Humanistic Worship

Humanism tells us that man is fulfilled in personal happiness or well-being. I, for one, most certainly want to be happy and found well. However, the problem is that this philosophy is in direct conflict with the core essence of following Christ. “38And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matt 10:38-39 ESV

Following Christ is about sacrifice, death to self and flesh, not about personal happiness and well-being. How then, are a vast majority of our worship songs in context of what God can do for us? We sing about the blessings we receive from the presence of the Lord and rarely declare our willingness to suffer for the sake of the Gospel. And yet this is what Christ desires; a life sacrificed unto Him.

We don’t serve the Lord just so that we can be happy and escape the torment of hell. We serve the Lord because He is LORD. He deserves our lives, happy or not. The beauty of surrendering our lives to the Lord is that happiness becomes a bi-product of our relationship with Him. We receive peace, love, joy, grace, mercy, happiness and fulfillment by submitting. We do not submit because we have received these things, we receive them because we are submitted.

I do want to make it abundantly clear that I think it is important to sing the promises of the Lord and remind/teach each other about the great benefits of serving Christ. However, this should not be the sole angle of our praise. There is power in sacrifice and surrender. I encourage you to write and sing songs that declare our willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel and the beauty of giving all for Christ.

God bless you in your endeavors! Serve Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength and He will do what we cannot imagine.

PN