Judges: Seven Charateristics of Man-Centered Worship

Chapter 17, begins the long conclusion of the Book of Judges. The reality is, by this point in the book, Israel has walked away from the Lord and is doing whatever is right in their own eyes. Halfhearted devotion has moved away from God-centered worship toward man-centered worship. As you move further and further away from the Lord your love grows colder and colder. Devotion turns into halfhearted devotion which becomes no devotion at all. This decline is evident in the church.

Christians will start off strong, devoted to their Bible reading, prayer, church, and evangelism. Then possibly hardship, but mostly distractions, begin to cause their love to wane the more it consumes worldly things. Where you were once reading your Bible everyday, now its once a week or month. Where you were praying without ceasing, now you barely utter a prayer over a meal. Where you were in church every Sunday, now your attendance is spotty. Ironically, you make sure you hit your kids baseball games, or your leisure activities. Where you once served the church with gladness, you now screen the pastors calls. Where once you sat close to the pulpit to make sure you heard the word, or maybe it was for accountability, now you’ve moved to the back, closer to the door. Maybe I can slip out before I have to speak to anyone. Where once you took your discipleship seriously, now you keep in tentative in case a better option comes up. Something is wrong with your faith. Everything seems to take priority but Jesus.

What is hard to grasp is your realize in the moment that your love has grown cold and that your devotion has become halfhearted. You don’t always recognize that you’ve become comfortable doing what is right in your own eyes, and even get irritated with someone who is being faithful to the Lord. You don’t recognize the danger that your heart has moved from worshiping Jesus to worshiping someone or something else. One of the dangers of halfhearted devotion is

Halfhearted devotion to Jesus leads to man-centered worship.

Micah and his mother are an example people whose halfhearted devotion lead to man-centered worship. As we close out the books of Judges (we have two sermons), chapters 17-18 offer us seven characteristics of man-centered worship that will help us examine our own heart to gage if we are worshiping Jesus well.

Seven Characteristics of Man-Centered worship.

Man-centered worship lacks Christ-centered Character (Judges 17:1-2)

Judges 17:1–2 ESV

1 There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said to his mother, “The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.”

Judges 17 begins with the confession of a crime. Micah stole 1,100 pieces of silvers (approximately 27 pounds of silver) from his mother. He confesses his crime to his mother because she uttered a curse upon whoever took it. You will notice it was not the fear of God that compelled him to confess his sin. His conscience was not pricked by the law of God. He was more concerned with a mystical power his mother could wield over his life than he was offending the Living God. There was no real repentance.

Someone might say that Micah was not all bad. He at least felt some conviction to return the money. Had he been a legit criminal, he would’ve kept the money and lied to his mother. Right, but had he been a true Hebrew living in convent with Yahweh, he wouldn’t have taken the money to begin with, and if he had, his conscience would’ve been troubled the fact that he offended God. He would’ve been concerned with the consequences of breaking God’s commands. What we saw in Sampson is what we see in Micah, he was a morally weak man. He lacked Godly character.

By doing what is right in your own eyes is you define sin on your own terms and you are easily deceived. The consequences of deception is a hardened heart toward the morals and values of the Lord. One of the purposes law was teach Israel how to live rightly with holy God and how to love your neighbor properly. The law and the temple allowed Israel to commune with God, and by communing with God he would make them into his likeness. But what happens when you have halfhearted devotion to the Lord? What happens when you forsake communing with God? Charles Spurgeon says,

If we are weak in communion with God we are weak everywhere.

Charles Spurgeon

On this side of the cross, how does God form your character? He communes with you through His Son. The death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ paved the way for God to dwell with you and for you to commune with Him. God’s goal is to conform you into the image of His Son so that your character looks like His character. But the conforming process is a cooperation. What happens when you do not cooperate with the Spirit? What happens when you grieve the Spirit? You become Micah. His mother knew of Yaweh. Micah Knew of Yahweh. But he did not fear the Lord. His half-hearted devotion made him weak in character. If a church has men of weak character it is because the men have halfhearted devotion to the Lord. Weak men are trapped in man-centered worship and therefore lack Christ-centered character.

Man-centered worship conforms Christ into its own image (Judges 17:3-4)

Judges 17:3–4 ESV

3 And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” 4 So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.

So, Micah’s mother seems very forgiving of her son. In verse 2, she responds to her son by saying, “Bless the Lord.” So good so far. But then in verse 3, Micah’s mother reveals her half-hearted devotion. First, she says she will dedicate the all the money to the Lord. His mother wants to reverse her curse upon her son by consecrating the money to the Lord. But then she only takes 200 pieces of silver . Its like feeling compelled to give a thousand dollars to the Lord’s ministry when the offering plate begins at the front of the church, but when it finally gets to you in the back of the church, you’ve convinced yourself the Lord only needs a hundred dollars, you know, like ten percent. Oddly enough, not only does she short change the offering, but she makes a carved image, an idol, to place in the home.

