Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name (Psalm 29:2).

It’s Sunday around noonish. As the congregation files out of the sanctuary heading toward the parking lot, listen closely and you will hear it.

It’s a common refrain voiced near the exit doors of churches all across this land.

“I didn’t get anything out of that today.” “I didn’t get anything out of the sermon.” “I didn’t get anything out of that service.” “I guess her song was all right, but I didn’t get anything out of it.”

Sound familiar? Not only have I heard it countless times over these near-fifty years in the ministry, I probably have said it a few times myself.

This is like dry rot in a congregation. Like a termite infestation in the building. Like an epidemic afflicting the people of the Lord, one which we seem helpless to stop.

But let’s try. Let’s see if we can make a little difference where you and I live, in the churches where we serve and worship. We might not be able to help all of them, but if we bless one or two, it will have been time well spent.

1. You are Not Supposed to ‘Get Anything Out of the Service’

Worship is not about you and me. Not about “getting our needs met.” Not about a performance from the pastor and singer and choir and musicians. Not in the least.

2. Worship is About the Lord

“Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name.” That Psalm 29:2 verse atop our article today is found also in I Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 96:8. It deserves being looked at closely.

a) We are in church to give. Not to get.

Now, if I am going somewhere to “get,” but find out on arriving, I am expected to “give,” I am one frustrated fellow. And that is what is happening in the typical church service. People walk out the door frustrated because they didn’t “get.” The reason they didn’t is that they were not there to “get,” but to “give.”

Someone should have told them.

b) We are giving glory to God. Not to man.

We know that. At least we say we do. How many times have we recited, “…for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory”? And how often have we sung, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”?

c) We do so because glory is His right. He is “worthy of worship.”

This is the theme of the final book of the Bible.

“Who is worthy?” (Rev. 5:2)
“You are worthy…for you were slain, and have redeemed us” (Rev. 5:9).
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” (Rev. 5:12).
3. Self-centeredness Destroys All Worship

If my focus is on myself when I enter the church–getting my needs met, learning something, hearing a lesson that blesses me, being lifted by the singing–then Christ has no part in it. He becomes my servant, and the pastor (and all the other so-called performers) are there only for me. It’s all about me.

We have strayed so far from the biblical concept of worship–giving God His due in all the ways He has commanded–it’s a wonder we keep going to church. And it’s an even greater wonder that our leaders keep trying to get us to worship.

The poor preacher! Trying to cater to the insatiable hungers of his people, even the best and most godly among them, is an impossible task. One week he gets it right and eats up the accolades. Then, about the time he thinks he has it figured out, the congregation walks out grumbling that they got nothing out of the meal he served today.

The typical congregation in the average church today really does think the service is all about them–getting people saved, learning the Word, receiving inspiration to last another week, having their sins forgiven, taking an offering to provision the Lord’s work throughout the world.

Anything wrong with those things? Absolutely not. But if we go to church to do those things, we can do them. But we will not have worshiped.

Warren Wiersbe says, “If you worship because it pays, it will not pay.”

4. Evangelism & Discipleship, Giving & Praying, Grow Out of Worship; Not the Other Way Around

The disciples were worshiping on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled them and drove them into the streets to bear a witness to the living Christ (Acts 2).

Isaiah was in the Temple worshiping when God appeared to him, forgave his sins, and called him as a prophet to the people (Isaiah 6).

It was in the act of worship that the two distraught disciples had their eyes opened to recognize Jesus at their table (Luke 24).

5. We are to Give Him Worship and Glory in the Ways Scripture Commands

“Give to the Lord the glory due His name and bring an offering.” So commands I Chronicles 16:29 and Psalm 96:8.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and contrite heart–these, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)

Singing, praise, rejoicing. Praying, offering, humbling, loving. All these are commanded in worship at various places in Scripture.

The Lord Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, “Those who worship God must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). That is, with their inner being, the totality of themselves, their spirit, not just their lips or their bodies going through the motions. And in truth–the revealed truth of how God has prescribed worship to take place. He is not pleased with “just anything” that we claim as worship.

We must balance our worship between spirit (the subjective part: body, soul, emotions) and truth (the objective aspect: all that God has revealed in His word).

6. We Are the Ones Who Decide Whether We Worship upon Entering the House of the Lord

Don’t blame the preacher if you don’t worship. He can’t do it for you.

No one else can eat my food for me, love my cherished ones in my place, or do my worshiping for me.

No pastor can decide or dictate whether we will worship by the quality of his leadership or the power of his sermon. Whether I worship in today’s service has absolutely nothing to do with how well he does his job.

I am in charge of this decision. I decide whether I will worship.

When Mary sat before the Lord Jesus, clearly worshiping, He informed a disgruntled Martha that her sister had “chosen the good part,” something that “will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:42). That something special was time spent in worship. Such moments or hours are eternal.

Lest someone point out that Martha could have worshiped in her kitchen by her service for Christ, we do not argue, but simply point out that she was not doing so that day.

7. Remember: Worship is a Verb

And it’s an active verb at that.

Worship is something we do, not something done to us.

In the worst of circumstances, I can still worship my God. In the Philippians prison, while their backs were still oozing blood from the beating they’d received, Paul and Silas worshiped (Acts 16:25).

Even if a church has no pastor and has to make do with a stuttering layman or some inept fill-in, I can still bow before the Lord, offer Him my praise, and give Him my all. I can humble before Him and I can bring my offering.

What I cannot do is leave church blaming my failure to worship on the poor singing, the boring sermon, or the noise from the children in the next pew. I am in charge of the decision whether I will worship, and no one else.

Someone has pointed out that ours is the only nation on earth where church members feel they have to have “worshipful architecture” before they can adequately honor the Lord. Millions of Christians across the world seem to worship just fine without any kind of building. Believers in Malawi meet under mango trees, according to retired missionary Mike Canady, and their worship is as anointed as anyone’s anywhere. (What? No stained glass!)

Our insistence on worshipful music, worship settings, and worshipful everything are all signs of our disgusting self-centeredness.

It’s disgusting because I see it in myself, and do not like it.

No one enjoys a great choir more than I. I love to hear a soloist transport us all into the Throneroom by his/her vocal offering in the service. A great testimony of God’s grace and power thrills me. And of course, being a preacher, I delight in hearing a sermon that you feel is direct from the heart of God.

But if I require any one or all of those before I can worship, something is vastly wrong with me.

My friends, something is vastly wrong with us today.

A good lawyer who stands and defends a client in the court of law does more than just present the facts. People hire lawyers because they are able to defend and persuade the judge and jury even when views differ. They are able to prove their case is more valid than someone else’s case. They can see what’s coming and prepare their replies in order to “win them over”.

Now the topic comes with mixed feelings. So let me start off by saying it’s extremely important to study the Bible. But if we want to win someone over for Christ, we need to learn how to use the Word of God.

Apologetics is about “always being prepared to give an answer to those who ask about your faith.” (1 Peter 3:15, Apologia in Greek literally means “answers”) It is not about being well informed. It is not about the ability to whip out and impress people with your well-seasoned vault of Bible verses. And certainly it is not about being able to give witty comebacks to tough questions, because it might come off as being overconfident/arrogant.

“Cogent arguments that are conveyed with an air of arrogance empty the power of apologetics”

Instead when presenting our faith, we need to start from the ground up. We should assume nothing when building a case for Christ; because fact is: the Christian faith is very confusing to those who are peering in from the outside. We talk about creation, as if everyone believed in intellectual design. We talk about redemption, as if everyone acknowledged sin. We talk about life after death, as if people believed in heaven and hell. And the list goes on.

We simply miss the point if we believe sharing our faith is to recite religious truths without understanding where non-Christians are coming from. We need to realize that persuasion, as proposed by the Greek philosopher Aristotle, appeals to three categories: Ethos, Logos and Pathos.

Ethos: Moral Credibility. People tend to believe the people whom they respect. One of the central problems of presenting the Christian faith is to convince others that you are someone worth listening to, in other words making yourself into someone who is worthy of respect and likable. So remember, your actions speak just as loud – if not louder – than your words. Be morally accountable to what the Bible teaches, honour God in your studies, and always know that people are watching. Live life as if everything is on the line, because it is.

Logos – Logic, the use of reasoning. Giving sound reasoning is the heart of bringing God’s truth to the world around you. Understand what the Bible is teaching and find good ways to explain it. If you know there will be a tough question, spend the time to over-prepare for it. Always be prepared, don’t just assume you can pass off a half-baked answer. People know.

