Worship for Fun & Profit
G.K. Chesterton once said, "Trying to glorify God is like lighting a candle to glorify the sun. The candle’s nice, but the sun doesn’t need it." Christians would do well to remember that.
Worship is something that Christians get wrong a lot of the time. We start thinking that it’s about us and not about God and, truthfully, if you’re jumping up and down just because you think jumping up and down makes you more spiritual and you aren’t ultimately doing it for God, then all you’re accomplishing is looking mighty silly.
Do you remember when the disciples came up to Jesus and they were all excited saying, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." Do you remember what Jesus’ reply was? He said, "...do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
I think Jesus would say much the same thing about our worship. "Don’t rejoice because your worship is so deep and spiritual. Only rejoice that God is worthy of your worship and has saw fit to call you sons and daughters."
As a matter of fact, God did say something like that through Paul in I Corinthians 13:1-3, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." In a sense, Paul is saying, if you do the right thing for the wrong reason, or with the wrong intent, it gains you nothing.
So, to sum things up, when you and I die, my friend, we won’t even leave a mark. The things we do for God aren’t to stroke our egos, but to lift God up, and God doesn’t need our worship, He deserves it. We should learn to say with John the Baptist, "He must increase, but I [must] decrease." [John 3:30]
C.
8:09:16 PM 
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