God has made it clear in Exodus 20:4-5 and Deuteronomy 4:15-17, that man is to never make an idol in his image. There is nothing on earth or in the sky that can capture the fullness of God. When Aaron gathered the gold from al the people and made a calf as an image of God, he wanted to display God’s strength and power. But eh calf fells short of displaying God holiness, compassion, righteousness, and justice. So, idolatry belittles God because nothing in all of creation, or eve heaven, can remotely come close to revealing the fullness of who He is. The only being on earth to ever display fullness of God’s glory is Jesus Christ.

Charles Hodge is right when he says,

Idolatry is everywhere represented in Scripture as the greatest insult the creature can offer the Creator.

Charles Hodge

At some point in Micah’s life, his mother stopped reading or listen to her Torah. It would be equivalent to you putting your Bible up on a shelf to never open it again. By doing this you close your mind and heart to the edification and admonishment of the Lord. You are left to your own heart and your own mind, which John Calvin says is a dangerous thing.

Man’s mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain.

John Calvin

and the consequences of idolatry in your heart, says Oliver Cromwell is that,

Idolatry is anything which cooleth thy desires after Christ.

Oliver Cromwell

Just as Micah and his mother we prone to make God in their own image, so you, friend, are just as prone to do the same. Your heart, as Paul Tripp puts it, is an idol making factory. When you forsake the reading of scripture, or the hearing of God’s word preached, or being in the fellowship of like minded saints who encourage you to worship the open true God, you are left to do what is right in your own eyes. You develop a man-centered worship that creates God in your own image. One who allows you to remain in your sin and has no affection for you or your well being, but instead enslaves you to your passions and evil desires. If your love for Jesus is growing cold, I promise, your heart is loving something else more than he. Your heart is being conformed into the idol, not the Son.

Man-centered worship contaminates Christ-centered worship for convenience (Judges 17:5-6)

Judges 17:5–6 ESV

5 And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Abram and I were walking in Walmart the other day and overheard a woman say something to the affect of, “Why would I go to church? I can listen to the sermon at home on Facebook. In fact, I can listen to whoever I want at home.” As a pastor, and I would think as a believer in Christ, the statement bothered me so much that I wanted to go back and correct the woman. She has the wrong understanding of God’s purpose for your soul, His worship, and the mission of the church. The woman was caught up in the same error as Micah. She contaminated Christ-centered worship for convenience.

God made it clear that he was to be worshiped at a central location; the tabernacle and eventually the temple (Exodus 25:1-9). God set parameters around his worship and gave specific instructions on how sins would be atoned, and where God would speak to His people. And yet, in verse 5-6, Micah is setting up his own sanctuary in his home. He creates a Shrine and even an ephod. The Ephod was worn by the priest. It acted as a symbolic object that helped bring a human being who represented the people of God into the presence of God to inquire of the Lord. Micah ordained his own sons to be priests, a direct violation of God’s ordination of the Levite priesthood. He even set his carved image of Yahweh along side his household gods. Why did he do this? Verse 6, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Doing what is right in your own eyes man-centered worship.

God has revealed himself in His word. He has commanded u to worship Him according to His prerogative. He has not elft us to ourselves to figure it out, or to be led my our own desires. He’s given us His Son, His Spirit, and His Word to lead us, guide, us, and direct us in proper worship. Its as if God says, as Tim Keller puts its, “Worship me as I am, not as you want me to be, and worship me as my heart directs, not as your heart suggests.”

With no commitment to the Word of God, the commands of God, the covenant of God, Micah created his own God whom he worshiped in his own way. Micah created a convenient worship for his convenient god, the kind of god who does not call you to account or demand singleminded heart united loyal love. Its the kind of worship that justifies obeying the commands you like, and forgetting the commands you don’t like.

The lady in the store revealed her convenient god, and it was not Jesus. And to everyone who says you love Jesus but hate his church, or neglect his his church, has set up a convenient god who competes with Jesus. This idea that you can just worship Jesus form your home without any inclination to gather in his house, with his people, on His day, is not only utter nonsense, but is man-centered worship that contaminates Christ centered worship for convenience.

Man-centered worship covets its own interests above Christ-centered service (Judges 17:7-13; 18:6; 18:11-21).

Micah knows enough of His torah to recognize the significance of running into a levite. In verses 17:7-13, Micah invites the Levite to stay with him and be his priest. He would pay him ten pieces of silver, provide. his room and board, and even throw in some clothes. The Levite oddly agrees the to partnership. its odd because you would expect the Levite priest to be at the temple, or at the very least to rebuke Micah for his man-centered home worship. So, Micah is pretty stoked about having a Levite in his house. The Levite priest validates his contaminate worship. But even more, Micah believes that having the priest will give him prosperity.

