May 28th, 2021: A Moment to Ponder on Our Worship

 


My son-in-law is a loyal fan of the Edmonton Oilers hockey team. He and my daughter moved to the Island of Vancouver about three years ago. The move didn't change his allegiance to the Oilers. He is managing a golf course on the Island. He decorated his golf cart to cheer for the Oilers in the play off. Well, they didn't do very well and were eliminated by the Winnipeg Jets. So here is a joke for you: "What did the Oilers and the Titanic have in common? They both looked good before they hit the ice."


Some people would spend a lot of money to support their teams. Some even go further by having their team names and logos on their cars, home, and office. My father-in-law, a general surgeon, would fly the flag of the University of Michigan in front of his house whenever their football team played at home.


There are three words we can use to describe such devotion.


Commitment: Their commitments are serious. We can see that by the time and money they spend. People would make time to watch their team play either at home or away. They set aside budgets to go to the games with their families and loved ones. Sometimes I wish Christians would have such a commitment when it comes to our faith.


Worship: when we adore someone, we have the desire to emulate them. That is an act of worship. Worship is not a religious idea alone. It is right and fitting to applaud what is beautiful, courageous, and noble. When people use a similar desire to be destructive, it is no longer worship. We are dealing with obsessive, compulsive, and unthoughtful behaviours. Our worship instinct can have both positive impact and negative influence.


Pride: pride is healthy when it lifts people up. Not too long ago, we witnessed more than 2 million people came out to cheer the Toronto Raptors for winning the NBA championship. The whole country was watching this history-making moment with pride. Nowadays, we are witnessing a movement that is trying to destroy the entire history of Canada and the US. No nation is perfect, but I am proud to be a Canadian. We can learn from our past mistakes, but that doesn't mean we have to erase everything. We need to be more discerning to understand the end goal of this destructive movement. 


The last thing we want to do is take God out of history. Many of the pioneer generations built our nations with that faith. When we take God out, we have to have something else in God's place. What should be there then? We have begun to see many little gods (celebrities) running around screaming for acknowledgment. That might be why life is so noisy and unsettled lately.


John 4: 23, 24

"But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

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