When Humanism Invades the Church

Introduction

If you were to ask 10 different Christians to define worship you might get 10 different answers. Some automatically associate music with worship. Certainly music can be used in worship, but worship is so much more. Some people will say, “Lets worship the Lord with our tithes and offerings.” Giving is certainly an expression of worship, but again its so much more. Others associate Sunday with worship…Sometimes people will say, “Join us for our worship service.” While I hope we worship the Lord on Sunday and in our time together, I hope you are worshipping the Lord Monday-Saturday as well.

Someone has defined worship this way:

An act or practice expressing devotion, reverence, and adoration towards God

Worth-ship

Scripture Introduction

In the passage before us we see some individuals who choose to try to worship God the wrong way and for the wrong reasons.

To understand this passage of Scripture we must pay careful attention to the first few verses, otherwise we will not know what is going on. It’s always important to interpret Scripture within the context of what is happening…we find out what is happening in Judges 17:1-2

Judges 17:1–2 NKJV

Now there was a man from the mountains of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. And he said to his mother, “The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from you, and on which you put a curse, even saying it in my ears—here is the silver with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my son!”

We are introduced to Micah, as “a man from the mountains of Ephraim.” We find out very quickly a few things about Micah:

He had stolen 1100 shekels of silver from his mother

Although his mother did not know who had stolen the money, she had put a curse upon whomever the guilty party was

Micah confesses to his mother that he is the guilty one

Now notice what happens next

Judges 17:3 ESV

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.”

He gives the silver back to his mother, and it appears that all is forgiven. It also APPEARS that his mother is going to do a good thing as a result of receiving her money back…She says that she is going to “dedicate the silver to the Lord.” But then notice again what she says next…She’s going to take this silver and use it “to make a carved and a metal image” and give it to her son.

DOES ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM WITH THIS?

Even though she says it’s going to be “dedicated” to the Lord, Micah is going to maintain possession of it.

She’s going to use the silver to make a “graven image” which had been strictly forbidden by God!

Exodus 20:4 NKJV

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

Deuteronomy 4:16 NKJV

lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure: the likeness of male or female,

Notice a third problem in Judges 17:4

Judges 17:4 NKJV

Thus he returned the silver to his mother. Then his mother took two hundred shekels of silver and gave them to the silversmith, and he made it into a carved image and a molded image; and they were in the house of Micah.

Notice what Micah does next…keep in mind he has been influenced by his idolatrous mother...

Judges 17:5–6 ESV

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. In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Micah has a shrine that is full of idols and religious objects of worship. He then ordains one of his sons as a priest and the author of Judges concludes this section by saying,

Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

A couple of weeks ago when we looked a Samson we were reminded that it was said of Samson’s wife that “she was right in his eyes.” We talked about how this indicated that Samson chose to do things “his way” even if it meant rebelling against God’s way.

Today we see Micah, and his mother, and his son doing the very same thing...

As we think about that we need to be reminded...

Humanism is About Our Preferences or Convenience—True Worship is Not (Judges 17:1-6)

In the church world today you hear a lot about worship styles.

Someone may ask questions like these:

Is your worship traditional or contemporary

Is your worship modern or old fashioned

Are you more of a liturgical church

Then you hear people say, “I like an ‘old-fashioned’ service.” I think what most people mean by that is, “I remember a certain atmosphere or a certain style from my childhood or my younger days that gave me a certain feeling, and I want that back.”

But they really don’t want an “old-fashioned” service.

They don’t want to meet in homes like they did in the book of Acts

They don’t want to meet in a building with no electricity, no running water, no indoor plumbing

They don’t want to use the book of Psalms as their song book

They don’t want to use instruments from 2,000 years ago

They don’t want to go back to having no sound tracks, no audio-visual, no microphones, no air conditioning, no heat.

They don’t want to go back to the days of only having the Law and the Prophets to read and hear sermons from

THAT WOULD BE REALLY OLD-FASHIONED!

Dear Christian, wake up and realize that WORSHIP IS NOT ABOUT YOU, IT’S NOT ABOUT ME, IT’S NOT ABOUT A CERTAIN GENERATION, IT’S NOT ABOUT A PARTICULAR MUSIC OR PREACHING STYLE, IT’S NOT ABOUT STAINED-GLASS OR COLORFUL LIGHTS...

Francis Chan said:

By catering our worship to the worshippers and not to the Object of our worship, I fear we have created human-centered churches.

WORSHIP IS ABOUT GIVING HONOR AND GLORY TO GOD AND RECOGNIZING THE VALUE AND WORTH OF THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS!

The problem with Micah and his mother is that they REDEFINED worship into something God never intended worship to be about.

God never intended worship to be about things, but about HIM.

God never intended worship to be about images one could hold in their hand, but rather about the GOD who created man in His image.

God never intended worship to be about something we could MAKE, but rather about the ONE who MADE it all!

God never intended worship to be about a place, but about the PERSON of the Lord Jesus!

