Thoughts from WorshipGod 09 part 3
August 25, 2009
In my usual fashion of inconsistency, I have missed an entire week of blogging. But I pick up where I left off–with the second session of the WorshipGod conference, in which John Piper preached once more, this time on The Heart of Worship. Again, his message came straight from the heart of his theology, namely that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.”
The focus is on the heart because of what Jesus says in Matthew 15:8, quoting Isaiah 29:13–”This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Lipservice (or any sort of external action) without the animation of a right heart results in vain worship.
In addition, the New Testament de-externalizes worship, placing the focus squarely on the heart–where the Old Testament fills entire books with instructions for every detail of the worship of God, right down to the threads and the colors of the threads, the New Testament is stunningly silent as to the external forms of worship. The focus is not even on a posture or a certain act; it lies entirely in the heart.
So the central question Piper posed in this message was, “What experience of the heart brings glory to God?” Answer: Being satisfied with God. We see this demonstrated in Paul’s life and theology in Philippians 1:19-21 and 3:7-8. Christ is praised in death as Paul prizes Him above life; and Christ is praised in life as Paul prizes Him above life. All things in life and death can be for the praise of Christ if our hearts are so oriented that He is our supreme joy through all of life and death.
Remember that God’s goal in the Gospel is to shine in our hearts to enable them to see the light of the knowledge of His glory in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4-6). So our goal in responding to the Gospel–and in worshiping God for and through the Gospel–should be to be satisfied in Him who is the end of the Gospel.
This has several implications for our lives.
1)The pursuit of joy is not optional. The pursuit of joy equals the pursuit of Christ, and we pursue Christ to be satisfied–to rejoice–in Him, which magnifies Him. We come to Him not to give Him something but to get something–namely, Himself. Deer panting for water do not come to give but to get.
2)Worship must be radically God-centered. If the pursuit of satisfaction in God is central, then God is central.
3)Worship is protected as an end in itself, rather than a means to an end. Worship is delighting in and seeking after God, not as a means to getting something else but simply for the satisfaction of getting God. As soon as we try to think of delight in God as a means to get something else, we expose our true delight and desire in other things–which constitutes idolatry.
4)This explains why all of life is worship–not just corporate gatherings. All of life should express the heart condition of being satisfied in God. Our bodies will be living sacrifices, and our actions will be spiritual acts of worship, when our hearts are satisfied in Christ.
So the goal of our corporate gatherings is to renew our satisfaction in God. We come to see Him–to see the light of His glory in the face of Christ. Any other pursuit is vain, and it is idolatry.