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Essentially, we all worship.  Christians, atheists, etc… we’re all worshipers.

Worship at its core is having something in your life to which you ascribe the most value.  Its your focus.  Everything else in your life centers around the item of your worship.  The sun rises and falls on this particular thing.  If you don’t have it, you’re sad.  If you have it, you’re happy.  If it fails to meet your need, you’re heartbroken.  If the object of your worship accomplishes its purpose then you are fulfilled.

From my point of view the most common object of worship is people.

People-worship comes in all different forms.  Obsessing over what people think about you.  Being consumed by a desire to please everyone (which let me be the first to tell you – is impossible!)  An obsession with a romantic relationship that you desire.  An obsession with a romantic relationship that you’re IN.  The result of each of these is unavoidable hurt, insecurity, and depression.

The main problem with people-worship is that instead of worshiping the Creator, we worship the creature – which when you think about it is kinda absurd.  How can we look at a piece of art and not give the proper praise to the Artist?

True fulfillment in life will never be obtained as long as we search for it outside of our Creator.  As Christians we claim to understand this principle.  Yet, we go around with lives full of stress, insecurity, and worry – without realizing that its because we’ve committed an epic failure by putting our identity in a person/people.

In Matthew 6, Jesus Himself addresses this issue.   Jesus says that worrying is a trait of the pagans (unChristians).  The pagans worry because they live their lives void of the love and acceptance of the Creator.  They’re people-worshipers.  And people-worship will always lead to a worrisome existence.  So why do so many Christians fall into this same category of insecure worriers?  People-worship.

We have to realize that when we deify anything that isn’t God, we are signing a contract for an unfulfilled life.  That type of life produces nothing but disappointment.

Only when we place every bit of who we are in Jesus will we truly be free of the fears, depressions, and worries of life.

That’s not to say we won’t ever have stress or that people will never cause us grief.  It just means that when it gets down to it, your disappointment and insecurities will disappear because your true focus is Jesus.  The true core of who you are will always be satisfied because within it lies the same Holy Spirit that conquered death and hell through Jesus.

I believe in absolute truth.  I believe in a moral right and wrong.  I believe 100% in what the bible teaches us regarding how to live our lives.  But lately I’ve been wondering about the choices we make in our daily lives.  You know, the ones that don’t really have a moral consequence.  Decisions like what job we should take, who we should date/marry, what we should eat for dinner, what cell phone should we buy, etc.  They’re not “sins.”  Even though sometimes they are big choices, I’m starting to doubt whether there’s always a right choice.

If you’re not an over thinker like me, go ahead and browse to the next post because I’m about to go off into left field for a second.

I read once in Oswald Chamber’s “My Utmost for His Highest,” that when you are walking closely with God you don’t have to ask Him what His will is for your life.  Your first instinct is what’s right because you are close to Him and He is guiding you.  My brain has never recovered from that thought.  So, I don’t really have to ASK God to show me what’s right in a certain situation?  That sounds very anti-religious.  I mean, aren’t we taught to consult God about all of our big decisions and always move as He tells us?

Maybe, we’ve missed the point.  Maybe, in order to understand what decisions are best for our lives we have to be close to God ALL THE TIME.  I’ve heard things like, “Pray for so-and-so, she’s facing a tough decision and really needs guidance from the Lord.”  or, “Remember (blank) in your prayers, He is struggling at work and really wants to hear from God about what he should do.”  Those are legit prayer requests.  But my over thinking through Chamber’s stated belief has led me to a new way of thinking.

Instead of relegating “hearing from God” to the moments we are in a bind, MAYBE we are supposed to hear from God always. If we are doing that when the tough decision comes our way, we have God’s instincts as our own helping us make the right decision.

OR, and here’s where it gets sticky, maybe there’s not a right decision at all!  Before you label me as a moral relativist please refer back to sentences 1 and 2 of this post.

But perhaps the great theologian Jack McPhee from ‘Dawson’s Creek’ had it right when he said;

“Did it ever occur to you that you’re so caught up in trying to make the right choice that you’ve never stopped to consider the possibility that there may not be a right choice, or a wrong choice, just a bunch of choices?” (iMdb)

Well, Jack, you may be onto something there. We can get so caught up in what the right choice is that we forget how God gave us free will, and just maybe whatever choice we make (outside of committing a sin) can be glorifying to Him.  I’m still messed up by that idea.  However, I’m starting to see the truth in it.

What do you think?