God never intended for worship to be about what is “right” in our eyes, but rather what is “RIGHT” in HIS EYES!

In John 4 you may remember the discussion Jesus had with the woman at the well. Let’s go back there for just a moment:

John 4:20–24 NKJV

Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Did you notice the word “MUST.”

You can put whatever label you want to on “worship” but God says two things BETTER be true of GENUINE WORSHIP...

It must be SPIRIT led

It must be based upon TRUTH

Micah and his mother did their own thing, they were religious, they had a shrine, they had the Christian bumper stickers on their chariots, they were dialed in to the Christian radio station...

BUT THEY WEREN’T PLEASING TO GOD!

If you want to be pleasing to God in your worship it better be about the SPIRIT and the TRUTH!

I’ll close this point with this:

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 7: Judges / Ruth (Set Up Your Own Shrine)

Micah was determined to worship God in the way he wanted to...But actually what Micah was doing was an abomination in God’s eyes. All that he had succeeded in doing was to mirror the pagan culture all around him, of which he was increasingly a part, by bringing the Creator God who made him, the covenant Lord to whom he owed his very existence, down to his own human level.

Second...

Humanistic Worship Becomes About Manipulation (Judges 17:7-13)

Notice with me the next few verses

Judges 17:7–13 NKJV

Now there was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah; he was a Levite, and was staying there. The man departed from the city of Bethlehem in Judah to stay wherever he could find a place. Then he came to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. And Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” So he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am on my way to find a place to stay.” Micah said to him, “Dwell with me, and be a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten shekels of silver per year, a suit of clothes, and your sustenance.” So the Levite went in. Then the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man became like one of his sons to him. So Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and lived in the house of Micah. Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”

So let’s get this picture together. A young man, who was a Levite from Bethlehem was looking for a place to stay and Micah said, “Hey you can come stay with me. Better yet, since you are a Levite, you can be my priest and I’ll provide food, lodging, clothing…I’ll treat you like one of the family.

This young Levite thought he was being offered a pretty good deal so he agrees. But I want you to notice again what Micah says in Judges 17:13

Judges 17:13 NKJV

Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since I have a Levite as priest!”

So in Micah’s mind, he’s thinking that since he has a priest who is from the right tribe living with him and working for him and helping him with all his religious stuff...

“THE LORD WILL BE GOOD TO ME NOW...”

Now God will be obligated to be good to me since I’ve checked a “spiritual box”...

Basically Micah looked at this Levite as “his good luck charm”

Judges On Misreading God

When people associate divine favor simply with religious possessions and behaviors, they put God into the role of a convenient and manageable checklist.

Let me remind us all:

God is not Santa Claus

God is not a “genie” in a bottle

God is not a “sugar daddy”

God is not a puppet

God is GOD!

If you think God can be manipulated by what you give, or by what you wear, or by your talents, or by how much time you spend doing religious things, you do not understand what it means to worship the King of kings and Lord of Lords...

Nelson’s Annual Preacher’s Sourcebook, 2007 Edition January 28, 2007: The Fear of the Lord

We were created to be worshipers. The problem is that we want a religion where we are in control, a god who will legitimatize how we want to live, and a god who we can manipulate to do what we want. So we make and worship idols and dethrone the true God from His rightful place in our lives and in our societies.

GENUINE WORSHIP IS NOT SELF-SERVING, IT IS SELF-DENYING!

GENUINE WORSHIP IS NOT ABOUT CONTROLLING GOD, BUT YIELDING TO HIS CONTROL!

While Micah was guilty of trying to manipulate God, that mentality is still alive and well today.

One of the most abusive places it is seen is in what people often refer to as the “prosperity gospel.”

These so call preachers insinuate if you

have enough faith you can manipulate God into making you well.

if you give enough money to their ministry you can manipulate God into making you rich.

if you say enough positive words you can manipulate God into giving you the promotion at work.

Maybe you’ve heard of Benny Hinn. He’s one of the biggest promoters of this false teaching out there today. However, have you ever heard of Costi Hinn? Costi is Benny’s nephew and he has had the backbone to call his uncle out regarding this false teaching.

Costi says:

Since the prosperity gospel demands God do whatever people want based on what they do, it essentially makes God the puppet and mankind the puppet master. Your faith, your offering, your demands, all make God do what you say he must.

It all boils down to what we are SEEKING...

Are we seeking GOD or are we seeking what God can give, or what God can do, or what God can provide?

Are we seeking the GIFT or the GIVER?

Are we seeking the CREATION or the CREATOR?

Are we seeking the BENEFITS or the BENEFACTOR?

Are we seeking the TEMPORARY or the ETERNAL?

Are we seeking a FAIRY TALE or the AUTHOR OF TRUTH?

Romans 1:22–25 NKJV

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Micah said, “I don’t really want the God of the Bible, I don’t really want to worship Him in Spirit and in TRUTH, I just want His blessings and benefits, so I’ll figure out a way to manipulate God and hire this Levite to help me out.

