We need to worship God. Worship is one of the most important aspects of the Christian life.
The word worship is used many different ways today: there are worship teams, worship leaders, worship pastors, worship times, and worship songs.
There are many different ways that Christians worship all over the world, and they use many different things in their worship. Some of these things are incense, special clothes, hats, icons, holidays, candles, statues, rosaries, shrines, organs, flags, altars, and architecture.
Are all of these things ok?
Can we worship God however we want?
Or are some things acceptable in worship and some are not? If some things are acceptable in worship and some are not, how can we tell the difference?
If we’re going to do something for God, it should be something he likes. God does not like everything. We must worship God in a way that pleases God, not just in a way that pleases us.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa. 55:8-9)
God’s ways are not our ways, and his thoughts are not our thoughts. The only way we can know God’s ways is for him to reveal them to us. This is why he has given us his word. The word of God shows us what God likes and what he dislikes.
When we worship God, we must stay within the limits of his word. We must not add to nor take away from his word (Deuteronomy 4:2).
Don’t take away from God’s word. If God tells us to do something in worship, we should do it.
Equally important: don’t add to the word of God. We should not come up with our own ways of worshiping God that are not authorized in his word.
The important principle of not making up our own ways of worshiping God is revealed throughout the Bible.
Cain and Abel
The first worship service recorded in the Bible is in Genesis 4. Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord. Abel’s offering was accepted, but Cain’s was rejected. Why? Abel followed God’s instructions, but Cain did not.
When Adam and Eve sinned, God killed an animal. He taught humanity that the wages of sin is death, and so blood had to be shed for the remission of sins (Leviticus 17:11). This is why Jesus had to go to the cross and die for our sins to be washed away.
Abel followed God’s instructions and killed an animal, shedding its blood, sacrificing it to God. But Cain ignored God’s instructions and offered a sacrifice without death and the shedding of blood.
One person was worshiping God according to the word of God, and one person was not. The person worshiping according to God’s word was accepted, and the person worshiping according to his own ideas was rejected.
There is a difference between true and false worship. One is based on God’s word, and one is not. This is how it is with worship throughout the Bible.
Praising God with a Cow
The first worship service when the Israelites came out of Egypt is recorded in Exodus 32. Israel had been enslaved for 400 years, and God had finally brought them out of Egypt to worship him.
So they made a golden cow, called it Yahweh, and started dancing around it, praising the Lord for bringing them out of Egypt. They weren’t trying to worship Baal or Satan. They were trying to worship God!
Even though the golden cow was used in Egyptian pagan worship, God’s people didn’t think that would be a problem. They were trying to redeem this pagan practice for the worship of God. People liked this shiny cow, and it was all about God after all. What could the problem be? So they called the cow by the name of Yahweh (the true God), and said that their religious festival was a celebration of Yahweh! Their leader, the high priest Aaron, led them in this praise service, and everyone got involved.
God was not pleased. Their sincerity and enthusiasm didn’t help, and neither did the overwhelming popularity of this new worship style. God was so mad he was about to kill them all.
It’s possible for almost all of God’s people to be deceived about worship.
It’s possible for the leaders of God’s people to be deceived about worship and encourage them in false worship.
It’s possible to sincerely worship God in ways that God actually hates.
Disturbingly, God’s people thought they could take a Satanic ritual and worship God with it! This is confusion. God hates the works of the devil and has come to destroy them at the great cost of the life of his Son. To take Satanic abominations and try to serve God with them is ridiculous and disgusting.
Fun With Inense
Nadab and Abihu, the two priestly sons of Aaron, once had a worship service of their own. They took incense and began waving it before God. They must have been excited about God and were trying to worship him. But they did it in a way that God did not tell them to, and God killed them in the middle of their praise (Leviticus 10:1-3).
This incense offering was called “profane fire.” This worship service was not authorized by God. It was strange worship that was like spiritual adultery. The boys were probably sincere and enthusiastic as they waved their incense before God, but that didn’t matter. They were sincerely wrong because their worship wasn’t based on God’s word.
God said that he “must be sanctified” by those who worship him. He must be set apart. God is high above us. He is holy. He wants us to come up to his level, he doesn’t want us to try to drag him down to our level. We must worship according to his word, not our own minds.
God said that people should not worship him however they want. We should not worship him using pagan means. We must worship him according to his word (Deuteronomy 12:1-14).
Ark Trouble
Once David tried to bring up the ark to Jerusalem. He made a nice cart to carry the ark and put some oxen in front to pull the cart. The ark represents the presence of God.
But as they drove the cart forward, God killed one of the drivers. This was for the simple reason that they didn’t do it God’s way – they forsook the “due order” (1 Chronicles 15:13). The Bible said they should carry the ark on poles. It didn’t say they should use a cart. (Of course the Bible didn’t say to not use a cart, but that didn’t matter. Whatever the Bible has not authorized in worship is forbidden.)
Because they forsook God’s word their worship was wrong, and rather than bringing God’s blessing and presence, it invoked his wrath and judgement.
There is a right way to worship God, and there is a wrong way to worship God. The right way is according to his word, and the wrong way is according to our own ideas.
Whether it’s the Old Testament or the New Testament, God teaches the same thing – don’t try to worship God using to human ideas.
Jesus Rebukes Vain Worship
Once Jesus and his disciples went to eat with some Pharisees (Mark 7:1-4). The Pharisees had made up many ways of worshiping God over the years, and one of these ways was to ritually wash their hands. They washed hands not to cleanse them from dirt but to worship. Jesus’ disciples refused to follow the Pharisees’ religious tradition of hand washing.
The Pharisees got mad and confronted Jesus. Jesus answered bluntly:
“He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:6-9).
Jesus called man-made religious rituals vain worship. Vain worship is worship that people make up that is not based on the word of God. It’s what hypocrites do.
Jesus taught us to boldly reject all man-made worship forms that are not based on the word of God.
Will Worship
Paul talks about man-made religion in Colossians. He calls it “self-imposed religion” (Colossians 2:23). This is a Greek word that means “will worship” or “arbitrary worship.” This word refers to worship that is according to the human will or mind, and not according to God.
This kind of worship actually separates people from God, has no power to save, and brings people into demonic bondage. Paul connects this type of worship to the worship of fallen angels (Colossians 2:16-23). Jesus has come to set us free from dead religion and bring us into a relationship with Almighty God. Praise him. Let’s follow Jesus and stay free from religious bondage.
True Worshipers
Jesus said that God is looking for true worshipers who will worship him in Spirit and in truth. He said that people mustworship him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Spirit and truth is the only way to worship God. There is no other way.
Worship must be authored by the Holy Spirit.
Worship must be according to the word of God – “your word is truth” (John 17:17).
May we become the true worshipers God is looking for.
Measure all worship styles by the word of God. If it is authorized in the New Testament, do it. If it is not authorized in the New Testament, reject it. Don’t import things from pagan religions. Don’t even import things from the Old Testament that have passed away. Don’t add to God’s word, and don’t take away from it.
Follow Christ and his word, not the traditions of people.
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