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"Authentic Worship" A Devotional By: Becca {November 2006}

Worship music is everywhere. We have worship in every style and genre that exists. Just when you think worship could only be contemporary, you find the newest Swing Worship 40's style CD. But with the plethora of worship music out there, it begs the question: How authentic is your worship? As a Christian, when someone asks me "Who do you worship?" my automatic response would be "God!" I don't even have to take a deep breath. But the Word of God clear that He desires us to worship Him with every area of our lives. That includes relationships, family, work, school, hobbies, entertainment, recreation, and so on. If we say we worship God and our actions tell a different story,we're clothing ourselves with the same hypocrisy the Pharisees did. Jesus confronted the Pharisees (a.k.a. religious leaders) of his day because they knew plenty of knowlege and boasted in worshiping God all day long, but their actions spoke nothing of love, mercy, compassion, or true righteouness. This is a question I have to ask myself, and we all do: "Is my worship authentic?" If we don't ask it, we'll end up heading in a direction we never thought we'd go. It comes down to a simple truth. It's all about devotion. To be devoted to something means that everything else gets second place. If we're truly devoted to God and the things He's devoted to, we could put our favorite TV show on hold to serve God. If we're devoted to Him, we could spend one less day surfing the internet and one more day praying and reading the Bible. If we're devoted to Him we ___________ (you fill in the blank with something that relates to your life). If we were to worship God as He deserves, our lives would display Him as 1st place and all that we are would be for Him. To me, that's true worship.

What makes a true worshiper different than a Pharisee is their worship continues past the altar (or church setting) and moves into the world where worship takes on a new form and becomes tangible love, mercy and compassion. I think of the people I know who have sacrificed comfortable American lifestyles to live as missionaries in the hardest to reach places. I also think of the people who live in my city and go to work each day with the intention of being tangible love and light to their co-workers, and leading them to Christ that way. To worship God in this way isn't always easy. Here the greatest pain and greatest joy are found.

Worship starts as a song and ends in a plow. What do I mean by that? Think about a farmer who works in his fields every day, preparing the soil in the heat of the day for a harvest. He takes the plow and drives it into the ground. Jesus said that the fields of souls were ripe for harvest 2,000 years ago. The fields in 2006 are just as ripe for harvest. We could take a "plow" and co-labor with God to bring forth the greatest harvest of souls that the world has ever known, or we can stand by and let someone else do it. But if we leave the Kingdom's work to someone else, our worship is in vain. Our worship is tainted by the hypocrisy that our words and deeds don't line up. The world is crying out for authenticity. They are eager to see someone live out authentic Christianity. We are closest to His heart when we live it out. Worship becomes an action of rescuing. Devotion to Him is devotion to others.