What does the Lord require of me? What kind of worship is pleasing to Him? And what kind might He tolerate, but not prefer? Or, what kind of worship is absolutely appalling to the God of the universe? Do I know? How can I find out? So far, marching through the Old Testament, we have been discovering as it unfolds, but God has not clearly said, “Do this, but never do that.” Has He? Well, not exactly.
Remember, in Exodus 34, Moses is still up on the mountain, yet to bring down the Ten Commandments. So, perhaps, the Israelites have not heard the clear and direct commands to have no other gods, and to make no graven images. Moses knows those commands, but Israel and even Moses’ brother Aaron, their high priest, are not clear on it.
Of course, they should have known. Yes. But let’s try to put ourselves in their shoes for a moment, and we’ll assume that it has not yet been made clear to them.
In any case, the answer to knowing what is acceptable to God and what is not might be clearly understood this way: When I do my thing, it is not acceptable worship of God. When I do His thing, it is. When I do my thing, it might be natural, might be satisfying, might be logical or even spiritual, but if it is not what God specifically instructed me to do, then it is just my self-will, maybe with a label on it, addressed to God Almighty.
Maybe it’s like prayer. If I tell God what I want, even if I say a formula at the end, “In Jesus’ name,” I am really praying for MY will to be done on earth by the One who is in heaven. I can say it however I like, and make it sound spiritual and all, but if, in the end, I am giving God a heavenly to-do list, I have somehow hijacked the intent of prayer, even while praying.
Let’s see what evidence there might be of counterfeit worship in the event of the golden calf. Maybe we can find some symptoms to avoid in our own approach to worship. I’ll try to contextualize some, to make this more clear.
Moses went up on the mountain, and has been gone for over a month. Without a word from God, the people are beginning to panic. What if He never shows up? What if our enemies notice our lack of direction? What if we have been abandoned? We don’t know what kind of sign to look for. Uhm, let’s see. Fall back on what we know.
So the Israelites come to their priest and say, “We need spiritual direction. We grew up in Egypt. We know those gods and that religion. Have THEM go before us.”
They check the opinion polls, and it seems clear that a strong majority of the people want to go in this new/old direction. The conservatives seem to favor it, as it harkens back to the religion they grew up with. The liberals like it, because it is different from what has been happening lately. Young people, old folks, every demographic seems to favor this new direction.
And thus the Israelites make a golden calf. You know about that, right? They made sacrifices and offerings, and then got up to indulge in revelry. It was disgusting to the LORD, who had Moses call for the death of those who were not on the LORD’s side. And you and I have thought how utterly wrong they were to turn from God so quickly, and to make a graven image and worship it with whatever form of sensual partying they chose.
But before we judge them too harshly, let’s make sure we fully understand how easy their choice was. In fact, maybe we should be absolutely certain that you and I have not made those same choices ourselves.
What the Israelites chose that day was what you might call religious synthesis. There was idea A, which God had commanded, and Idea B, which they had grown up with in their culture. A thesis, and an antithesis, you might say. And what they chose was neither Idea A or Idea B, but Idea A+B. Parts of both ideas. A synthesis, as Hegel described. It’s wrong. But it’s natural.
THEOLOGICAL LIBERALISM?
Religious synthesis could look like liberalism. Avoid certain words or topics, such as Lord, King, Master, and servant. Do not offend people by saying that Jesus is the ONLY way. You can still say that Jesus is a way to God. Keep the Gospel, to be sure, but also keep other gods around, so as to be tolerant or affirming of all. At least of all religious people. Or spiritual people. You know. People who aren’t, well, bad. And, everyone’s a good guy, really.
The Israelites take up an offering, and it is generous. They will name their festival, “A Festival of the Spirit.” It will include all the religious practices of the major faiths of the world. They create marketing materials, build a statue to the Universal God of Love, and book a top-name rockin’ band to play consensus music with non-offensive religious words.
“You are sick? I heard that you can self-heal with a special diet and a kind of self-meditation that is psychologically sound. That’s kind of like prayer, right?”
“You are discouraged? I really like a certain style of music, and find it comforting, encouraging, and it elicits all the right emotions for me to feel good again.”
“You need direction? God wants what you want, you know. What do you love? Run after that, and you have His blessing, I’m pretty sure.”
“All religions kind of follow the same path toward self-improvement, spiritual awareness and self-fulfillment. Get yourself a life coach and go to a culturally-relevant church, and you will be fine.”
