I have recently taken the role of Leader in our youth group's praise band. This is a new role for me and it's one I'm really taking to heart. At first, i wasn't quite sure that i wanted to do it, but the Lord has worked so much on my heart, that it's hard to imagine myself not doing it. He began by laying the book of 1st Timothy on my heart to read this month. And within the first chapter i found these verses:
12And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
13Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
Here's Paul, one of the greats of the Christian faith, and he describes himself as the "chief of sinners." He's saying,"Here i am, a wretch and Christ sees me faithful enough to trust in his ministry." I know exactly how he feels. I feel under qualified to lead a music group, but i guess Christ sees it differently. And because of this, i want to see to it that He receives all the glory. Because that's one thing that's really been on my heart lately. Which leads us to the main point of this blog:
Everything is for the glory of God.
I know me personally, i get wrapped up in arguments and apologetics. It burns me up to see some of the things presented today in the "Name of Christ." I could launch into arguments about the emerging church movement, creation vs evolution, evangelism and countless other subjects, but end up just wasting my breath. I hate to see God's truth be clouded over with false notions and vain babblings of men. I love truth.
But when it comes to creation, you wanna know what matters? Not how many days it was done in or what order things came in, but that "The God of the universe" created all things for His glory. We look at the vast expanse of the heavens and wonder why there's only a small speck of life in it. Well, the universe wasn't created to show our relationship to it, but to show how amazing it's Creator is.
The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Psalm 19:1
The whole point of the creation story isn't really to tell us what happened, but to glorify the Creator. The whole point of Adam being made from dirt wasn't to say how low he was, but to say how great God is. The whole point of the fall is not to explain why people do bad things, but to show the redemptive power of God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
The Atheist will ask, "Well, if God is so perfect, why did He let sin into the world in the first place?" To which i would reply, "How else would He be able to show His awesome, powerful, redeeming love if there was nothing to redeem? He did it so ALL will know His glory."
It was John Piper who said, "The Christian Gospel is 'The gospel of the glory of Christ' because its final aim is that we would see and savor and show the glory of Christ"(1)
Now, some might disagree and say that the gospel is more of the things we do, such as taking care of the poor or feeding the hungry, which are good things and as Christians we should take part in these, but they are not the main point. The whole point of the gospel is to glorify Christ.
I'll probably get some flak for that last one.
What worship boils down to is to give God His glory. Worship is why we were created.
And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
Romans 9:23
So when it comes down to the time to worship, don't just stand there, but rather fall on your knees and lift up the name of Christ, one who is worthy of all glory. Tell your King you love him. Rejoice in the blood that was shed for you and be like Paul, who considered himself "chief of sinners" and give the glory to the One who deserves it.
(1) John Piper's "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ"
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6 comments:
what brings more glory to christ, singing in building, or bringing justice to those in rough situations? im inclined to think the latter, but lord know we disagree.
both bring glory to him james, both. stop drawing lines.
i liked it, man. as trite as it has sadly become to us we are to do all to the glory of God. EVERYTHING we do, singing, studying, walking, feeding, sitting, praying, listening...is ultimately about God and His glory, saturating this world with His presence.
im just messin' with you man. hope all is well. be good.
just wanted to let you know that I'm really glad you are leading our band now.. some may think that the leader should be someone who will lead musically (like singing or something), but i disagree. we need someone who'll lead us in the right direction, help us where we need it, and keep us under control.. not just someone who can sing. i know you'll do just that. trust God and thank Him for this opportunity, because I believe He'll use you in mighty ways for our band. ... this was kind of a long comment, sorry.. :)
Thanks Claire. Don't worry about the long comment, it meant a lot to me.
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