In Chapter 17 Kauflin suggests six ways in which "worshiping God on Sunday should transform the way we live the rest of the week." (p. 143).
1. Worshiping God should make us humble
2. Worshiping God should make us secure
3. Worshiping God should make us grateful
4. Worshiping God should make us holy
5. Worshiping God should make us mission minded
6. Genuine worship changes lives
Kauflin supports each of these points well, and I believe they are all excellent points, but I would like to focus specifically on point number 6 (which really relates to all five of the other points). Kauflin quotes Allen Ross as saying, "If worshipers leave a service with no thought of becoming more godly in their lives, then the purpose of worship has not been achieved." (p. 149) This statement really struck me and my initial thought was, "Isn't our first priority to honor, praise, and bring glory to God when we worship?" And after I thought about it some more I realized that if we don't leave a time of worship with a desire to become more like God, to become more holy like He is, then our worship isn't going to honor or bring glory to Him. Our praise would be false and meaningless. So I believe Allen Ross is right when he says, "If worshipers leave a service with no thought of becoming more godly in their lives, then the purpose of worship has not been achieved."
The apostle Peter writes,
"Therefore, with minds
that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought
to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" (1 Peter 1:13-16)
Now, I know this isn't heaven yet and we can't be perfect. We are going to make mistakes, thankfully we're under God's amazing grace, but we aren't commanded to be holy just when we reach heaven we are commanded right now to "Be holy, because I [God] am holy." God didn't save us so that we could continue to stagnate in our sin, He saved us so that we could become more like Him. God wants us to be seeking Him with our whole hearts and striving to become more like Him in every aspect of our lives. When we do this, when we begin speaking like Jesus, acting like Jesus, loving and caring for people like Jesus, that is when our worship will be beautiful to God and that is when our worship will honor and glorify Him. I pray that every time we leave a worship service and that each morning as we get up to face each new day, that we would be granted the desire to be more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let's allow our lives to be changed by our worship as we strive to be more like Him in all that we do.
One definition in the dictionary of genuine is "free from hypocrisy or pretense". I hope that my leading up front is genuine and that "it" encourages others. I still need to put more of "Him" in "me" to make this happen, and this book keeps pushing me that direction.
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