Old Testament worship wars
Isaiah 66: You choose self-serving worship, you delight in self-centered worship — disgusting!
And all this time I thought that the “worship wars” started in my generation with battles between “traditionalists” and “contemporaries.” In Isaiah’s case the Lord is weary of all the “I like it this way” approaches to worship. He says that when I insist on worshiping “my way” that, no matter “what way” might be, it isn’t “his way.” The Lord tells them that they can do worship in technically correct ways but because of their attitude, it’ll be seen as an act of sin rather than an act of worship. What does the Lord think of my approach to worship? As a pastor am I so wrapped up in keeping the program on track that I fail to give myself over to the act of worship? It’s likely that only a pastor or worship leader will understand this, but I find myself in services wondering why the sound person doesn’t adjust the volume down a bit or if the head usher is aware that one of the regular ushers is out of town or if anyone has greeted the guests who’ve just slipped into the back row. While I’m worrying about such things, the “worship” service is proceeding without me. If I’m giving more energy to organizing and running the service according to my standards, whatever standard that might be, than I am in surrendering myself to worship, then my worship experience is self-centered rather than God-centered. Isaiah reminds me today that that isn’t a good thing!
Take Away: When I insist on worshiping “my way” that, no matter “what way” might be, it isn’t “his way.”