And finally, Pathos refers to empathy, sympathy and our ability to understand the emotions of others. I left this for last because this often gets ignored. Our choice of language affects a listener’s emotional response and emotions can effectively be used to enhance their reception to the gospel. We need to empathize with where people are coming from. This isn’t easy, and it requires a lot of preparation and homework in trying to get into the shoes of others. Whether you are using stories, analogies – or just having the patience to say something at the right time will make a huge difference. Never just shove something down someone’s throat if they are not ready to hear it.

A good lawyer fighting a lopsided case can still win, but it will depend on how he delivers the facts.

Apologetics presented with its proper demeanour – a unique combination of intellectual integrity, commitment to moral duty and care – will provide rational justifications for the truths Christians believe in. Ultimate apologetics is rational, viable, and true.

“Make it an object of constant study, and of daily reflection and prayer, to learn how to deal with sinners so as to promote their conversion.”
– Charles G. Finney

Note: This article assumes that the readers ‘know” the truth. Just a reminder, do not skimp on the truth. Always present it in its entirety, but work on how you deliver it.

On our journey of faith, there are times when the “freedom” of sin that we left behind is more appealing than the restrictions of faith that lie ahead. We must trust the protective boundaries found in God’s Word as the only way to get to the place of ultimate freedom.
— Julie Ackerman Link

As my pastor would put it: the Christian faith is full of paradoxes. The first will be last, the last – first. You will your find life only when you lose it. And part of that list includes the very idea of freedom. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32)

Christians have been freed, yet the world – and sometimes even ourselves, as Christians – feel that there are a lot of rules to follow. ‘Freedom’ is defined as personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery. To be able to live without being slaves. Canadians (according to the Charter) has freedom of speech, freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of thought, belief, opinion, peace and association; even freedom55. Yet ironically the only thing we can’t choose to be free from is sin. The whole world acknowledges it. If anyone claims to have never sinned, they are only deceiving themselves.

The freedom that Christians live in – is freedom from the clutches of sin. Humans are sinful creatures and Christians believe that sin leads to death. (Rom 3:23) Without deviating from the topic at hand, it is this freedom that ultimately grants us life. (The mechanism that allows for how that freedom is obtained is another story/post.)

A fish is not free in the air. They are free in the environment in which they were designed to be in. A fish outside of its environment will eventually die. We as humans were not designed to be a part of sin. If we remain in sin, we will also eventually die. (This analogy breaks down if we try to dissect it, but if you find it useful – use it. If not then discard it.)

Likewise, let’s picture a fish inside a glass bowl of water. The fish peering out into a world of air may feel he would find more freedom if he were outside. But in reality he would only flop around; perhaps feeling mighty stupid – in hindsight – for jumping out. Humankind was designed to be set apart from sin; to be in the water. The “rules” that Christians live by are merely the boundaries of our fishbowl; it is what helps us stay in our natural environment. Christians don’t follow the rules blindly because they are told to, nor are they restricted to it; but rather Christians follow rules because they know what lies on the other side.

No earthly kingdoms can put in their charter of rights and freedom, to have freedom from sin. This is the ultimate freedom that Julie Ackerman Link mentions in her quote. So does Christianity stifle our freedom? Perhaps freedom from sinning, but what good will it lead to anyways?

There is a saying that goes: “show respect where respect’s due.” Which makes intuitive sense. If someone does something amazing,  we naturally show our respect. However, there is a thought that has been going through my mind for the last few days – which goes along the same lines:

Giving glory, where glory is due.

And it feels like – we’ve lost focus on what it means to give glory to God when glory is demanded of us. We convolute the glory of God with man’s own accomplishments. We value and glorify ourselves, instead of God. We neglect to see the amazing things God has done for us.

The cross is not about us, but it’s all about God. Our purpose in life is to glorify our Father in heaven.

