’t have to be lengthy but regular and sincere as we honor the Spirit within us and allow Him to pray through us.

The alternative to being a “soaked” believer is not very attractive. I don’t want to think about trying to protect myself with a shield that would actually add to the ability of the fiery darts of the enemy to burn rather than extinguishing them.

I’m all wet and I intend to stay that way!