All glory be to God….
This past week I was listening to an online service and it struck me that the Christian phrase, ‘all glory to God’ can easily slip from our personal focus and corporate worship. One of the best ways to ensure ‘all glory to God’ is to acknowledge God’s Son as Saviour and Lord of our lives, for this gives God the Father His greatest glory.
Robbing God of His glory easily slips into our talk and singing. Interestingly, it doesn’t come in when we read the Scriptures. The authors of Scripture, guided by the powerful Holy Spirit ensured that the glory of God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the Giver and Sustainer of all life, not least the Giver of new life in and through His Only Son was in the forefront of their thinking.
One of the main warning signs of robbing God of His glory is when ‘God and Jesus’ are replaced with “I” and what we need to do in response to God’s grace. Mind you, I don’t think for a moment that it is deliberate, for we need to be reminded that although we are saved by faith alone, we are not saved by a faith that stands alone. As James so clearly reminds us, faith without works is dead (Jm 2:26). Furthermore, I admire some of these Christians for their passion and obvious love for the Lord. However, the danger is when we lose the balance. Allow me to give you some examples.
I loathe it when a leader of worship’s last word to his listeners as they leave the building is to encourage the congregation “to hold onto Jesus.” Man, if you knew what struggles I had the past week just being a faithful Christian in this world, you would even be amazed that I came to worship at all today! I have just listened to our Victorian Premier bagging Mrs Margaret Court for her Christian convictions about same sex marriage. I have just listened to a labour parliamentarian say how good the anti-conversion legislation will be for the LGBTQIA community! I have just listened to our liberal opposition saying they still haven’t made up their mind how they will vote. I could mention half a dozen other things this week (legalised euthanasia, abortion etc) that have caused me stress and whether the Christian fight is all worth it! And all the leader of worship can say is, “hold onto Jesus?”
Surely, we can say something better than that! For example, “Congregation, go forth, knowing that Jesus by the power of His Holy Spirit is holding onto us. He has promised that He won’t sleep or slumber on His watch and will not allow our foot to slip or stumble (Psa 121). In fact, He tells us that He is forever the same, and that He will keep us until we reach our final destination (Heb 13; Phi 1:6).” I could go on, but I trust you get the drift. By the way that is why the benediction, when done correctly is a word from the Lord to encourage us into the week ahead.
The same can be said about some of the songs we sing. Please understand, I am not against new songs or hymns, but let us make sure their theology accords with what Scripture teaches and the song or hymn isn’t just some catchy, repetitive tune. In the service I listened to, people were singing about trusting in the faith they had in Jesus! Really? Man, you may be surprised to know that if my salvation were dependant on me trusting my ‘faith’ in Jesus, I would have disappeared from the church scene ages ago. My faith is fickle! One day I am on cloud nine, the next day I am in the bottom of the pit with my faith. So, please don’t ask me to sing about trusting in my faith!
Rather, ask me to sing about Jesus’ gift of faith to me! (Eph 2:8-9). Ask me to sing about Jesus preserving me so that faith is meaningful, and I can persevere (Heb 10:19-23). Ask me to sing about God’s covenant faithfulness and that He continually restores unto me the joy of my salvation in Christ (Psa 51).
Well, let me get back to the title. Whatever takes away from God’s (Jesus) glory) is something that really scares me. We are saved through Faith alone, by Grace alone, in Christ Alone, guided by Scripture alone, all to the glory of God alone. JZ.