God's Voice in Worship PT2

Deeply immersed in meditation during a church service, Italian poet Dante Alighieri failed to kneel at the appropriate moment. His enemies hurried to the bishop and demanded that Dante be punished for his sacrilege. Dante defended himself by saying, "If those who accuse me had had their eyes and minds on God, as I had, they too would have failed to notice events around them, and they most certainly would not have noticed what I was doing."

This morning we discussed what worship is and isn’t, and started with the first two hindrances that stop us from hearing God’s voice in worship. Let’s look at the 5 hindrances again...

5 Hindrances in Worship

1. Intellectualism

2. Idealism

3. Imperialism

4. Isolationism

5. Institutionalism

The first hindrance that I mentioned was intellectualism. This is the doctrine that knowledge comes from pure reason, without aid from the senses. So the person who practices intellectualism in their form of worship tend to intellectualize their worship and evaluate it based on the purpose, process and implications involved in every aspect of it. The second hindrance was idealism. This type of hindrance is usually based on the supposition that worship is only genuine when it includes that which is familiar to our own cultural experience based on the right formula. The person committed to this attitude believes that true worship can only be that from which they were taught and experienced – deep with traditions from years past. This morning we will continue with the last four hindrances. Again I remind you of what God said in

1 Samuel 16:7 CSB

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

Hindrances in Worship

1. Intellectualism

2. Idealism

3. Imperialism

Imperialism is often seen side by side with idealism. A person with an imperialistic attitude will attempt to dominate the affairs of worship by controlling the planning and presentation of the service. Can you see how imperialism will line up side by side with idealism? Remember with the idealistic attitude the person would say “We never did it that way at my old Church”? Well, with imperialism, this individual would say, “The way we worshipped in my old Church was really the best way of worship and since I am in charge of this program, we will be doing it the way that I want.” The prevailing attitude of someone practicing imperialism is that worship is not true worship if he or she is not in charge of the program. (Remember, they know how it is supposed to be done.) Let me give you a few examples of imperialism within the Church so that you clearly see how it is operating, both in the Church and within our lives.

o There are churches influenced by imperialism when rejecting the biblical principle of “the priesthood of believers” in preference to exclusive leadership in corporate worship by the clergy.

o There are churches that might demonstrate imperialism by controlling music selection for worship – for the purpose of protecting the congregation from unnecessary form and structure.

o There are churches that might practice imperialism by making the claim that God deserves only hymns, hymns that have passed the test of time, while rejecting anything created for worship in this century.

o There are churches that might practice imperialism by making the claim that all services must be “Spirit-filled” as evidence by someone shouting and/or speaking in tongues.

o There are churches that might be guilty of imperialism when making the test for successful worship a “new word from God” during each of the weekly services. (A new word from God coming from someone speaking in an unknown tongue.)

o There are churches that might be guilty of imperialism when they mandate that musical instruments should not be a part of any worship service.

Imperialism often compels those in charge to design emotionally satisfying stimuli as a means for people to know and communicate with God. Think about it. How many worship services have you attended when people were emotional and you left there thinking that the “Spirit” really moved during that service? Or how many services have you attended where the speaker jumped through hoops in order to get the audience into the message and it always comes at a certain point in the message? We are so accustomed to seeing certain things take place in our worship service that we do not even notice or think about the why.

John 16:13–14 CSB

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.

If this is what the Holy Spirit is supposed to be doing and we actually allow Him to be a part of our worship service, can’t you imagine what will happen when He steps in? Yes I know some of you may be asking "how can you tell the Holy Spirit from someone “trying” to be spiritual?" As we grow in our personal relationship with Christ, we will likewise become more sensitive to the Spirit of God and we will be able to hear Him when He whispers “that which you are seeing is not of Me, do not be swayed, stand still.” We will begin to understand and sense in our spirits when something (or someone) is not quite right. But my point with this is that we should invite the Holy Spirit into our services, not with just our mouths, but primarily with our hearts and not be so focused on the flow of the program but the Spirit behind the program.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 CSB

Don’t stifle the Spirit.

5 Hindrances in Worship

1. Intellectualism

2. Idealism

3. Imperialism

4. Isolationism

The fourth hindrance to our worship is isolationism. This one is the hardest to conquer because it is birthed and sustained by fear. I have talked with you in the past about how our enemy will try to get us to feel isolated so that we will not reach out for help in our time of need. He uses fear, embarrassment and suspicions to keep us weary of sharing what we are truly experiencing. When it comes to worship, people feel isolated when their experience is not the same as someone else’s or they are afraid to truly enter into worship. They fear losing control of their emotions, displaying too much emotion or showing too little emotion, fear of being unscriptural and the fear of man. I was talking with my sister last week and she asked me if it was scriptural to shout because she had heard what another minister had said on the subject. Again, people will always try to say what is or is not acceptable based on what they can find in the Scripture. But trying to verify all of the reference points of what we should and should not do leads us into isolationism. Oftentimes when we are in the greatest need of support we will isolate ourselves so no one will know what is going on with us.

