I opened a book to read a little this evening. I don't think I'll ever finish reading this book. There seems to be no time for reading and besides, it's one of those "thinking" books. You know, the kind you can't read if there's any other noise in the room other than your own breathing. But I wanted to read someone's intelligent ramblings on worship (yes... I'm still riding that horse!).
Rod made a comment yesterday that was profound and beautiful. He said that when he said it, all his students wrote it down. He seemed surprised, but I wasn't. It was a great concept. What he said was this:
There is no one better than Jesus to teach us to how to be a disciple. There is no one better than the Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray.
But my question is this: Who will teach us to worship?
Harold Best, in
Unceasing Worship, says that "
worship is the continuous outpouring of all that I am, all that I do and all that I can ever become in light of a chosen or choosing god." From the little bit that I've read so far, Mr. Best sounds as if worship is not something we learn, it's something we do-perhaps even without knowing. We are all worshiping all the time. Worship seems to be where we put our efforts, where we focus, live, pay, ponder, devour. I think I finally understood when he related it to "self-worship".
I have long felt that self-worship, self-absorption, is the biggest, meanest, nastiest, yet most common ailment of the human race. Yet it is something I understand all too intimately. And I know that when one is self-absorbed, there is precious little that can distract the worshiper from his (her) god. I understand that this is the wrong way to worship yet I understand it. And from that standpoint, perhaps I can learn.
When I am self-absorbed, I know that I am consumed with my desires, needs, thoughts and emotions. I know that I view all circumstances through the lens of how it will effect me. I know that when I hear someone else speak of their life, I wonder what it has to do with me or if someone announces a change or a development, I wonder what impact it will have on my life. I know that when I am self-absorbed, I make sure that my needs are met. I come first. Hands down. No discussion.
But what if that were all focused where it belonged... on God? What would it look like? Change each one of those sentences to a God focus:
I am consumed with God's desires, needs, thoughts, emotions.
I view all circumstances through God's lens.
When I hear someone speak of their life, I wonder how God fits into it.
When someone announces a change or a development, I wonder what impact God can have on it.
I make sure that God's needs are met.
He comes first.
Hands down.
No discussion.
It is not difficult to be a self-worshiper. No one taught me how to do that. It was easy. I figured it out all on my own. Being an expert on self-worship should make it easy to transfer that talent towards God worship. So ultimately, perhaps the best person to teach how to worship is myself.