We must realize that Jesus did not die in order to change God’s attitude towards us, but to change our attitude towards God. God who took the initiative of reconciling the world, does not need reconciling. It is in us that the decisive change is needed. The cross was not a sacrifice without which God could not love or forgive us; it was a sacrifice without which we would not have been able to accept forgiveness. The problem lies within us, not with God. He requires no sacrifice except a broken and contrite heart.  - Ibid

Today is good Friday. And as I’ve been reflecting today, I’ve come to appreciate and rejoice in how powerful and central the cross is to our faith. Because our Father is most glorified through Christ crucified by:

1. Magnifying God’s justice and mercy
2. Displaying God’s power
3. Uniquely demonstrating God’s holiness
4. Showing God’s faithfulness
5. pouring out God’s Perfect Love

How amazing is our Father, who would humble himself into that of a man and die on a cross for us. Sin demands atonement.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men.
1 Tim 2:5-6

Nothing was left undone. For “it is finished” through Christ alone (Rom 3:26). That is the glory of the cross. (2 Cor 5:19)

I’ve always felt an appreciation towards the truth from the Bible. It’s the sense of awe and esoteric revelation that strikes me. Those simple words describe not only the foundation of our faith, but the substance of our common creed.

Not every Christian may be able recite and draw power from the living voice of God; few, if asked, could account for the main messages of the Bible. But the essential idea – the message of love, redemption, and freedom in Christ – is one that every Christian understands and identifies with. It orients us, sets our course, each and every day.

Indeed the infallible nature of the Word is so deeply ingrained in the faith itself – that we tend to take it for granted. It is easy to forget that at the time in which the scriptures were conceived, presented radical implications; undeniable attested by the demonstration of mastery over death itself by Jesus Christ, our savior. It is a truth that some portion of the world still rejects — and for which an even larger portion of humanity find scant evidence in their lives.

In fact, much of my appreciation towards the scripture doesn’t come from religiously reading the text, but more so from actively listening to what is being said.

Sometimes reading the word, for what it’s worth, is easy. We all agree, for instance, that God has probably spoken loudly before in your darkest hour of need. Likewise, we all agree that it’s difficult to have that thirst for his voice when life is good.

More often, though, learning how to listen – at all times – is the real key to drawing power from the Word of God. Although, failure to do so arise not because we have steered a wrong course, but because we live in a complex, and bipolar world. I firmly believe, that the ideology that surrounds a spectator faith, imputes unwarranted merits of self-righteousness and a false sense of spirituality. For example, listening to a sermon does not equate to reading the word of God; nor does it entitle claims to have read the passage – however, it seems to be a common practice today. But I acknowledge that people are in different parts of their journey with God, and not even the best of leaders can readily provide a solution to this growing problem, without an unprecedented upheaval of sorts.

The Word, simply, has not been regarded the same way it has been in the past. Perhaps in light of the emerging postmodernism, we no longer feel justified to decrypt complicated messages, in fear of heresy. Though, really, the unequivocal life changing power of the Bible, for the most part, is written in simple and straight-forward messages.

Love. Life. Death. Freedom.

The Bible was not written for only the upper-middle class citizens, but for everyone, even the gentiles, who knew little or nothing about the laws and statutes.

Then there’s the fact that not everything is simple. I admit, at times, the Bible does seem confusing and contradicting; which scares me. I can recall a time when I was perplexed at the message Jesus proclaimed in turning us against our parents. Yet now, it makes sense, not because someone has explained it to me – but because God revealed it to me in His perfect timing.

And sometimes our ideological predispositions are so fixed that we have problem seeing the obvious.

I have come to realize, that reading the word of God is more than just looking at the unknown – in a quest to satiate our desire for knowledge – but recognizing to what God is trying to say. To fixate on what’s important, then allowing the teachers to do the rest. (And I am in no way trying to promote ignorance)

Of course, the acknowledgement and testament to the full power of God’s Word will never be fully achieved until we experience it for ourselves.

In the past, I do admit to finding very little power in using the scripture, drawing on other people’s experience to teach and proclaim God’s kingdom. And with an exceedingly large amount of people that mindlessly reiterate scriptural lessons learned through pastors, books, online podcasts or even a Bible study groups. I’d boldly suggest and say that it’s not an uncommon feeling – apathy towards the power behind God’s Word.

Of course, we know the happy ending, God’s word is powerful, commanding, mighty, and influential – the list goes on.

However, we must recognize that there is no substitute or replacement for the Word of God. And I believe that our foundation in the word will play an immense role in shaping the future of this generation’s Christian faith, for better – or worse.