Judges 17:13 ESV

13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.”

The goal of Micah’s worship was not to know the depth of God’s love and the pleasure of being in His good presence. The goal for Micah was personal prosperity. The Levite was the quarter he needed to put into God’s vending machine to get whatever he wanted, to live his best life now. Again, this is the product of Micah’s man-centered worship. Micah makes the god in his own image. He decided how to worship god and where to worship god. Then he expects the god to give him whatever he desires. Man-centered worship always puts God in a box, to make him a genie, who grants you infinite wishes. This is so far from the truth!

Jesus did not come in the flesh, die on a cross, and rise form the grave because he wanted to exploit you. No, friend, Jesus says,

Mark 10:45 ESV

45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For those who know Jesus, I mean truly know Jesus, long to live the way he lives and to love the way he loves. God arrests our hearts with His Spirit, conforming us into the image of His Son, so that we delight in the prospect of give our lives as a ransom so that others may know the joy of Jesus. Christians who loved Jesus in the New Testament church rejoiced at the plundering of their property, and even being thrown into prison. True hear the words of Paul,

Philippians 3:7–11 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Furthermore, Micah’s god is to small. If Micah can control the worship and favor of his God, that means that his god can be controlled by any other human being. The God of the Bible is the supreme authority of all of heaven and earth. There is no one higher or greater than He. He is able to deliver you and I from sin, death, and eternal condemnation. Why would you serve an idol make by human hands? Why would you give your heart to any other? The God of the Bible sent his son to die for you best interest. That is how kind and compassionate and good he is? Additionally, he pours out his Spirit into your heart so you can love your neighbor and serve them the way Christ has served you. That is the goal of true religion, and of true faith. Man-centered worship covets its own interest believing that serving yourself will bring the most joy. Christ-centered worship puts others interest above their own believing that it is better to give than it is to receive..

Man-centered worship is complacent toward Christ-centered obedience. (Judges 18:1-10)

The tribe of Dan enters the picture in chapter 18. Once again, the chapter opens up with

Judges 18:1 (ESV)

1 In those days there was no king in Israel....

The writer of Judges did not complete the statement with “and everyone was doing what was right i their own eyes,” but the it is implied by what follows.

Judges 18:1 ESV

1 In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the people of Dan was seeking for itself an inheritance to dwell in, for until then no inheritance among the tribes of Israel had fallen to them.

Why id the tribe of Dan still without an inheritance? Why are they looking like a nomadic tribe? They should've been settled already. They are homeless because they did not drive out the Canaanites like their brothers.

Judges 1:34 ESV

34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.

The Danites halfhearted devotion to the Lord made them weak and forced them to be wonderers across the land. They are known for being the weakest tribe of Israel. Tim Keller notes that the Tribe of Dan is not even mentioned in the list of tribes in Revelation 7:7-9. What is going on with this tribe?

The tribe of Dan became complacent in their worship. They never fully committed to the Lord, and essentially, the tribe of Dan is no different that Micah. There is no sense than Dan knows God’s word or obeys his commands. Why else do they stop at Micah’s shrine? When they inquire of the Levite, who is obviously not where he is supposed to be, they don’t acknowledge Yahweh in verse 5. There ask the disobedient Levite if the Lord will grant them success, he says go the eye of the Lord is with you. How can eh say such a thing? He is not an obedient priest. In verse 7-10, The Danites take his word for it and believe that God is with them, but you get the impression that they are running on their own strength. There is no call for the glory of God is instruction of the Lord. The tribe of Dan is doing their own thing, and they will murder a people to get what they want.

So, then the Levite looks really good. Dan offers the Levite an opportunity to be a priest to an entire tribe, not just one mans house. So the Levite feels good about the promotion and joins the. tribe of Dan. And what you have is the Levite having the same heart as Micah using God as an opportunity for his own interest.

Watch the progression of our Levite. he started his ministry in Bethlehem. He moved out of Bethlehem, away form the center of God’s presence, toward the hill country of Ephraim. He participates in idolatrous worship and eventually finds himself outside of the land of God’s people, in Laish. The further he moved away form the Lord, the more complacent his worship got and the more he lacked joyful obedience to the Lord.

I see this happen to pastors all the time. They keep moving from church to church always taking the money. Bigger churches offer bigger money, as it goes. At some point, they forget their calling to ministry. There have been many men I have spoken to who took the money and find themselves in the wilderness. For the sake of self-promotion they lost their intimacy with the Lord.

I have also seen this with the church. So many Christians will take the new job for the money not considering the spiritual consequences on their soul or their family. Just because the door opens doe not mean you are to walk through it. There are times to not take the money. Or, how many times have Christians started on fire for the Lord, only to neglect their Bible reading, discipleship, and fellowship with the saints because they are working eighty hours a week. In the name of self-promotion, you walk away from the Lord. Your faith becomes halfhearted. Your worship becomes man-centered. Your obedience becomes complacent.