The prophet Elijah lived a life that was solely committed to God. He walked and ministered in the power of God, predicting the beginning and end of a three year drought. He stood resolute against the evil king Ahab and Queen Jezebel, predicting their slaughter and unexpected deaths. (Instead of worshipping the true God, Ahab and his wife Jezebel worshipped Baal, the most popular Canaanite god.) In 1 Kings 18, we find a situation where Elijah challenges 450 pagan prophets at Mount Carmel to battle the living, true God, Jehovah. They erected an altar with a sacrifice of an ox and each was to call on their god to consume the sacrifice with fire. Well you know the story, the prophets of Baal called out to Baal all day long to no avail. In the afternoon they began to cut themselves as if their blood would make Baal answer. When evening came and it was Elijah’s turn, he had them fill pitchers of water to pour on the altar: he had them soak it completely until water flowed around the altar and filled the trench. When He called on God, God showed up in a hurry. The fire from God consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust and licked up all of the water in the trench. When the people saw it, they fell on their face and worshipped God and subsequently slew all of the prophets of Baal. Elijah understood the power or God and the wondrous acts that God could perform. Now with this knowledge and his most recent victory, you’d think Elijah would not fear anyone or anything after that.

1 Kings 19:1–4 CSB

Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods punish me and do so severely if I don’t make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow!” Then Elijah became afraid and immediately ran for his life. When he came to Beer-sheba that belonged to Judah, he left his servant there, but he went on a day’s journey into the wilderness. He sat down under a broom tree and prayed that he might die. He said, “I have had enough! Lord, take my life, for I’m no better than my ancestors.”

When God speaks to him, He reminds him that he is not alone and that there are one hundred prophets who were in hiding that was still faithful to the one true Lord. He also reminded him of the more than seven thousand others who were standing true in their worship of God. You see, Elijah’s isolation led him to depression and a misguided perception of the true work of God and this is what is happening with many Christians today.

Many Christians approach corporate worship with the idea that they are the only ones “doing it right”. They have the formula; they have the tried and true method that has been perfected; they have it right. They forget that worship starts in the heart and like Elijah; we sometimes throw a pity party and convince ourselves and others around us that we are the only ones doing it right and with a true heart. We use various excuses to isolate ourselves from others who threaten us and we close our ears, hearts and minds to those who do things differently from what we have grown accustomed to in our small world. When we do this, we quickly become isolated, even though we may be standing in a room full of people. Isolationism leaves the Church, the pastors, worship leaders, teachers, musicians, etc, uninformed, alone and desperate. When any of us isolate ourselves we fall victim to self-centeredness with the end result being a crushed spirit and a life void of a living faith or worship. So if you are operating on a much higher level than those around you, you might be isolating yourself and you may need to come back to reality where you understand that we cannot see into each other’s hearts, only God can. What we see outwardly may or may not what is in the person’s heart.

Hindrances in Worship

1. Intellectualism

2. Idealism

3. Imperialism

4. Isolationism

5. Institutionalism

The fifth hindrance to worship is institutionalism. When I think of this one my mind goes back to Churches I’ve attended that did things the same way because they thought they were right. But get this, they thought they were right not because of some proof that they had received, but because this is the way they had always done it and since it had always been done that way it must be right. This, my friends, is institutionalism. Those with this attitude are hostile toward anyone seeking to create an environment for change. Instead, commitment to tradition is the catalyst for authentic worship. Issues such as relevance to changing culture, sincerity of heart, love for God and the dynamic work of the Holy Spirit do not play important roles in worship. Rather, worship serves as an agent for continuing and preserving practices and traditions of previous generations. When we consider how we adopt the attitude of institutionalism in our worship service, it is easy to identify if you know what to look for. Consider some of the people who have visited our Church once and never returned. Our services were foreign to them and it was not what they were accustomed to. When they walk in and see people in the choir wearing jeans instead of suits and dresses; that is a concern for them. When we visit another Church and find ourselves looking around and thinking “Wow, we are so much more advanced than these people are” we too could be institutionalized in our thinking. You see, whenever we begin to think that we have it, that our way is the right way and there is no other way but our way; that our traditions are the right ones because we have had them the longest so our services must be right, we are institutionalized.

As we think about what it means to be institutionalized in our thinking, I want to take you back to the Children of Israel as they were preparing to come out of Egypt. I want you to notice their mindset as it pertained to God as they were praying to leave; as they left, and when they were at the Red Sea. You see, one of the key components of being institutionalized in your thinking is that you always return to what is comfortable and familiar for you.

Tell the story at the Mt Sinai.

Now let’s bring move to today, in the Christian Church. God is trying to bring us out of Egypt. Our Egypt is going to Church Sunday after Sunday, to go through the same order of service year after year so we can say we went to Church. To begin to truly worship God in our hearts, we must come to Him. When God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, He was bringing them to Himself. He wanted them in His presence. He wanted to have a relationship with them where they could trust Him and He could trust them. This required something on their part – they had to leave where they were. They had to leave Egypt.

When we come out of our isolation and institutionalism, God will be there to meet us – to take us in. He will be there to show us through His Spirit what it means to fully worship Him.