CT05-BA04 | To Be Human Is to Worship
Minute of Transparency: The Earth just doesn’t seem happy…
Intro: Today’s topic should be a new one - even for those who have followed along since the beginning.
It’s the idea that we were all built with a special need - A missing piece that must be found in order to be complete again. And that missing piece is called worship.
Today’s Basic Assumption: To Be Human Is to Worship
What is worship?
Worship then and now
Three forms of worship
The worship book
// 1. WHAT IS WORSHIP?
Defined by the dictionary: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/worship
Reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred
Formal or ceremonious rendering of such honor and homage: "They attended worship this morning."
Adoring reverence or regard
Defined by the Bible:
Similar - in that we are called to “worship” God
This is illustrated in numerous ways throughout the Bible
Jesus also talks about it in the New Testament and explains that people will worship Him in “Spirit” and in “Truth"
So where did worship come from, and what does it look like in practice?
Well, the simple explanation goes back to the fact that God is our Creator - which has two elements:
First, and we’ve talked about this before: God created us in His image which we’ve said is both “creative” and “social"
Creative, because He loves to create things
Social, because He is ultimately a relational Being - seen in the makeup of the Trinity: Three distinct, but interconnected Beings living in harmony
So we came by the social or relational piece honestly...
Second, because we were created - our social connection will be a little different that the Trinity’s
I’m assuming God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are more like best friends - all on the same level and all having equal input into the relationship
We on the other hand are created beings
Which makes the relationship with God a little different
We are NOT on the same level, and so our interaction with God is less peer-to-peer, and more child-to-parent
So let’s look at worship through that lens for a minute: The parent-child relationship
It’s an interesting way to look at worship
Children tend to look up to, adore, idolize and want to spend time with their parents while growing up
In a healthy family they trust their parents, they aspire to be like them and they even imitate their parents behavior
They want to be physically close to their parents, through hugs, sitting next to them on the couch or even jumping in bed with them when a bad storm rolls through
On some level, the is a perfect illustration of worship
Now I know, this changes drastically when the child becomes a teen and eventually an adult
As humans, we outgrow this need to be connected on that level
Instead we “mature” out of this behavior and become our own person
But before all that - the illustration worked...
And so it is when we “worship” God:
Like a parent, we adore, idolize, spend time with, trust, aspire to be like, imitate and even long to be physically close to our Creator
The difference is - we never grow out of it...
When it comes to our children - they mature, and grow apart from us because we’re human, we make mistakes and we have faults. Eventually our kids see through these faults and assume they can do things better than we did. So they set out on their own to be better versions of us
But with God - there is no need to do this. He is perfect and always will be
We’ll never do it better than Him
So unlike the parent-child relationship - our relationship with God is eternal
It is:
Less “looking up to” and more “in awe of”
Less “spending time with” and more “must be connected to"
Less “can I sit next to you” and more “never leave me"
There is a heightened level of importance in our relationship with God
Something not of this world - something we can’t put our finger on - and yet something we know to be true
So how does this “worship” thing play out with God?
Like we said, the Bible offers numerous illustrations of the ways people worship God - but here are some high level categories:
First, we worship God by voting for Him in the Eternal Election: At the end of the day this is the first and most important element of worship
Praying: In essence communicating with God. Telling Him things that are important to us, asking Him for guidance, letting Him know when things are going well, and letting Him know when we’re feeling overwhelmed. Telling Him how much He means to us and how thankful we are that He created us, saved us and wants a forever friendship with us...
Singing: Unfortunately, this is often the only thing people view as “worship” - which is why we have the “worship music” category, and why in church we sing “worship songs.” Just understand that singing to or about God IS worship - it just isn’t the only way we worship God
Learning: We actually worship God when we put time and energy into learning more about Him. This can be reading the Bible, reading supplemental materials, talking to people, joining book clubs, listening to podcasts, reading blogs, watching movies or even watching YouTube clips. Anything that helps you grow closer to God is an act of worship
Living: And finally, we’ll clump everything else into the category or living. Why? Because we are such complex beings, with so much going on, and with so many decisions we need to make on a daily basis. On some level every decision we make is an act of worship
Now I know - what color shirt you decide to put on in the morning is probably NOT an act of worship
But deciding how you respond to an angry driver on the way to work might be?
