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What If Christianity Isn't What You Think?Sample
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Worship Is Not What You Think
“Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”
When I was growing up and I heard the word “worship” I always thought it meant Hillsong United, Chris Tomlin, and Michael W. Smith. But the more I dug into the scripture the more I realized the word “worship” is more about the affection of our heart. It’s not music, it’s the very air we breathe. It’s whatever we give our time, energy, money, and attention to. It’s whatever is on the throne of our heart. That’s what we worship.
The Psalmist though makes the bold statement to say that whatever that thing is—i.e. money, sex, power, our boyfriend, our reputation, etc—when you worship it, you actually become like it. It’s as if we have a metaphorical mirror in our hearts and whatever we center or orbit around, we start to reflect and become like. When we worship sex, we too become an object. When we worship money, we too become a transaction. When we worship power, we become a pawn.
It’s because we were created with an image on us, namely the image of God. We were created to reflect Him. His goodness. His beauty. His love. And that’s what makes us human. But because of sin that image has been fractured and we can now choose to reflect other things. But the beauty of Jesus is He fully imaged God so that through Him we can begin to too. He put the true mirror back together, and calls us back to Himself to say no to false idols and things and put Him back in His proper place.
What would you say you are most tempted to worship besides God?
“Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”
When I was growing up and I heard the word “worship” I always thought it meant Hillsong United, Chris Tomlin, and Michael W. Smith. But the more I dug into the scripture the more I realized the word “worship” is more about the affection of our heart. It’s not music, it’s the very air we breathe. It’s whatever we give our time, energy, money, and attention to. It’s whatever is on the throne of our heart. That’s what we worship.
The Psalmist though makes the bold statement to say that whatever that thing is—i.e. money, sex, power, our boyfriend, our reputation, etc—when you worship it, you actually become like it. It’s as if we have a metaphorical mirror in our hearts and whatever we center or orbit around, we start to reflect and become like. When we worship sex, we too become an object. When we worship money, we too become a transaction. When we worship power, we become a pawn.
It’s because we were created with an image on us, namely the image of God. We were created to reflect Him. His goodness. His beauty. His love. And that’s what makes us human. But because of sin that image has been fractured and we can now choose to reflect other things. But the beauty of Jesus is He fully imaged God so that through Him we can begin to too. He put the true mirror back together, and calls us back to Himself to say no to false idols and things and put Him back in His proper place.
What would you say you are most tempted to worship besides God?
Scripture
About this Plan
What if there is more to Jesus than you ever imagined? Christianity is about so much more than going to heaven when you die, and Jesus wants to meet us in the here and now, which means this life matters. Follow along on ...
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We would like to thank Jefferson Bethke for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: notwhatyouthink.tv
