To God, the blessed and only Ruler of all, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal, whose home is in inaccessible light, whom no man has seen or is able to see, to him be honor and everlasting power. Amen 1 Timothy 6:5-16
Nobody likes to lose. And we live in a culture that continually threatens to make us losers—or at least feel like losers. A lot of the lure for Christians to live in a fantasy world is that is one place where we can be winners—or at least identify with winners as they fight evil against insurmountable odds and win.
I believe that one of Christianity’s more compelling truths in our time is that in Jesus we are winners. Jesus is rarely presented or seen in this all-surpassing glory. And we share that glory…every single Christian. Jesus embraced losing for us so that He would ultimately win, and we would win with Him.
When we turn to Him we go from ignoring God’s glory to broadcasting it. And Jesus goes from a mythical hero to a living Savior. And we know He’s living because we encounter Him.
The world can’t understand why multitudes of people would allow themselves to be duped by a bunch of religious mumbo-jumbo and pie in the sky (which is all they can see of Christianity). That’s because they have not encountered Jesus. If they had, they’d at least understand the compulsion that drives the multitudes of believers to passion for Him.
Christians on the margins of the faith wonder what all the hype is about when people fall face-down in worship (some even swoon!). That’s because they have not encountered Him like those hyper-worshippers have. They’re still caught up in the external: which songs are selected, who’s on the worship team, what instruments are used, the character of the worship community, the worship leader, pastor or other leaders…
But some are just caught up in Jesus. And when that happens, the mechanic and personalities of worship “grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”
That’s because real worship engages the believer in face-to-face encounter with their Lord and Savior. As we declare the greatness of God, we lose our self-focus (along with the mechanics and personalities of worship) and open ourselves to the awesome power and glory of Jesus. We lose our self-consciousness, our fear of what others will think, and begin to give testimony to the incredible might and all-surpassing love of our Almighty God.
God looks for are people that will worship Him in spirit and truth (Jn 4:23-24), which at a minimum means an open heart. A heart that does not lift itself up—does not lift the mechanics or personalities up, but lifts Jesus higher. A heart that says, “I don’t have it, but I know Jesus does.”
That’s the attitude of someone Jesus has made a winner. It’s also the attitude of someone who worships in spirit and in truth.