Doing it right?

"The hour has come when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people".  John 4:23.

How do we create an environment amongst God's people that is causing them to die due to their being wrong with God?
The answer is when we 'do' church and especially worship in a way that is actually contrary to God's will.

Sadly, this happens all too often.

There are numerous examples of this in the scriptures, but let me focus in on one that involved a man who knew what it was to revel in the love of God - king David.

Now David knew what is was like to be lost in the joy of salvation. There's that very famous and public incident where, dressed only in an ephod (a short petticoat), he danced and leapt before the Lord will all his might, and caught the full acidic sting of the rebuke of his wife, Michael as a result (though she was the one who was judged - see 2 Samuel 6:13 onwards).

Now, all of this was perfectly fine because we read how David was very careful - on this occasion - to do all that was required (6:13) to bring the ark of God into Jerusalem, but the whole enterprise had begun very differently.

The first part of this same chapter tells us how the very same David had sought to transport the same ark into the city not as it was instructed it should be moved - by the priests carrying it, but by placing it in a cart, which had resulted in the instant death of one of his servants (see verses 1-7). The ark had then stayed where it was for months, and the incident had brought about a rift between David and God (verse 8).

Did you see the difference? Joy in God's presence was perfectly normal and right when things were done according to what God asks of us, but what happens when we have lots of niceties that we deem to be OK, but in effect are contrary or distracting to what He has asked of us?

"Modern" styles of doing things, especially worship, are not new. As in this story, there are plenty of examples where we devise our own 'free' styles of doing things, and these become what defines us rather than those truths and methods of drawing close to God that have been approved and provided. It isn't that we cannot be joyful before God and with each other (how dreadful would that be!), but we need to understand what happens when the methods (abandoned worship, prosperity teaching, prophecy and miracles) become the core of what we're doing rather than hearing God speak in His Word and Sacraments.

That's what this story teaches us.
Uzzah, David's friend died because of being involved in the wrong techniques to approach God. Over the last five decades, I've experienced and witnessed all manner of forms of 'worship' that have lead to the spiritual death (being burnt out to Christianity) of hundreds - the churches that they said were 'so alive' a few decades ago are gone.

David recognizes his folly. He returns to God, does what should be done, and once more encounters the sheer marvel of God's goodness as a result.

Pastor and Theologian Mike Horton notes:

"When the style of our music is upbeat and loud and ascending in enthusiasm, we miss the range of biblical teaching about God, ourselves, and the Christian life.
An over-realized eschatology (we can have it all now) has caused much of contemporary worship to get stuck in 'victory' and 'blessing' mode and this downplays the reality of ongoing sin, trails and dissapointment, as well as the attributes of God which are more disturbing to us. This cannot help but produce, at best, weak and immature Christians who will not stand in times of trial or testing".

This is so very true. Much of the church in the West has suffered in our times because it has focused on secondary things (blessings) rather than the character and work of the one who bestows such things.

Genuine worship is always marked by truth - about God, ourselves, and how Christ alone deals with our sin so we can, by His life and righteousness, draw near. That's why means like confession, baptism, the Lord's Supper, and expository preaching, always have to be at the heart of our worship if it is to be true and meaningful, not merely a play on our emotions.

We have been called to something profound as those brought near by the blood of Jesus. Let us not, in folly, squander what has cost so much.