BUT GOD CANNOT BE MANIPULATED!

Let’s take a look at Judges 18:1-4

Judges 18:1–4 NKJV

In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for itself to dwell in; for until that day their inheritance among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them. So the children of Dan sent five men of their family from their territory, men of valor from Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and search it. They said to them, “Go, search the land.” So they went to the mountains of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. While they were at the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. They turned aside and said to him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What do you have here?” He said to them, “Thus and so Micah did for me. He has hired me, and I have become his priest.”

Judges 18:14–20 NKJV

Then the five men who had gone to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their brethren, “Do you know that there are in these houses an ephod, household idols, a carved image, and a molded image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” So they turned aside there, and came to the house of the young Levite man—to the house of Micah—and greeted him. The six hundred men armed with their weapons of war, who were of the children of Dan, stood by the entrance of the gate. Then the five men who had gone to spy out the land went up. Entering there, they took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image. The priest stood at the entrance of the gate with the six hundred men who were armed with weapons of war. When these went into Micah’s house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household idols, and the molded image, the priest said to them, “What are you doing?” And they said to him, “Be quiet, put your hand over your mouth, and come with us; be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest to the household of one man, or that you be a priest to a tribe and a family in Israel?” So the priest’s heart was glad; and he took the ephod, the household idols, and the carved image, and took his place among the people.

Humanistic Worship is about the Created not the Creator (Judges 18)

Micah had given this priest a pretty good deal.

He gave him silver

He gave him clothing

He gave him everything he needed…but what happens when another group comes along and offers him a better deal?

HE TAKES THE BETTER DEAL, BECAUSE FOR THIS PRIEST, IT BECAME ABOUT WHAT HE COULD GET OUT OF IT, RATHER THAN ABOUT GOD AND HIS WORD AT ALL.

True worship is never about WHAT I GET OUT OF IT, or “WHAT CAN I GET OUT OF IT.”

While I do not agree with Rick Warren on everything I do agree with what he said about worship...

If you have ever said, “I didn’t get anything out of worship today,” you worshiped for the wrong reason. Worship isn’t for you. It’s for God. (Rick Warren)

This concept of “what can I get out of it” goes right along with trying to manipulate God for our gain.

Worship is not about us, worship is about HIM!

The Teacher’s Commentary 142: Eph. 1–2—One People

Not only is worship vital because God merits our praise; it is important to the worshiper. Only when we shift our gaze from ourselves and our inadequacies to God and His power of endless life can we believe that we too have been “raised up with Christ and seated … in the heavenly realms” (v. 6). Worship is not selfish; we do not worship God because of the benefits we receive. Yet in losing ourselves in praise and adoration, we discover more of who God is. And an adequate view of God will free us from the bondage of our own inadequacies.

Worship is about ascribing WORTH to the infinitely valuable King and Lord. We must learn to SHIFT OUR GAZE FROM OURSELVES TO GOD AND HIS POWER!

We must FOCUS ON WHO GOD IS and what HE IS WORTHY OF, not who we are and what we prefer.

I wonder if any of us need to confess any of the following sins that have been reflected in this passage today:

The Sin of Selfishness & Self-Centeredness

When we make worship about us we are allowing HUMANISM to creep into our lives and churches.

Paris Reidhead said:

Humanism is a philosophy that declares the end of all being is the happiness of man…IT IS UTTER AND TOTAL CONTRAST WITH CHRISTIANITY…And here we find Micah, who wants to have a little chapel, and he wants to have a priest, and he wants to have prayer, and he wants to have devotion, because “I know the LORD will do me good!” AND THIS IS SELFISHNESS! AND THIS IS SIN!

You see the end of all being is the GLORY OF GOD and when God is glorified happiness and joy for the believer will be a BY-PRODUCT of our worship, but that is not the GOAL of our worship!

The Sin of Manipulation (Whether it be of God or Others)

Worship is not about getting, it’s about giving…Giving to God the honor, praise, glory, and majesty that He deserves.

Salvation

Today I want you to be saved. I want you to surrender your life to Christ. Why? Because you were created to bring God glory and to magnify Him with you life and you cannot do that while you are dead in your sins.

-Salvation is not just so you can go to heaven—that is a by-product

-Salvation is not just so you can find meaning and purpose in life—that is a by-product

-You need to be born-again in order to magnify and glorify your Creator as He intended!

Rededication

-Have you been trying to manipulate God? Be honest. He already knows.

-You’ve been trying to strike a deal with Him. You think in the back of your mind that you are playing a chess game with God and you are saying, “Well if I do this, then maybe God will do that, and I’ll get what I want.”

-HOW ABOUT QUIT PLAYING GAMES WITH GOD TODAY AND JUST ASK HIM WHAT HE WANTS? HOW DOES HE WANT TO USE YOU AND YOUR LIFE!

BAPTISM

-Maybe as a believer today you need to surrender to Him in baptism to identify with Him in His DEATH, burial and resurrection