Have We Lost Our Reverence For God?
“He has paid a full ransom for his people.
He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
Psalm 111:9 NLT
Have We Lost Our Reverence For God?
Something I have thought about for a long time, but have not yet concluded. This thought that has tumbled around in my mind for a while is, “Have we lost our reverence for God?”
I remember on the few occasions I went to church as a child; I did not want to move. Every sound seemed to echo throughout the sanctuary. I remember once as a teen going to church with my dad and my stomach growled so loud and he and I got the giggles. We tried everything to remain silent. The need for quiet was not out of fear, but I wanted to be respectful to those around me and to the place I thought God dwelled.
As a child, I never would have imagined running through the sanctuary or bringing a drink in, for that matter. As I began having children, I tried to teach them this same reverence. That when they enter a holy place, they should treat it as such. Singing hymns and reading liturgy all seemed to remind me of the reverence I needed to have for God.
Now, most churches I attend sing contemporary worship songs, offer coffee and donuts, and have a different form of liturgy. I feel like we look at God as more of a friend than the One we should revere.
I once attended a service, it had concluded, but people were still in the sanctuary for prayer. Kids began running throughout the sanctuary like a playground. Cars were being raced on the altar, other kids were running through the sound equipment and this thought of reverence began crossing my mind.
As a parent, I wrestled with this with my own kids as I would find them army crawling under pews as they raced to see who could get to the other end first. They were just being kids, but I struggled with the respect I felt we should keep for the sanctuary.
Please do not get me wrong, I love contemporary worship and I love hymns. I embrace liturgy and I am ok without it. I adore seeing kids in worship, but somewhere along the way, I feel we have forgotten the majesty of the One we worship.
The Wrath Of God
This week in studying for Romans, I read Romans 1:18-23 that discusses the wrath of God. In my studies, I listened to a sermon from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones and He reminded his listeners that we cannot forget that our salvation saves us from the wrath of God.
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”
Romans 1:18-19 NIV
(Below, you can read the extended scripture in two different versions.)
We are each born into a sinful state and deserve the wrath of God. We deserve Hell. But it’s by His grace and mercy that He has saved us, made us righteous, and rescued us from His wrath. Martyn Lloyd-Jones suggested we invite people to church for the activities, the community, and the coffee. We never invite them because it can save them from God’s wrath.
Church Consumerism
Why do American churchgoers believe we go to church to have our needs met? Amazing things would happen if we focused our energy toward giving worth (worship) to the majesty of Christ, and praising God for his gift of salvation. From there, the Holy Spirit will meet us where we are, healings will happen, restoration will come and it will forever change lives. Not because we came looking, but simply because that is what God does. I am to come to worship the Lord, not just looking for experiences. After all, worship is not about us receiving, it’s about us giving all glory, honor, and praise to the one who has saved us from the wrath of God.
So, my question is, where do you think the church should be? Some denominations are so rigid in their practices and order of service that I find it hard to call it worship. By this I mean their focus is more on the rules than on their relationship with their Savior. On the other extreme, we have no order. People focus more on the miracles and gifts more than they do salvation. We want to make the church look friendly so people will come, but simultaneously we cannot forget why we come.
He Saves Us
I don’t have an answer to my question, but I do believe we have to remember this. God loved us so much that He sent His Son to die for our sins. He rescued us from the pit of Hell so we could be free in Him. He saves us from the wrath we deserve and for that, He deserves our reverence.
After Jesus returned to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God, God sent His Spirit to live within us. Having this closeness with God gives us more of this friendship feeling. When we come together to worship we need to remember we are all carrying the most precious gift of the Spirit within us.
Never Lose Your Awe
I would like to challenge you, and this might not be fun, but why do you go to the church you go to? Are you there because you radically encounter your Savior? Do you leave in awe of His presence? Do you feel convicted to be more like Him? When you leave, do you want to spend even more time with Him?
I pray for each of us that we never lose our awe and wonder for the God we serve. I pray we never forget the wrath He saves us from. And most of all that we can daily find ourselves in the arms of our Savior.