Man-centered worship leaves you empty (Judges 18:22-26).

In verse 22-26, the Danites rob Micah of his shrine and his priests. Micah is not happy they is god was stolen, so he mounts up a small army and he catches up to the tribe of Dan. Dan is ready to fight for his idols and his priest, but he sees Dan’s army and hears Dan say,

Judges 18:25 ESV

25 And the people of Dan said to him, “Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household.”

Micha quickly realizes his small army is no match for Dan.

Judges 18:26 ESV

26 Then the people of Dan went their way. And when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his home.

Micah went home godless. That is plight of idolatry. Micah had to fight for his god, and when the army was to big for him, he lost his god. His idol leaves him empty. Tim Keller, once again, hits the nail on its head,

“In the end, self-made religion will disappoint. Whatever we make into our god—money, power, relationships or even a reduced, man-made version of the biblical God—will not deliver.” Tim Keller

Everyone worships something or someone. You find out what it is when someone tries to take it or they loose it. How do you respond when someone takes your money or your reputation? How do you respond when the person you want so desperately to love you, gives their love to someone else? How do your respond when the doctor says it terminal? How do you respond to your job when it forces you to bow down to its demands? Are you empty? DO you lie to yourself with wishful thinking? Or do you says with Job, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; but blessed be His name.”

Jesus came to give you life, and to give it to you abundantly. He says to your hungry heart,

John 6:35 ESV

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

Matthew 5:6 ESV

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Where man-centered worship leaves you empty, Christ-centered worship leaves you satisfied. Charles Spurgeon says,

Only sanctified souls are satisfied souls.

Charles Spurgeon

Desire only God, and your heart will be satisfied.

Augustine of Hippo

Had Micah had a single minded heart united loyal love for Yaweh, he would’ve never had to fight for his god. He would’ve never felt the sadness of loosing his god. He would’ve never walked away empty. God does not require you to fight in order to keep him, he fights for you and wins. God never looses nor forsake his people. His Son secures your soul with His Spirit. Those in Christ will aways know the satisfaction of the Lord

Man-centered Worship forsakes the next generation (Judges 18:30-31)

Lastly, in an odd turn of events, we learn the name of the Levite and his lineage.

Judges 18:30 ESV

30 And the people of Dan set up the carved image for themselves, and Jonathan the son of Gershom, son of Moses, and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the land.

It’s Moses great grandson. The great grandson of Moses is a disobedient Levite priest who is living with the morally bankrupt tribe of Dan outside the Promise land. How can this be? Don Carson has som wisdom on this. He once said,

“One generation knows the gospel, the next assumes it, and the third loses it.” Don Carson

Halfhearted devotion assumes the gospel and does not pass it on to the next generation. A careful galnce at Psalm 78 reveals that God’s people were stubborn and forgetful.

Psalm 78:11 (ESV)

11 They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them.

Psalm 78:22 (ESV)

22 because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.

Psalm 78:32 (ESV)

32 In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe.

Psalm 78:37 (ESV)

37 Their heart was not steadfast toward him; they were not faithful to his covenant.

Psalm 78:58 (ESV)

58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places; they moved him to jealousy with their idols.

Israel’s halfhearted devotion to Lord manifested unbelief and idolatry, yet their still believed they were in right standing with the Lord. The assumed the covenant blessings and neglected to teach the works of the Lord to their children. Their children saw through their halfhearted faith and walked say form the Lord.

Parents, if your faith in Christ is halfhearted, then you are setting your children up to walk away form the Lord. Your kids will see the worth of Jesus by how you value Jesus. They will see the consistency and reliability of the faith when they see the same truth being valued and taught at home as it is in the church. If you have a single minded heart united loyal love for Jesus in your church, community, and home, your children will have the benefit of seeing the works of the Lord. But if you think you can come to church and act one way, and then neglect to read your bible or disciple your children or pray over your family in the house, your children will see through your hypocrisy and church and Christ will be nothing more than an ideology to them.

With that said, you can have the best Christian home, soaked in prayer and scripture, and your children still walk away. Parents, you are not called to save your children. You are called to testify of Jesus and let him save your children. Your testimony is more believable when you don’t put stumbling blocks in front of your children's faith; like idolatry, complacency, unfaithfulness, and man-centered worship.

If these seven characteristics fell on you hard, and you realize that maybe your love has grown cold for Jesus. Repent. Turn from your sin, and commit to having a single minded heart united loyal love for Him. Do not walk away mad and angry. He invites you to the cross to be forgiven and satisfied. He welcomes you to renew your commitment to His fellowship. He’s eager to walk with you, to empower you to joyfully advance his kingdom by making much of Jesus until teh church, community, and home joyfully abide in Jesus.