Sunday 16/08/2020

Worship wars are deadly. Worship wars happen in churches. One side wants ‘contemporary music’, others want ‘traditional’. And then the fur starts flying.

Behind the worship wars are our preferences and our priorities. But the music we want at church is only the most obvious battle in the worship wars. The conflict is deeper, and deadlier.

James writes, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?” (James 4:1).

The real worship wars are inside us. And we fight them every day. See, “worship” doesn’t mean “music”. “Worship” means “to honour and value as most important”. Every day, you and I are on one side or the other in the worship wars in our hearts: What do we value most? What do we treasure? Our happiness? Our satisfaction? Our success?

That’s what determines where we put our energy, efforts, and resources. What we work for and fight for is what we worship.

The worship wars should force us to ask: “Who is in charge in my heart?” If the answer is anyone other than Jesus, then our hearts need a new king!

So, we need to ask, “Why should Jesus be the first in my heart? Why should I worship Jesus?”