Beautiful ResistanceSample

Worship Must Resist Idolatry

The persistent temptation is to turn good things into God things.

Hard work is good. The same can be said of love, family, fitness, sports, church, and so many other things we idolize. In their place and in proportion, they are all good—but not one of them is God.

Idolatry is worship of an unworthy object. The countercultural, revolutionary act is to direct our hearts’ deepest devotion toward—and only toward—the Creator of our beings. “True worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). Right worship has the power to put our lives back on course and, in the process, expose the misplaced priorities of a culture gone rotten.

The church exists as a counterformative community to confront our idolatry. So we don’t go to church for entertainment. No, what we’re really working for here is transformation into the image of Jesus.

In order for the church to function as an alternative community of freedom and hope, we have to discern the forces that conspire to establish idols in our hearts. Then we must resist and replace them. That’s why worship is such an important part of our common life. We need weekly opportunities of confession, formation, and Scripture to rightly order our hearts and loves and release fresh wonder in our relationship with God.

Whenever the church gathers and offers its collective heart in worship, powerful things can happen. The Father is seen for who he is, and the soul is stirred. Christ is seen in ascended glory, and the heart rejoices. The Spirit is poured out, resulting in our transformation and empowerment to seek God more.

When you gather in Jesus’ name, no matter how large or small the assembly, you are being witness before the powers that be that you cannot be bought. Your heart will remain steadfast, your resistance potent, and your vision glorious. Repentance and worship will become your rhythm, and idols resisted and replaced. Tiny outposts of worship can defy principalities, reconcile communities, transform history. God is at war for the love of your heart. May your worship resist idolatry.

Ask God to reveal to you ways that you have been letting other things take the place that rightly belongs only to him.