So something that I've been thinking about recently is worship. For my internship, I had to evaluate the youth ministry and figure out which areas needed to be rennovated and changed. Something I thought could be improved upon was worship during youth nights. It has been kinda shoved to the side and had not been given a chance to develop in the past three to four years. Watching from the sidelines a few times, I've noticed that almost nobody worships. Haing lead about four years ago, almost nobody worshipped. Nothing has seemed to change. The worship time has become a few people worshiping in song, and 30 people watching. It has become a watching type of thing, instead of a doing type of thing. So my job and goal over the next few weeks before I leave is to try and develop an environment and culture of worship.
This goal has led me to desire to do some sort of sermon series on worship at youth group. So one of the passages that sticks in my head all the time is Romans 12:1-2 because it talks about worship. Among all the passages in the Old Testament that talk about worship as sacrificing animals and stuff, this passages sticks out to me more than the rest. So I did some thinking about it.
"Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God."
-Romans 12:1-2 [HCSB]
I've heard this passage many times before, but never took the time to consider its meaning for me. It says that our spiritual act of worship is offering our bodies as living, breathing, sacrifices to God, which is holy and pleasing to Him. It also says to not be conformed to the age (or the world) and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can know the will of God. But what does it all mean, and what does it mean for you and I?
What does it mean?
It means that worship is sacrificing ourselves. We all, by nature, desire things of the flesh. We desire our addictions, sex, money, power, and many other things... the things of this age... the things of the world. When we desire these things, we do not desire the things of the Spirit or things that are of God. Thus, it is important that we offer up our fleshly desires to make room for God to transform us by replacing our fleshly desires with desires that are of the Spirit, and this is the renewing of our mind. This renewal needs to be constant. This renewal transforms our minds and hearts to that of Gods. This act is holy and pleasing to God.
What does it mean for you and I?
There are soo many things in this world that can consume us if we do not constantly sacrifice those things of the flesh to God. In our flesh, we desire the things of the world and not the things of God. The cool thing is, by the power of God, we can offer those desires to God and our minds will be renewed or refocused and transformed so that we can continue to see God's will for us. God's will is made clearer when we do this. We are made holy and pleasing to God when we do this because we are constantly becoming more like our Creator. This is an act of worship, which is to be continually done so that we can continue to see God's will for us.
When we sacrifice ourselves, our spiritual blinders start to come off so that we can see God's will. It continues to get evermore clear as we continue to sacrifice these desires, and let God renew our minds and transform us to be more like Him. It is like a man with very poor vision who needs prescription glasses or contacts to see well. When he gets a prescription, he puts his glasses on and can see clearly. But, eventually, if the prescription is not renewed, it is to weak and he has to get a new prescription so that he can see more clearly. This must be continually done for the rest of life. In the same way, when we fall into our fleshly desires it causes God's will for us to be blurred because we are not focused on God. If we do not continually sacrifice our fleshly desires and renew or refocus our mind and life on God, His will for us will continually be blurred, and not refined. When we do continually renew our mind by sacrificng our flesh, God's will for us continues to be more clear day by day.
I will be the first to say that I am not continually renewing my mind and sacrificing my flesh to make room for God. I now desire that. I want to get rid of all the junk I've wanted to for a while so that I can continue to focus on God and His will for me. I don't want to run away from these things anymore. I want to see clearly the will of God.
I think that in context of trying to create an environment and culture of worship, this plays out in a specific way. When we are in our flesh, we will not desire to worship God, because the world does not tell us to worship God, but other things. To create that environment and culture of worship, we must be transformed by renewing our minds and sacrificing our flesh so that we desire things of God. When we desire things of God because we have sacrificed our fleshly desires as worship, that is when that environment and culture of worship will be developed.
Worship requires an element of sacrifice. Worship through song in my mind is simply singing praises back to God about how great He is. It may not seem like a sacrifice, but it still requires us to sacrifice our fleshly desire to be our own God. We sacrifice this want and we are letting Him become our God. Worship is not something we watch other people do and is not solely done through music and singing. It can be done in our day to day lives, not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights.
Worship must be done continuously.
Worship requires sacrifice.
Worship causes us to see God's will more clearly.
Worship causes us to desire Him.
So, will we constantly sacrifice our fleshly desires and humbly be transformed so that we can know God's will and be used by Him for His Kingdom? Or will we sit back and watch as others seek the things of God and become tools for His Kingdom?
Lord God,
I pray that as I embark on my journey to create an environment and culture of worship, that you would be with me. I pray that you would do a mighty work in the lives of the students and call them to sacrifice themselves in worship. I pray that their lives would change from desiring their flesh, to desiring you and your will for their lives. I pray that worship would not continue to be a spectator's sport in the youth, but something that they would desire to DO and not just watch. I pray that you would reveal yourself to the students in powerful ways as we seek to worship you and become more like you. I love you so much God and thank you for all that you have blessed me with. I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen
good stuff, James. :) Praise God.
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