Centering Your Worship

Today we read 2 Kings 4 and 5, Psalm 83, and 1 Timothy 2.

One of my favorite sayings is a quote from Jesus when He spoke to the Pharisees.  He told them- You strain out the gnat, but swallow the camel.  He was talking about how they would strain drinks through a cheese cloth to make sure that it had not been contaminated by bugs or gnats before they drank it. His real message, however, was that they maximized the minimal and minimized the big stuff.   We do the same thing...many times in our evaluation of Scripture.

There are troublesome and difficult passages in Scripture.  There is no doubt about that.  However, some have been made out to be a lot more difficult than they really are. You have to keep some things in mind when you read the New Testament.
You have to remember that these words were written about two thousand years ago.  They were written, at least Paul's letters, to people under the influence of the Roman Empire in a time when the Empire was controlling their known world.  You have to remember that they were written first to people that did not have a Western mindset.  In other words, they looked at things, evaluated things, and understood things differently.  People from the eastern world still evaluate things differently than us Westerners.  Yet, through the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit the message has been perfectly protected, preserved, and presented to and for us, as well.  I had a seminary professor explain it like this one time, "We will gain a much better understanding, if we filter what we read through the first audience and then see how it is applicable to us."   Don't forget who Paul was first writing to.  Take their culture into consideration, their circumstances, and try not to maximize the minimal and minimize the big stuff.  1 Timothy 2 is a great example of this.  If you get caught up in the specific instructions that Paul gave to that particular church due to their particular circumstances in their particular culture, you will miss the applicable meaning for us.  The Lord spoke to me today through 1 Timothy 2.8-10 --I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; ⁹ likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, ¹⁰ but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 

Now what is the point of the passage?  It is not what you do with your hands in worship and it is not whether you wear gold or pearls.  The message is that we do not need to be self-centered.  When we are focused on our self, it will effect our corporate worship as a church.  If we are arguing, it effects worship.  If people are scantily dressed or over-the-top, so that they can gain everybody else's attention, they are being self-centered.  Does that mean don't wear gold or nice clothes?  No.  It means be God-centered in worship, others-centered in life, and self-centered very little.  

Keep that in mind today and your personal worship and our corporate worship will be much better because of our self-control.   I hope you have a great day and shine for Him.