Personal Terms of Worship

It isn't hard to find people who broadly define worship in order to suit their own preferences. Whether among nominal Christians, weak Christians, or even the unsaved, God and prayer and worship have become rather nebulous ideas. Such spiritual things have fallen into the realm of personal preference, with people daring anyone to question what God means to them and taking offense if someone tells them their way isn't right.

For example, the TV series The Waltons included an episode in which John Boy was asked to fill in for the pastor one week and give a sermon. This led to an exploration of the differing religious philosophies of those in his family and ultimately a sermon that propounded that anyone can worship God in his own way. The grandfather, though a faithful church member and speaker of flowery prayers, didn't actually care much for church (except for the singing); he found God in nature and claimed that sitting on the mountainside was the ultimate in worship. The portrayal of the father is even more shocking. Throughout the entire series, he is portrayed as having rejected God, which is an ongoing source of conflict between his rebel ways and his wife's strong faith. He consistently rebuffs the church and any personal need for God. Nevertheless, he is portrayed as also worshiping God in his way by loving his children, and in a later episode, he declares that somewhere along the way he has come to believe in God, without any evidence of a decision or change in his life or philosophy.

In modern society, it is common to see athletes kneel or point to heaven. People frequently say their thoughts and prayers are with those who are suffering some tragedy. People claim that God did something for them. Certainly, some of those instances are genuine, but many are empty. People wanting to affirm their Christian beliefs might talk about loving their neighbor and being kind to people as the definitive substance of their faith. They will liken taking care of their family and loving their children to being a Christian. They might say that they worship God every day just by living, and that no formal worship is required. Others equate solitude or thinking time or enjoyment of nature as their time with God. Though perhaps merely a deflection of the question, some will even claim that they worship God on the golf course every Sunday.

There are elements of truth in each of these. Someone who truly is a Christian will be kind to his neighbors, will love his children, will honor God in the daily routine of life, will profit from quiet times of meditation, and will even be able to commune with God during times of pleasure and relaxation. All of those things are part of being a Christian and part of worshiping God, but none of them alone can serve as a substitute for genuine devoted worship.

God Himself defines what being a Christian is and what worshiping Him means. He repeatedly had to challenge the people of Israel with His demands. They wanted to worship God on their own terms. At times they went through the prescribed rituals without any genuine heart belief. They made idols like the golden calf so they could have a god they could see. They set up their own places of worship, and they even utilized the altars of heathen gods for their worship of God. Just like modern society, as long as there were words or actions that gave assent to God, they thought that was sufficient.

In Deuteronomy 12, God provided some correction and guidance regarding worship, which He urged His people to "carefully observe" (v. 1).

First, they were to "utterly destroy all the places where the [heathen] nations ... serve their gods, on the high mountains and under every green tree" (v. 2). They were to tear down the altars, smash them, burn the false gods, cut down the idols, and obliterate their names - total destruction. God knew it would be a temptation to adapt the heathen altars and use them to worship Him, and He didn't want to allow for any chance of that. Worse, if the heathen places of worship remained, eventually some of God's people would start to worship the heathen gods.

Second, the Israelites were to "seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come" (v. 5). God would decide where they were supposed to worship, and He would designate a specific and special place where His worshipers were to gather. That is where they were supposed to bring their tithes and offerings and sacrifices (v. 6). That is where they were to worship together with their families (v. 7).

Third, they were not to do their own thing. To some extent that was their practice prior to entering the land, owing somewhat to their transient lifestyle and lack of permanency. God wanted the individual determinations of worship to cease. "You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes" (v. 8).

God emphasized the importance of His instructions by repeating them. Verse 11 reiterates that they were to gather and bring offerings to "the place in which the LORD your God will choose." Verse 12 restates that it is there that they should worship with their families. Verse 13 again cautions not to worship in the common and easily accessible altars of the false gods, "but in the place which the LORD chooses" (v. 14).

Worship is not about what an individual wants, not about the method he chooses, and not about the place he prefers. Worship is not mixed with or conformed to worldly practices. It is special and unique, because the God who is special and unique has designed it.