What you decide to spend your money on might be?
Deciding whether to help someone struggling to walk across a street might be?
The more we look, the more opportunities we find to “worship” God with little decisions we make in life
// 2. WORSHIP THEN AND NOW
It’s important to understand that worship took a HUGE hit when the Sin Virus entered our world:
WORSHIP THEN:
Prior to the Sin Virus, worship looked like a normal relationship
Just as the Trinity was social and in community
God wanted to be social and in community with us
So back then, humans were able to walk, talk and laugh with God
WORSHIP NOW:
Until the Sin Virus, which separated us from God
No longer could we walk, talk and laugh with Him
There was now this distance between us - a wall built between dimensions
The good thing is we know He’s still there because He continues to reach out in a variety of ways:
In visible ways to his people the Israelites (Appeared as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night) that led the people
Through prophets early on - people He was able to connect with and give messages to take back to His people
By sending Jesus to Earth:
To make a way for us to return to the way things were
But also, to live a perfect life and be an example for us
Then by giving us the Holy Spirit when Jesus returned to Heaven (CT views the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as our conscience)
And more recently through the Bible, churches, preachers, and all sorts of digital resources that help us see the work of God in the world
So worship looks different now:
We were created with the social/relational piece in place. But when the Sin Virus removed it - a void remained
Not just a small hole that we could live with. But a large hole that also functions like a vacuum - sucking things into it in an attempt to fill itself up like before
We’ll refer to it as the “worship void” because the only way to fill it is to worship something
If we worship God, it gets filled back up and we start to feel whole again
If we fill it with other things - the void remains and we keep trying harder
Worshiping God: Like we discussed - this looks a bit different now than it did in the beginning. But it’s still one of our basic human needs.
Instead of walking, talking and laughing with God
We have to connect with Him in other ways:
Voting for Him
Praying
Singing
Learning
Living
Worshiping Other Things: But the unfortunate reality is that worshiping God in this new way doesn’t come naturally any more
The Sin Virus changed our DNA, messed with our human nature, and tricks us into thinking we can fill the worship void with things on Earth
After all, there are things we can do here that seem to fulfill us, things that bring immediate satisfaction and feel better in the here and now
But in the end all of these things are just distractions
It all comes back to the controversy - the battle between God and Satan for our allegiance - for our vote in the Eternal Election:
God deserves our worship because He created us
Satan wants our worship because he’s jealous of God and wants to prove that he deserves to be worshiped too - or possibly instead of God
However, very few people would knowingly opt in and worship Satan - right?
Humans have a hard enough time wrapping their minds around what it looks like to worship a God who is good
So the idea of worshiping Satan, a being hell bent on death and destruction, is probably an even harder sell
So instead of getting people to worship him directly, he focuses his energy on indirect worship:
If he can get us to “worship” other things and in turn stop worshiping God, then he is winning...
Or at least that’s his plan...
On some level it’s just smoke and mirrors, it’s deflect and redirect, but he’s a master at it - and there are so many people who can’t see it for what it is
// 3. THREE FORMS OF WORSHIP
Now that we’ve talked through what worship is, and how it has changed, it would be helpful to look at it from a different perspective.
