Devotional - 9/23/02
“Are You a Worship Junkie?”
Luke 18
10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the
other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about
himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers,
adulterers--or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week
and give a tenth of all I get.'
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look
up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home
justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he
who humbles himself will be exalted."
Most people interpret this parable as a warning against pride and arrogance. But
I want to take a little different spin on it this week.
I learned a new term last week while reading through the latest edition of
"Worship Leader" magazine. They were interviewing Cliff Young, one of the
leaders of the group Caedmon's Call. (I didn't know this about them: they
actually are the worship band in their home church! No matter what they're doing
-- touring, recording, whatever -- they make the trip back to Houston every
Sunday to lead worship in their home church. Pretty cool, huh?) Anyway, he used
the term "worship junkie." It pierced into my head and has been stuck there ever
since.
What is a "worship junkie"? It's a person who has become addicted to the
feelings you can derive from a worship service full of energy and excitement. In
essence, those are the same feelings participants get in a rock concert. The
music blares, the beat takes over, the sway and roar of the crowd creates its
own dynamic, and when it’s over the endorphans flow just like they do when you
get off a fast roller coaster. Those biochemical responses can create addiction
just as strongly as alcohol or drugs do. And if you don't think that those kinds
of feelings can be generated in a worship service, you've never been to a
megachurch where a couple thousand people are all "praising the Lord" at the
same time.
I heard the late Rich Mullins express a similar disdain for this frenzied
worship. He said he was suspicious of people who started dancing and whooping it
up at the beginning of his concerts. It was as if the first downbeat cued them
to start the routine, just like Pavlov's dog. He wasn't saying that these
behaviors couldn't possibly be the Spirit's leading, he just discerned a little
different motive.
It's similar to the Pharisee's reason for worshiping. It was all about puffing
himself up, making himself feel good about the experience. In his case, it was
pride that was the motivator. But in today's worship culture of contemporary
music, a new insidious factor tempts us: the "worship rush."
Why do you come to worship? Is it to get your heart pounding, your spirit
lifted, your feelings soothed? In other words, is it all about you?
In reality, we should come to get God's heart pounding, His Spirit lifted, His
feelings soothed. It should be about HIM. As soon as we lose that focus, we
become worship junkies.
I'm not saying that we should expect to get nothing from the experience. God
says that He will inhabit His praise, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is joy. It's just that we should never let that become the reason why we
do it.
So I exhort you to search your own heart for the motives behind your worship.
Check for signs that you are addicted to the worship rush. And cast out those
demons in Jesus' name. Recommit yourself to worshipping the Lord in Spirit and
truth, and let Him pour out the blessing in His sweet, quiet way.
- Dale Haas