Wait. Hold up a minute. Just a second. You’re moving too fast, never stopping to look around. Take in your surroundings. Breathe. Relax. “Stop and smell the roses.” You seem to think everything has to be done now, like there won’t be time, but sometimes you try to do too much too fast. Ambition can destroy you, especially when you fall short of your goals. You extend yourself further, reaching for the next rung on the ladder, climbing higher and higher without pausing, your eyes so focused on what’s ahead that you don’t see what surrounds. It’s a long fall down, especially when your eyes are set on the goals you’ve created. No matter how close it seems, you can never quite catch it. You reach for it and it escapes your grasp. This is life. This is the way the world works. Ambition. Competition. Drive to succeed, followed, inevitably, by the sting of failure.
But this is not how we should be. This is a selfish worldview that only focuses on what best gratifies the individual. It is easy to get caught up in ambition, and there is nothing wrong with setting goals, but when those goals encapsulate a singular vision and shut out the peripherals, we are doing more damage to ourselves and others than good. If we become too focused on the goal, we can lose sight of the reason for the goal. We can become disconnected from others. It’s the reason why people who strive for academic excellence may participate in a variety of different clubs without any true relationships. Or why a business man can step over people in his climb to the top without any compassion. Ambition and drive can be good, as long as you don’t lose yourself.
This becomes especially dangerous when it interferes with our spiritual walk. We should set goals for ourselves and make efforts to grow, but that should not be the only focus. At times, we can make a list of tasks we need to complete and this becomes our guideline for living. Read God’s Word, Check. Pray. Check. Serve in ministry. Check. Go to Church and Fellowship with others. Check. These are all expectations we should have of ourselves and are steps to developing a relationship with God and His people, but if we dwell on the list, we can lose sight of the reason for it. We might not fully absorb the words from the Bible, simply satisfied with the act of reading. We may not truly have a conversation with God, instead simply reciting the prayers out of obligation. We may not fully experience the joys of serving others, or being a part of a Church community, because we only see the goal and nothing else.
Look around. Stop and look into the eyes of the people you are serving. Listen to those around you. Don’t just move on. Absorb the scriptures; let His words consume your life. Let every prayer be spoken as a conversation to the Awesome God who created the universe. Don’t lose sight of who He is.
All these acts—Scripture-reading, prayer, fellowship with Christians, service—are important parts of worship. They are components to living a Spirit filled life, when the goal is set in the right place. It has to be about desiring a closer relationship with God and doing His will. If we do it out of obligation, we can move too fast to see God. If we don’t slow down, we may not see how a passage is relevant to our lives or the lives of someone we know (we may not even take the time to share it in our haste); if we don’t slow down, our prayers may become empty, because we didn’t take the time to truly examine our hearts or talk to someone who is hurting; if we don’t slow down, we might be at church just long enough and not fellowship as well as we should (talk to a few, but no more); if we don’t slow down, worship becomes only about the song.
To me, this is the biggest stumbling block to worship. It’s a dangerous game to play. After all, worship music still requires structure. We all have an expectation as a part of a band, with different roles to play. This can make our part into a task, which can lead to the trap of focusing on the “checklist item” instead of the purpose. Okay, I play this part. I sing here. Verse-Chorus-Verse-Bridge. Next Song. Alright, come up during prayer at the end. It’s easy for the focus to be on the acts, but the result is losing sight of those around us and the One we are worshipping. The awesome God we serve.
There is so much you can miss if you don’t open your eyes. If you remain focused on yourself, your own goals, you won’t be able to appreciate others. Stop trying so hard. Just be still. Just take a step back, look around, and let God—not ambition—guide you.
God does not want our routine. He frowns on ritualistic behavior that is void of relationship. Consider the Pharisees and the conflicts Jesus had with these religious leaders, who did all the right things but without love. Love is the key word here, because it is a part of relationships and a part of worship. Routine without love is selfish and this is where we fall into the trap of empty acts. Jesus took the time to dwell with sinners and minister to them. This is how we should act. We need to slow down and fellowship with others, not get caught up in our own agenda, our checklist. This agenda is like the Law that the Pharisees were so devoted to, and this was also a concern Paul repeatedly addressed in his letters. Again, it is important to do these things, but if it becomes simply about performing these acts, than we are worshiping the tasks instead of God.
Be patient. Don’t rush through the routine and expect everything to happen quickly. Don’t feel that everything will improve if you just do the checklist items. Let God reach into your life and consume you, filling you with His spirit. Let Him lead you, instead of the routine. Let your time with Him be about relationship; let your ministry be about others. Let Love direct your path.
It can be hard to wait. We want everything to come easy and fast, but we must trust God’s timing. God has a plan for us, but we must be open to it. We must be willing to give Him control and to not rely on our own plan. Our plans will fail, which can be discouraging, but if we surrender to God, we will find His pace and His will is far more fulfilling. If we let God expand our horizons, we will be amazed by what we see.
Our Challenge for Worship
Are we going through the motions? Are we participating in ministry for the sake of participating? Let us keep in mind why we worship and seek God’s will for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment