Information, Inspiration, or Transformation?
Answer: What are the possible responses to worship?
In my years of ministry, I have thought often of the possible responses to times of worship. Not just in terms of going to a church service, but also of personal worship–my personal worship. And of the many “results” I thought of, I narrowed it down to the most common and these three words surfaced. Don’t look at these from bad to good, a better way would be to see them as good, better, and best.
It’s good to get information from the Lord and His Word. In fact, that’s better information for living than we can get on all the news channels combined. There’s no doubt that we need information from God, about God, and concerning God’s ways. We need to be people of deep Biblical information. But “knowing the Bible backward and forwards” can never be our end goal, there must be more than mental assent.
It’s better to be inspired by God’s Word and His presence. Inspiration gets the motor running. Inspiration stirs us up and gets our emotions heightened. We are “feeling” the need and desire to DO SOMETHING! But oh those tricky “feelings.” As quickly as we can feel caught up in something, those feelings can fade and we will fall out of it. Emotions run high and extreme, but they also go low and despair. Inspiration might bring a change, or it might not. It might cause you to act, but it might not. It’s fickle, like a child in a candy store. “I want that, no that, no that, definitely that, no that for sure…no that’s what I want–maybe.”
By far, my BEST response to God (His Word, Worship, and a Worship Service) is TRANSFORMATION. God is in the business of transformation. Through the Cross of Jesus Christ, He transformed us from sinners to the REDEEMED. Through the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, He is transforming us from death to LIFE. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, in those who are redeemed, He is SANCTIFYING us into the image of Jesus Christ. So, my response to an encounter with God through His Word, prayer, or a worship experience MUST always be adjusting my life to His Holiness and perfection. The information is good, the inspiration is better, but the TRANSFORMATION is what I must submit to as a child of God.
Just the other day I heard Dr. Tony Evans share that if you are in England and see a British person looking at their watch and looking up, you can be sure they are checking their little clock by Big Ben, the big clock. And if the time on their little clock doesn’t match up to the time on the big clock, then they must change their little clock, because Big Ben is the standard. Jesus, the living Word, is our Standard, and God’s plan is to transform us into His image. We must adjust.
Here’s a little prayer I wrote down as I meditated on these things this month. I want to encourage you to pray this each time you sit down in church for a class or service, or when you open God’s Word, or before you spend time in prayer:
“Lord, I’m not just here for information, because I can get that on Google.
I’m not just here for inspiration, I can get that by listening to my favorite song.
Lord, I am here for transformation, because I want to be more like Jesus.”
I’m praying that each one of us will be submissive to the transformation that God wants to do in us and through us.
Love and Blessings,
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:2
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” – Psalm 50:10