What's the point in calling yourself a Christian if you don't even believe in the God you worship?
So there you have it. Today I'm not going to bore you with an excessively long post. Instead, I'm giving you this "thought of the day" with a little bit of explanation, and then leaving you to meditate on it and pray about it.
So what do I mean by it exactly? I don't mean that it's pointless to claim to be a Christian if you don't even believe in God. (Although it is.) What I mean in particular by my question - the thought - is that it's moot to be a Christian if you don't believe in the power of God. If you read the Bible yet pass over the parts about moving mountains and healing diseases and parting seas and read them as abstract fiction, why bother? Your being a Christian is no different from someone being an atheist.
Christians who don't believe in the power of their own God are no different from people who don't even believe that God exists. This is one of the gravest hypocrisies in the church. I urge you to examine your heart, your beliefs, and then go examine the Bible. Look at it plain and simple. It never says that God's power stops.
This song, "Break Every Chain" by the fantastic Jesus Culture has been running through my head ever since I heard it last weekend. It's from the group's most recent album, found here. (I give an iTunes link because, well, Amazon mp3 fell off the train of awesomeness on this one and doesn't sell it.)
It's such a simple song, and super easy to catch on to. At 8 minutes, it's one of the typical hardcore Jesus Culture songs. Seriously, check Jesus Culture out. My family just recently invested in buying some of their CD/DVD combo packs, which I highly recommend. It's impossible to love on Jesus Culture too much! Especially when their music not only glorifies God, but empowers you and welcomes the Holy Spirit and proclaims solid theology:
There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain
I recently got A Fiddling Christmas, a fairly easy book of Christmas tunes for violin/fiddle. (I do both styles of playing.) And, by recently, I mean sometime in October. Anyways, I've been playing from the book fairly steadily ever since then, and it's really been getting me in the mood for Christmas. Today my family finally put up our tree and began taking down the autumn decorations and replacing them with festive wintry ones! As a lover of Christmas... I am thoroughly pleased.
So here I've been, playing anything from "I Saw Three Ships" to "Away in a Manger"... over, and over, and over, and over again! I've been ready for Christmas for a couple of months now. And finally, it's actually appropriate to be singing Christmas carols! Yay! Anyways. I'm getting off track. Today has been extremely tired/unbelievably hyper, so my writing is a bit off. Sorry.
So one of the songs in the book is an old classic - "O Holy Night". I'd always liked the song, but it wasn't until sometime in early November when I really fell in love with its worshipful attitude. The lyrics are absolutely beautiful, and I really like the music. When my bow hit the A-string in the 15th measure, I finally understood.
Worship is something that is really close to my heart. To get lost in it and to be found at the same time is the greatest of glories. To forsake yourself is to discover your identity. The true worshiper praises not only to give, but to receive. Worship is not a one-way street; God operates in it just as much if not more than we do. He gives His all in worship, too. I long to see Christians in every church worshiping in their various ways: some people sitting down in chairs meditatively, others up and around the room dancing and jumping joyously, some people standing and swaying... I long to see every heart display its worship shamelessly. That is something that is so direly needed in the church today. But that's another topic entirely.
Anyways. 15th measure. This is the part of the song where the lyrics change to a more humble form. It's only four little words that made this song for me:
Fall on your knees...
And there you have it. Fall on your knees. Fall on your knees. What I love about this part is that it doesn't say "Calmly kneel down." It says "Fall on your knees." Let the worship overtake you. Let the Holy Spirit fill you. Fall on your knees. Leave your dignity at the door.
As Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Savior (and let that sink in for once), approaches I would encourage you to make it one of your spiritual goals to learn how to truly worship. Worship in its purest form does not have room for religion. (You might want to re-read that sentence.) Pure worship is the abandonment of self. It is the praise, no matter what the circumstances, of our Lord. Whoever you are, I appoint you this task: learn what worship is. Then go do it.
Fall on your knees...
Links: 1. My all-time favorite rendition of "I Saw Three Ships", by Manor House String Quartet. 2. A current violin favorite, Dvorak's "Humoresque" as performed by the wonderful David Garrett. I felt like including this because, well, quite frankly, I'm in love with it.