I would love to hear your thoughts. Please comment below and let me know if you have ever thought about this and maybe something the Lord has shown you about this topic. If you would like to continue this conversation, we will dig deeper into this topic in my class this week. You can join us here.
“18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Romans 1:18-23 NIV
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.”
“18 For the wrath of God is breaking through from heaven, opposing all manifestations of ungodliness and wickedness by the people who do wrong to keep God’s truth in check. 19 These people are not ignorant about what can be known of God, because He has shown it to them with great clarity. 20 From the beginning, creation in its magnificence enlightens us to His nature. Creation itself makes His undying power and divine identity clear, even though they are invisible; and it voids the excuses and ignorant claims of these people 21 because, despite the fact that they knew the one true God, they have failed to show the love, honor, and appreciation due to the One who created them! Instead, their lives are consumed by vain thoughts that poison their foolish hearts. 22 They claim to be wise; but they have been exposed as fools, frauds, and con artists— 23 only a fool would trade the splendor and beauty of the immortal God to worship images of the common man or woman, bird or reptile, or the next beast that tromps along.”
Romans 1:18-23 The VOICE
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Jen, I agree that we do need to revere God for who He is. Even though He provides for us we shouldn’t view Him as a genie in a bottle. We have to find the balance between knowing we can approach Him and also knowing He is the One true God who hates sin. We can come to His throne only because of what Jesus did.
Barbara, yes. You said it beautifully.
Jennifer, I’m in that same boat with you! I grew up in a very traditional church with multiple generations of members who believed in dressing and acting your “Sunday best.” I didn’t dare raise my voice in the sanctuary, let alone run or play games. But times — and people — change.
Nichole Nordeman released a song years ago called Tremble, which was basically about the fine line between being comfortable enough to approach God while still remembering Who He is.
It begins with:
Have I come too casually? Because it seems to me there’s something I’ve neglected. How does one approach a deity with informality and still protect the sacred?
And the chorus is:
Oh let me not forget to tremble; oh let me not forget to tremble. Face down on the ground, do I dare to take the liberty to stare at you? Oh let me not forget to tremble.
You obviously struck a chord with me! What great fodder for thought and conversation.
Thank you Leigh. I think I remember that song but I am going to listen to it again. Last night at church, I got excited when between songs the leader mentioned that we cannot forget to have reverence for the One we worship.
I appreciate this statement among others, Jen: “After all, worship is not about us receiving, it’s about us giving all glory, honor, and praise to the one who has saved us from the wrath of God.” This truth helps us balance our worship and reverence for God with the privilege of approaching our loving Father.
Thank you Jeannie.
I ask myself these same questions, Jen. For my children, I was strict about what I deemed as reverant behavior. Runing, jumping, yelling, and screaming in church was a NO. But as times change as “church” has become more informal, with attempts to welcome chldren of all ages in worship, I’ve begun to see the relaxing of standards of behavior. While I think church needs to reach children (and adults) where they are, I believe we need certain standards of behavior
Thank you Katherine.
Oh Jennifer, I think you are so correct. We, as a society, have lost our reverence for God. So many only want to see His love side without knowing about His potential wrath.
It’s wonderful to see the love is our being saved from the wrath. We cannot forget that. Thank you for sharing.
We recently just moved back to USA after being stationed overseas for many years. We now consider those years our “wilderness” passage and every chance we had, we were at church because we absolutely experienced that closeness to God that we were needing as we were very “homesick”.
Now that we are home, we do feel a sense of informality that many churches have traded in for the sake of reaching more people.
Ultimately, I think it is all about each individual’s personal walk with Jesus. I go to the church I go to because I am convicted to be more like Him, i leave church humbled and grateful that we live in a country that has the freedom to worship God, because we also know personal accounts of countries where people don’t have that freedom and we know of the wrath of God has over that land.
Welcome home Karen. Thank you so much for sharing. I’m glad you have a church like that. It’s a precious gift.