“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is Yours, O Lord, and this is Your kingdom. We adore You as the One who is over all things.” (1 Chronicles 29:11 NLT)
Easter was just a few weeks past and for me it was a glorious event. The Lord has given me the privilege of greeting those who who are coming to worship at one of our entrances, and as the hundreds of people flooded through the doors on Easter Sunday, my heart was rejoicing. I kept saying to the Lord, “Keep ‘em coming Lord! Keep ‘em coming!” and He did!
The music was glorious, and our Pastor was on fire for the Lord. When I left my soul was rejoicing and my heart was full. But why? Who deserves the credit for such an outpouring of God’s presence? Certainly not the musicians. As great as they are, as much as they rehearsed, they were instruments the Lord used to help tune our heart to His voice.
What about our Pastor? Should he get the credit? I’ve learned something over the years that I wish I’d known when I was pastoring. When the Pastor worships, adores God, and is seeking His holy presence with all His heart, the people in his audience experience the Lord’s presence. But to answer my question, no, the Pastor doesn’t deserve the credit.
God alone is worthy of our worship, adoration, and praise. To transfer or give credit to anyone or anything else is to miss the point of worship. Tim Challies nailed it when he wrote: “The most fitting response to a powerful sermon is not, ‘What a great preacher!’ but ‘What a great God!’” To believe the source of our spiritual “food” is a Pastor or even a church, is to misunderstand their role in God’s plan.
Micah Fries was on to something when he observed: “If you judge your church’s worship based on how well you’ve been ‘fed’ you have made yourself the object of your worship.” The purpose of worship in whatever form we experience it, isn’t to “feed” us, but to humble us, magnify Christ, and glorify His Father. We’re fed by God’s Word and His words from whoever’s lips they may flow.
There are men and women of God who share God’s truth through the written, as well as the spoken word, but they are not to be glorified, honored, and exalted. They are great only to the extent they enable their readers or hearers to see Jesus more clearly and understand their role in the Kingdom more completely, but we stunt our own growth by offering credit for the presence and power of God to the wrong sources.
But we too often do the same thing each day when we fail to see the glory and majesty of God in the sunrise, in the air we breathe, or in the food He provides for our meals. Having a loving family and friends should cause our hearts to praise our Risen Lord for His favor in allowing us such meaningful relationships.
When Jesus is the object of our worship, every detail of our life becomes alive with meaning and opportunity to praise and honor Him. He is the Author of every good and perfect gift and we must allow our lives to give Him the credit and worship that is His due. To not see His hand at work in every dimension of our lives is to miss opportunities to exalt Him as our worthy Lord.
I’m hopeful that you’re a part of a thriving, growing fellowship of God’s people, but please don’t credit that blessing to the works of man. God uses men and women in the building of His Kingdom, but all glory is His for the good results. He alone is and must always be the object of our worship.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 