Worship. It’s a prayer, a song or even just a public declaration. But however you prefer to give our amazing creator praise, it is a well known fact that worship is an essential part of our Christian walk.
But is it possible to get things wrong? What happens when we inadvertently find ourselves giving glory to those who are serving the Lord, rather than to God Himself?
Servant or serpent?
Many of us would be familiar with the word cult and may even know of some of the more controversial cults of the past. Some examples include the Manson’s and the branch Davidian’s of Waco.
These sects had one key thing in common. To control and manipulate people into putting man in the place of God. Worshipping and depending on the instructions and beliefs of a mere man instead of listening to the word of God.
“For a time will come when People will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teachings. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers Who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 3)
Sometimes it’s not a simply case of worshipping a leader within your church. Idol worship can be as simple as putting one of your Christian peers on pedestal and treating them as if they are perfect and that everyone should follow their example. Because the only true example that we should be striving to follow is Jesus's.
Even if we admire someone and want to learn from them, they should never take the place of Jesus as a role model for us as Christians. Because sometimes the ones who appear to be doing everything right on the surface, are the ones whose hearts are farthest from Christ.
“Just because you go to church doesn't mean you're a Christian. I can go sit in the garage all day but that doesn't make me a car.” (Joyce Meyer)
Biblical perspective
The bible has pretty clear instructions on who you should be worshipping and focusing your praise on. “You must not have any other God but me.” (Exodus chapter 20, verse 3)
This is the first of the ten commandments and states pretty clearly that as Christians, our whole focus should be on God and on praising and worshiping Him. Because anything a person does has only happened because of God's plans for that person's life, not by their merit alone.
“When one of you says: I am a follower of Paul and another says: I follow Apollos, aren't you acting just like people of the world? After all who is Apollos? Who is Paul? They are only Gods servants through whom you believed the good news. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.” (Second Corinthians chapter 3, verses 4-5)
Mere mortal
Another area where we can fall short with our worship is when we give ourselves too much glory and praise. While there's nothing wrong with occasionally giving yourself a pat on the back or being proud of a personal achievement, it becomes a problem when we start becoming arrogant and self righteous.
Because regardless of how great our achievements are, we would be nothing without God intervening in our lives and giving us the gifts that we possess. Jesus showed great disapproval of the Pharisees and temple leaders who considered themselves better than others because they followed all the rules and kept all the laws.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens but you ignore the more important aspects of the law. Justice, mercy and faith. You should tithe yes, but do not neglect the more important things!” (Matthew chapter 23, verse 23)
So I leave you with one important question. When you are going about your daily activities who are you focusing on? Because false worship isn't necessarily just bowing down to idols.