One of my great concerns about church is reflected in a quote by A.W. Tozer
Christians don’t tell lies they just go to church and sing them.
Isaiah 29:13 states,
These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
And in John 4:23 Jesus tells the Samaritian woman,
the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
It seems so simple when it happens to us. Someone says you did a good job or that they like your haircut or whatever, but you know they don’t. They told you with their words, but you could see right through it. Why do we think we can fake out God?
When someone straight up lies to you not only do you not recieve the fake compliment, but it probably starts to turn you off from the person. (At least that is how is works for me.) It ruins the relationship.
God doesn’t only percieve that we are not genuine (uh hum… LYING) He knows! Peter in John 21:17 states to Jesus, “you know everything” and 1 John 3:20 states, “he knows everything.”
I can’t think of anything in the Bible that says we have to sing when we go to church. I think God would rather us just shut up if we can’t sing in truth.
It seems apparent when we look at John 4:23 that God desires worship to be given in truth. Additionally, looking at Isaiah 29:13 is seems important that we are aware of our hearts, which should be postured in the same direction as the lyrics of the song.
Worship is not just a sing-a-long; it is a service to God that demands us to be truthful in what we are offering to the Creator of the universe.
thoughts on worship 