CT suggests that if you were to look at all of the various ways we worship, they could be clumped into three categories:
Sincere worship:
Worship we offer to our Creator
It is true worship - worship that comes from our hearts
No hidden agenda
No ulterior motives
We’re not just doing it just because others are doing it
This type of worship comes from deep inside, and it has to do with fully understanding who God is, that He created us, that He saves us from the Sin Virus and that life just wouldn’t make sense without Him in it
It is living each and every day knowing that He is the reason we get out of bed in the morning
Token worship:
This can actually look like the real thing at times
But it falls short of sincere worship because we’re just playing the game
Maybe we grew up in church and so it is just part of our routine
Maybe it’s to look good for others
Maybe a significant other is asking us worship with them, and we’re just going along with it so they won’t dump us
Whatever the scenario, the common theme is that the worship is not connected to the heart
Worship is more of an outward display - for the benefit of others mores than a direct connection between you and your Creator
Token worship is probably something we’ve all engaged in at times in our life - and while it isn’t the goal, it also isn’t the end of the world
There will be times in our lives when we find ourselves in a bad way. In a dark place. Not playing our “A” game. During those periods of time, token worship can actually keep us connected to the one thing we need most
Just being there and going through the motions can be a lifeline of sorts
Going to church, listening to songs, singing songs, praying before meals or before going to bed. Praying out of obligation with your kids before bed
All of these are keeping you connected on some level - and make it easier - or more likely that you will get back to sincere worship
Worldly worship:
And finally, you have everything else!
The simple way to explain this category is to say, "Anything we feed to the 'worship void' that isn’t God."
Pretty straightforward right?
And while there are too many of these to list, here are a few of the obvious, worldly pursuits many of us struggle with:
Money
Career
Power
Fame
Material possessions
Food
Shopping
Gambling
Sex
Drugs/Alcohol
Then there are the ones that seem good on the outside:
Your kids
Exercise
Health
Cleanliness
All of these are good, and in moderation there is nothing wrong with them. However, if one of these becomes your entire world, you are in essence “worshiping” it
And finally, there are a few that are extremely sinister, and are very hard to see:
Pastors
Worship leaders
Church workers
Leaders in the church or non-profit world
Spiritual bloggers/podcasters/influencers
Again, all good things! But there is a line that can be crossed
It can go from a humble, “I’m doing this for God” to an arrogant, “I’m really good at this, and people should look up to me because I’m just that good."
The Worship Quiz
So I hear people asking the following question: "How can I tell when I’m worshiping something? And how can I tell if it’s sincere, token or worldly worship?
Here’s a simple assessment to at least help you decide if you’re worshiping something. Ask yourself these questions:
What do I spend large amounts of money on?
What do I spend large amounts of time doing?
What do I spend large amounts of time thinking about?
If you’re honest with yourself - these questions should immediately start forming a list for you.
And once you have the list created - you should be able to walk through the list and determine which worship category they fall into.
From there - it’s up to you what you do next...
You may need to stop some things all together
You may need to start doing some new things
Some things just need to go from "worldly worship" to "hobby status” With “moderation" being the key here...
And there may be some things you know you can’t change on your own. Severe mental health issues like chronic depression or chemical dependency may require treatment in order to move away from that form of worship in your life
This is important though. And not to be taken lightly. The Bible makes it clear that “worldly worship” can interfere with our relationship with our Creator:
Jesus explained it this way using money as an example of something people tend to worship
"You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.” Matthew 6:24 (The Message)
Obviously this was specific to money - but it is a good illustration of the way we incorporate other forms of worship into our lives. Things that become little “g” gods to us…
The main point to take from this is this: "The 'worship void’ in our life needs to be filled with 'sincere worship’ vs. 'worldly worship’ if we are to truly find peace.”
// 4. THE WORSHIP BOOK
One thing I haven’t really touched on during these episodes is that each of The Basic Assumptions in CT are split out into two parts. In the written manuscript, each “chapter” has two sections:
First, there is the content piece where the theory is presented. These are the things we’ve been walking through on this podcast
Second, there is a Bible Story illustrating the BA. The idea was to walk people through the sometimes “heady” concepts first, then bring it back to real life people and real life examples
Up until now, I’ve kept the Bible stories out of these podcast episodes:
Maybe I assumed the content was good enough to stand on its own
Maybe I was nervous that people would feel like they were being preached to
Or maybe it all came down the length of each episode - and me worrying that they would get too long
Whatever the case - things have worked out well - until today.