Aaron reads the promotional materials, and he is shocked. “You cannot do this in the name of anyone but Jesus.” Aaron is a good man.
The representatives of the committee argue with Aaron. “We’re not opposed to using the name of Jesus, but Jesus is not the only way to eternal life. Most of our nation are pretty at home with other religions, and we need not be offensive to them” But Aaron insists, and so they make a compromise.
They will name it “A Festival to Jesus.” But they will keep their agenda so as to not be exclusive to Jesus alone. Aaron modifies the agenda to include a cross and a communion table in front of the stage, and the plans continue.
CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS?
Religious synthesis could also look like merging of secular or even pagan culture with Christian traditions. Like Christmas and Easter.
It is late fall, and the people decorate their homes with festive lights and displays of snowmen and reindeer and sleighs, with huge bags of gifts and music about riding through the snow, and they read stories and make movies about a red-coated obese and jolly man who gives gifts to all—as long as they are good, which they all are, of course. Retail sales swell to disproportionate amounts, as the whole nation indulges in giving one another gifts, and buying for themselves without restraint.
On the night before the festival, they all gather for a solemn candle-lit ceremony, complete with Holy Communion and Scripture reading and traditional contemplative music. There is a set of statues, depicting a baby in a manger and various angels and guests surrounding him. It is a beautiful and solemn ceremony.
And then they stand up, greet one another heartily, and go to late-night parties, filled with drinking and dancing, over-eating and holiday revelry. Then they return to their homes, decorated with evergreen trees and surrounded by dozens of wrapped packages, to be given to one another. Somehow, it all seems religious to them. Maybe it is all a celebration of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all. But little of what they do actually has to do with Him. They don’t really notice the incongruity, of course, because this is the culture that they grew up in, and had lived for hundreds of years. It is a secular culture with a coating of spiritual remembrance.
Somehow, it doesn’t even occur to any of them that this is all unacceptable to God. Their cultural blinders have disguised the implied meaning of their actions.
Up on the mountain, God has certainly noticed all of this. And He is furious to share His name with such secular and hedonistic actions!
SECULAR CULTURE?
Religious synthesis could even look like a Dave Matthews Band concert, or U2 (they’re Christians, right?), in which the audience raises hands, sings along, cheers and participates. It LOOKS just like contemporary churches. The production, the sound, the dress and behavior and actions, both on stage and in the audience. How the stage is designed, and that we can call it a “stage” without blinking an eye.
In fact, they are even more participative than in church. Their emotions, their engagement and buy-in, their feelings of unity and love and immersion in the culture. So, who’s to say which one was worship—Friday night, or Sunday morning? Both Friday AND Sunday? What is the difference, physically, culturally or psychologically? Was it the theological content of the lyrics? Or perhaps what type of beverage is held in hand? Was it the morality of the crowd, or of the performers? In any case, let me be clear: whatever made the difference between godly worship and godless revelry, it was NOT the outward actions or participation of the crowd.
The next day the Israelites hold a “Jesus Festival.” The people rise early, to welcome the sunrise on the morning of the winter solstice, and they celebrate the Lord’s Supper and pray the Lord’s Prayer, in Jesus’ name. They take up an offering, and the band begins the day-long concert, while the people dance and feast. The music is driving, and the celebration picks up in energy. The atmosphere is like Woodstock and Spirit Festival, merged into one. There is uninhibited dance and free love, worship and prayer, psychic healing and dream interpretation, all rolling in full gear.
GOD’S REACTION
God intervenes in the midst of this celebration. “The people, whom I delivered from Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned aside and left the way that I commanded them. They are stiff-necked and corrupt.” The noise that is heard up on the mountain is not the sound of war, neither of victory or defeat, but of singing.
It was completely unacceptable to God, of course. Though it was done in the right name, and some of the events of the day were Christian acts of worship, the rest of the activities and actions were all wrong. Whether the false worship of others gods, or the revelry of indulgence and excess, it was all forbidden and displeasing to the Holy One.
Moses saw that the people had broken loose (for Aaron had let them break loose, to the derision of their enemies), then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Who is on the LORD's side? Come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered around him. And Moses had them go out and slay their own countrymen and kindred, based on whether they were choosing for the LORD or deciding to remain in rebellion.
Religious synthesis might seem natural, comfortable, logical, and philosophically reasonable, but make no mistake: it is heinous, wicked, godless and evil. Those who are not wholly holy are wholly unacceptable to the LORD.
God’s things, done God’s way. That is the essence of worship. So, let us worship, in spirit and in truth.