a look at ourselves

the following post is taken from a blog that i came across yesterday. his style is cool, to me, and he says things that i can relate to. he says things the way i would like to say them.

his name is greg morris, and the name of his blog is looking up.

please leave your comments of what you thought of this post, and visit greg's blog and share your comments with him, as well.

apparently greg is a UGA fan. please don't hold that against him. so when you see him mention UGA in post, please substitute it with the appropriate college, UA, home of the crimson tide.


A Heart Condition...

In my last blog I talked about college football. As I began to write this blog that topic (college football) still lingered in my thoughts… also, in that same blog (I really enjoy using the word 'blog') I brought up the topic of worship and that topic (worship) continues to loiter in the realms of my mind as well.
The question I want to pose is this, “How do we display or make known our worship? When it comes to football games it’s fairly easy to see… even the most docile, reserved and unassuming grandmother becomes a raging warrior when the game is on the line. We don’t hold back when we display, to the world around us, the high level of value we’ve placed on that group of players, most of whom we have no personal relationship with at all.
I’ve often heard comments such as “I just don’t worship like that”, “I’m more ‘quiet and reserved’ in my worship” or, “that’s just not my style.” In the context of the worship of God I’ve heard those comments far too regularly along with scores of remarks just like them. Why is it that in the context of college football those same comments are never heard? No one sits quietly as their favorite team intercepts a pass and takes it 85 yards for a touchdown, to win the game in the last seconds, and then, when asked for an explanation for their obviously lethargic reaction, says, “It’s just not my style to jump up and down, scream and rejoice for my team… it’s just not who I am.” You NEVER hear that! You also never see anyone waiting to see how others will react before they allow their own jubilation to come bubbling out. It just comes out naturally. Why? Because it’s what’s in our heart!
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not trying to tell anyone HOW they should or should not worship… Michal, David’s wife (pre-Bathsheba), tried to dictate to David what an acceptable expression of worship was, or in this case ‘was not’, and God answered her by striking her barren (2 Samuel 6 16:23). In response to Michal’s protests David said, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.”
Why is it that we’re willing to become undignified and risk our own humiliation for the sake of a sports team yet we feel that we can’t express ourselves, in the truest sense, when it comes to the worship of Almighty God?
Again, I’m not suggesting how one should or should not worship. I’m simply saying that, in my opinion, the outward manifestation of our worship, whether it be God or UGA football, is the result of what is genuinely in our heart. I would like to challenge that, often times, our lack of enthusiastic worship is the result of the lack of value we’ve given Christ in our hearts. Maybe that’s where our focus should be, yours and especially mine, on making God the most valued thing in our life. Once we do that I truly believe that we will be unable to remain calm and ‘normal’, just as we are when that last-second, game-winning field goal soars through the uprights. Instead our love for God will come pouring out as we worship and praise Him. Whether it’s singing, clapping, raising our hands, dropping to our knees, falling face down or simply standing in awe, when we place ultimate and highest value on the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings we will see a more accurate manifestation of our own TRUE WORSHIP!