Today's worship is no more a sacrifice

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. -Rom 12:1.

'Worship' is a very popular word among Pentecostal believers of today.

Within the two odd hours that people come together on a Sunday, there is a special time of 'worship' running to at least ten to fifteen minutes; believers stand up, lift their hands and shout praises loudly during this time. Usually there is a worship leader (assisted by one or more singers) on stage who chooses the songs (mostly choruses) sung in a medley style and in random order (?). There will be loud music with rhythm instruments determining the tempo of the already fast choruses; there will be gaps in between these choruses during which time people are taken over by the Holy Spirit and speak gibberish. Sometimes, the fast choruses are punctuated with songs that are slow in tempo to bring a feeling of the presence of God to the already emotionally charged crowd; many choruses do not align with the word of God, are meaning-less, repetitive to brainwash and does not bring edification to the life of the frenzy gathering.

I attended a meeting in Bangalore long time ago when the whole one hour of a Sunday evening was spent in this fashion and then the whole crowd dispersed - alarmingly no teaching of Apostle's doctrine, no fellowship, no breaking of bread, no prayer. None bothered to even speak to me, a first time visitor!

Things have turned worse today. People dance to the Rock and Roll, Pop and Disco beats unmindful of the chaos they are creating; some throw modesty to the winds by exposing their body and private parts and displaying suggestive sexual gestures. Some match Pop and film songs and the music to their content to ignite the crowd. (One person made his 'believers' sing a film song during his 'worship time' giving it his own 'scriptural' meaning). Abomination! And videos are shot (or direct telecast happens) of this 'worship' for the benefit of the people who sit at homes and stare at the screens (TV, tab or mobile phones).

Note the words in italics in the third paragraph from the top. None of these is scriptural. The Church of God that Jesus is building did not and should not have these stage managed shows focusing on 'heroes' who have fans following their unscriptural hullabaloo. This 'worship' is totally carnal and has its source from the mind / soul and the body.

Paul is talking about a Spiritual worship as quoted in the beginning of this script. Only such a spiritual worship is holy and acceptable to God. Anything that is less than this or more, is not acceptable to God. An emotional singing, dancing, and shouting is from the mind and is not spiritual. The spirit of the believer should be guided by the Spirit of God to glorify God in a renewed mind; the Spirit of God helps the person to control one's body too. Such a control will not result in impaired judgement (as in the case of a person losing control of his tongue and senses by excessive drinking of alcohol / spirit(?)); control of the body aided by the Holy Spirit will lead to improved judgement, better than how a worldly person is conscious of himself without the Spirit. Apostle Peter said so on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was sent to dwell in them permanently.

And, being filled with the Spirit to worship God is not a one-time or an intermittent experience. It is a continuous lifetime existence; "Be filled with the Spirit" in Eph 5:18 talks about a continuous, healthy, and life-transforming life with God. This is possible only when the believer presents his / her body as a living sacrifice. Oxymoron! The life that you live in the flesh, you live by faith in the Son of God because, you have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you. Well, this is how Paul lived. And this is how we are expected to live too.

And because it is a sacrifice, there is a real and huge cost involved; it costs your life. You give up your will to do the will of God; you give up your emotions to think soberly; you give up your whims and fancies to accept the ways of God; you give up your comforts to bear the hunger, thirst, pains, persecutions, trials and tribulation that constantly pound you every moment of your life; you give up your money, salary or overtime wages for working on a day of fellowship; you provide food and clothing for a poor believer; you travel to a far away place to share the word of God; you go hungry because of unavailability of food in a remote place of evangelism; you bear physical pain for the sake of God's work; you support true ministers of God by giving up your greed and sometimes your needs too. You feel the pinch of letting go your money, health and time for the sake of the expansion of the kingdom of God.You agree with David, "I will not offer burnt offerings that costs me nothing".

And, this is reasonable service (as per the KJV; wise / intelligent service as per the Tamil Bible) ). So, Service is not Sunday service; certainly not from 7:30 am to 9:00 am (or any other fixed time). You are filled with the Holy Spirit continually. You present you body as a living sacrifice continually. You worship God continually. For you to live is Christ. In other words, Christ is your life.

Waiting for Sunday morning to 'worship' God? Why not start worshiping God now?