As I was preparing for this episode I read through the Bible Story section and remembered just how important the story piece was. How much it fleshed out the idea of worship, and how important it was to the overall legitimacy - not only of this BA, but for CT itself!
So I decided to include it this time.
The Bible Story for this Basic Assumption is called The Worship Book - and it’s a collection of stories taken from the Book of Daniel - which is perfect, because each of the stories in the book have “worship” as the theme, or plot.
So here we go - I’ll highlight the story, how worship fits into the story and the eventual outcome of the story.
Spoiler alert: Just a heads up, there will be spoilers in case you are going to read the Book of Daniel in the near future…
Daniel & Friends:
Story:
Babylon captured Israel
Daniel & Friends were taken captive - but allowed to work for the king since they were part of Israeli nobility
They were forced to eat what the king, the kings court and all of the other captives ate
However, they requested that they be allowed to eat foods they grew up on - foods that they believed were better for them
The king granted the request - but only for a set amount of time - and would test all members of the court at that time to see if it made any difference
Worship Area: Worldly worship (food). What we eat. Whether we eat to live or live to eat. This story proves at least one thing: We are what we eat...
Outcome:
At the end of the time period Daniel & Friends were healthier, and did better in their studies than everyone else - based on the kings testing process
And because if this, the ascended in the court hierarchy and achieved positions of authority because of small choices like these
Daniel & The Kings Dream:
Story:
King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and he couldn’t remember it
He asked all of his magicians, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what the dream was
None of them were able to do so
But Daniel explained that God could tell the king his dream if he gave Daniel some time
God revealed the dream to Daniel and the interpretation of the dream
Worship Area: Sincere worship: Who are you actually worshiping?
The magicians, sorcerers and astrologers were worshiping dark forces, and thus could not tell the king his dream
Daniel was sincerely worshiping the true God - and was able to tell the king his dream
Bonus worship area: Pride/Power
Daniel could have told the king it was he that had the power to reveal the dream
But instead he chose sincere worship and explained that it was God who had the power to do this. Daniel was simply the messenger
Outcome:
Daniel continued to serve in the court of the king and had a level of power and authority others could not achieve
The Fiery Furnace:
Story:
Because of the dream Daniel revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar
The king became nervous, and decided to build a giant statue of himself
He then required that everyone in the kingdom stop what they were doing and worship the statue
Daniel had three friends: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego
They were Israelites like Daniel, and believed it was wrong to worship anyone or anything else than the one true God
So they refused
The king had the thrown into a fiery furnace so hot it killed the men who threw them in
Worship Area: Sincere worship: Will you worship God, or someone or something else?
Outcome:
When the three men were thrown into the fiery furnace, God protected them
They literally walked around in the flames until the king told them to come out
Bonus Outcome:
The Bible explains that while the three were in the flames - God appeared and stood with them
How crazy would that be!?!
An immediate validation that you made the right decision and were worshiping sincerely
The Fall of the King:
Story:
King Nebuchadnezzar struggled with his allegiance
There were moments where he almost turned and gave worship to God based on things he saw - like the fiery furnace situation
But his pride and power eventually got the best of him
One night he was looking out his balcony over the entire kingdom
And he said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30)
Worship Area: Sincere worship (Will you worship God, or yourself (pride)?)
