I shared in our call to worship last Sunday some of the notes from a break-out seminar I attended at the SEBTS 20/20 conference led by theology professor David Nelson and titled "Worship as God: How ‘Worship’ is Sometimes Valued More Highly Than God Himself."
Nelson suggested that sometimes we can make an idol of the worship experience. He noted:
Worship may be your god if…
You long for "experiences" more than God Himself.
You insist that worship must have a certain "atmosphere."
You desire a more "emotional" approach to worship.
You desire a more "cerebral" or "intellectual" approach to worship.
You are more impressed with the music than you are with God.
You are more impressed with the preacher than you are with God.
You find certain aspects of corporate services "exhilarating" or "pleasing" but you take no delight in the law of the Lord (Psalm 1) throughout the rest of your life.
You make no connection between corporate worship and worship as a way of life.
These are some great things to consider as we seek truly God-centered worship.
Pastor Jeff,
ReplyDeleteGood stuff. I enjoyed your "blogging" the conference at Southeastern. Wished I could have taken our students. I want you to know that I had to start my own blog just to be able to post a comment on your blog. If you do not visit my new blog, I will be sorely dissappointed. I may not have it up for long, but I would appreciate a visit:)