Outcome:
No sooner had the words left the kings mouth - and the Bible describes that he ceased to be human. He lost his mind and fled to live in the fields with wild animals for seven years
The interesting thing to me is that God allowed his kingdom to continue on for those seven years - almost in a holding pattern
The Bible explains that after the seven years, the king regained his mind, and began praising (worshiping) God. And his kingdom was restored to him
Belshazzar and the Drunken Feast:
Story:
Later in life, King Nebuchadnezzar was probably getting tired of life in the palace, so he started to travel, and do other things
During this time, he left the kingdom in the hands of Belshazzar
I’m guessing Belshazzar was loving his newfound power
So he called all of the important people together and threw a massive party which included:
A lot of drinking
Worshiping the Babylonian gods
Mocking the God of the Israelites - by taking sacred goblets from the Israelite temple and using them to drink their wine from
Worship Area: Worldly worship (Alcohol, Gluttony, etc.) Sincere worship (Will you worship God, little “g” gods, or yourself?)
Outcome:
During the party, and large hand appeared and wrote words on the walls for everyone to see
They couldn’t read the words - so Daniel was called to interpret
Daniel came, and explained that the words said, “Babylon will fall - this very night."
Belshazzar laughed and went back to partying
But that night it happened - Babylon fell to the Meds & Persians in a sneak attack
Daniel & The Lions Den:
Story:
The new ruler of the Medes & Persians, King Darius kept people like Daniel around - probably because he had a reputation for being smart, and that he was able to interpret dreams
And there is a chance that over time, the king grew to really trust and like Daniel
Because of this, others in the palace began to dislike Daniel
They became jealous and eventually hatched a plot to get rid of him
They convinced the king to sign a decree that everyone in the kingdom should worship him for 30 days
Anyone choosing not to do so would be thrown into a Den of Lions
These men knew Daniel wouldn’t worship the king, so they simply waiting for him to worship his God, took a few pictures and went to the king
Worship Area: Sincere worship (Will you worship the true God, or an Earthly god in the form of a man or king?)
Outcome:
The king was heartbroken - and angry that he had been fooled by members of his own court
And still - a law was a law. He had to have Daniel thrown into the Lion’s Den in order to ensure that laws were seen as important and unchangeable in the kingdom
That night, God sent angels into the Lion’s Den to shut the mouths of the lions and not harm Daniel
In the morning the king rushed to the Lion’s Den and had the stone rolled away from the entrance
He called to Daniel - assuming the worst
But then Daniel walked out into the light - safe and sound
Bonus Outcome:
Not sure I should call this bonus material…
But the king was so angry at the men who plotted to kill Daniel - that he had the men thrown into the Den for their crimes
Unfortunately for them the angles had already gone - and they allowed the lions to be hungry once more
Daniel’s Prayer:
Story:
The final story in the Book of Daniel really isn’t a story at all
It’s a prayer Daniel prayed to the one true God after being shown the future
Undoubtedly Daniel was scared and sad at the violence, destruction and pain that was coming upon the Earth
So he prayed in a way that we would recognize as sincere worship
Worship Area: Sincere worship (Prayer)
Outcome:
Because of his sincere worship - God sent an angel to comfort him
This angel told Daniel he was “greatly beloved"
An amazing end to a life of faithful, sincere worship
Land the plane:
This week I want you to do the following:
Think back to your childhood. Were you raised with an understanding of what it meant to “worship”?
If so - how does it match up to what we learned today?
If not - is this something that makes sense? And is it something you can incorporate into your life?
Take the Worship Quiz and ask yourself:
What do I spend large amounts of money on?
What do I spend large amounts of time doing?
What do I spend large amounts of time thinking about?
From this, create your list of things you tend to “worship” in life
Work on the "sincere worship” elements and try to cut back on the "worldly worship” items
Based on this list, have you been trying to worship two gods at the same time?
And finally, if you feel up to it - open the Book of Daniel and read each of the stories we just walked through
It is a fast read - and a fun one at that!
CT suggests our worship is one of the biggest things we struggle with in life. And that if we can just get it figure out - a whole host of other issues might cease to be issues in the process…
Next week we get to jump into a topic nobody is thrilled about. The Fifth Basic Assumption: Rules & Regulations
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Thanks again for being with us, and until next time, keep Transcending Human!