Worship That Turns Us OUT And IN

In his excellent book, The Message of the Living God, Peter Lewis says “Worship turns us out as well as in”._ That is how it should be, but I’m not convinced its the case for a good many of us. Our corporate worship turns us further in and hardly out at all. But perhaps you are wondering what Lewis is getting at and where I’m going with this topic. Two points will set us in the right direction. Firstly, we should think of worship in comprehensive terms: the totality of our lives being lived to the glory of our Creator God (Romans 12:1-2). Even when Christians come together for corporate worship, for instance on a Sunday morning, worship includes other elements besides singing, e.g. reading the Bible, preaching, praying, communion etc. all with the purpose of enabling us to engage with the Triune God. Secondly, there is a connection between the worship of the people of God and how they participate in the mission of God.

Now listen to the hard-hitting analysis of the theologian, Donald Bloesch, as he writes about worship in the modern church:
Much of modern religion turns the soul inward rather than directing it outward to the crying needs of society. Modern Evangelicalism has shamefully adapted to the therapeutic society, which makes personal fulfilment the be all and end all of human existence. An eros spirituality, the desire to possess God and his blessings, predominates over a spirituality of the cross, a willingness to serve both God and our neighbour in God’s world._ (2001:55).

I admit to feeling disturbed when I visit churches and sit through a two hour service of corporate worship without hearing a single mention of “the crying needs of society”? There might be some mention of the wider world in the sermon, but the songs and prayers and it would seem, the whole approach to worship, cultivates a spirituality that is almost exclusively focused inward. A quick survey of Amazon will show how popular the themes of worship and spirituality are for modern Christians. But we need to ask whether or not our spirituality - shaped in no small way by the corporate worship patterns in our churches - is serving to strengthen our engagement with the society that surrounds us or simply contributing to a more inward looking church?

The closest you get to a definition of worship in the New Testament is in Hebrews 13:15-16:

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

These verses are essentially telling us that true worship cannot be divorced from the way we live and serve others. Worship consists in these two sacrifices: adoration and action. Its not that one is sacred and the other secular. Both are part of our worship - in both we live for the glory of God. I’m drawing here on the work of Miroslav Volf, and in an essay entitled “Adoration and Action” he establishes the essential link between worship and our calling to be missional communities that impact the wider world.

There is something profoundly hypocritical about praising God for God’s mighty deeds of salvation and cooperating at the same time with the demons of destruction, whether by neglecting to do good or by actively doing evil. Only those who help the Jews may sing the Gregorian chant, Dietrich Bonhoeffer rightly said, in the context of Nazi Germany._

The Bible does not recognize a spirituality that is only concerned about adoration. The Great Commandment, too often divorced from the Great Commission, tells us to love God with heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbour. On the other hand, there are Christians who are passionate about social justice, serving the poor, fighting corruption, caring for the environment, and doing a whole host of other good things, but who don’t see the connection between these things and a biblical understanding of worship; who don’t recognize the necessity of punctuating their lives with regular times of corporate worship; and there are churches and pastors that may say ‘amen’ to such socially minded believers, but who continue to encourage a pattern of corporate worship that “turns the soul inward”. But action that does not flow from a life of worship - a life that in its entirety is offered to God as a living sacrifice, that is sustained by regular attentiveness to God’s Word and is assisted by and accountable to, the company of God’s people - will not be the kind of action that is sufficiently God-shaped, that reflects His character, or that necessarily bears lasting fruit to the glory of Christ.

I am deliberately setting out two extremes - on one side the Christian who is so keen to adore God that they ignore the world, and on the other, the Christian activist, so keen to save the world that they ignore God. My main concern in this article is with the former, but the latter sets particular traps for busy evangelicals who love to embrace techniques and strategies, to make plans, set goals and count the numbers. Modern Christians, as J. I. Packer points out, tend to make busyness their religion. We admire and imitate, and so become, Christian workaholics, supposing that the busiest believers are always the best._ Adoration requires action and action requires adoration and worship embraces both. And therefore living this life of worship will require living in that rhythm we were created to enjoy, and recognising that, “Without adoration action is blind; without action adoration is empty.”_

In the early centuries of the church one of the major factors in the spread of the gospel is said to have been the quality of the worship in the church. The totality of peoples’ lives, including their corporate gatherings, were distinctive and compelling.

Alan Kreider, in “Worship and Evangelism in the Early Church”_ provides examples of the distinctive Christian witness of the early Christians. One of these examples is from the life of Bishop Cyprian of Carthage.

Hot on the heels of severe persecution during 250-251, there came a great plague. It was a dangerous situation. Wealthy pagans were getting out of Carthage, but Cyprian remained. Taking Matthew 5:43-48 as his text, his preaching persuaded the Christians to stay in Carthage rather than save their own skin - not even to put their own survival first, but to love those people who had recently been persecuting them. So, the Christian community stayed in Carthage, they loved their neighbours and their enemies, nursing and caring for Christians and pagans alike. The result: not only did the relatively small Christian community survive, but they had a higher survival rate than their pagan neighbours. And those pagans who had been loved and cared for by Christians became more open to the gospel.

How were Christians, under such pressure and persecution able to live that way? Kreider says it was because of their worship. This was worship that over time transformed pagan people who had come to faith in Jesus, making them into distinctive people who lived in such a way that individually and corporately they looked like Jesus Christ. This is what made them and their message so attractive and compelling. The corporate worship of the church was transforming believers so that in situations of tension, danger and difficulty they were able to react, not like pagans, but like Jesus.

Kreider says these early Christians would want to ask us some questions:

At work or at home... are you known to your neighbours? Are you known as members of a superstitio, a deviation from the norms of accepted behaviour? Are you distinctive because of Jesus, whose teachings and way offer you perspectives and ways of living that are new? And how about your congregations? In the way that they function and worship, are they becoming communities of peace and freedom which are evidences of the truth of the gospel?... in your worship, what do your rites (for you all have them) say about your churches’ beliefs and priorities? Are your rites strong and living, enabling you to address the issues that really trouble your communities? Do you evaluate your worship primarily by how it makes you feel, or by the extent to which it shapes your character - as communities of faith and as individual Christians - so you look like Jesus Christ?

Peter Rowan
September, 2007.

1 Peter Lewis, The Message of the Living God, The Bible Speaks Today, (Leicester: IVP, 2000), 327._2 Donald G. Bloesch, “Whatever Happened to God?” Christianity Today (February, 5th 2001), 55._3 Miroslav Volf, “Worship as Adoration and Action: Reflections on a Christian Way of Being-in-the-World”, in D. A. Carson (ed), Worship: Adoration and Action (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1993), 211._4 James I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit, (Leicester: IVP, 1984), 98._5 Volf, (1993), 209._6 Alan Kreider, “Worship and Evangelism in Pre-Christendom.” The Laing Lecture, 1994, in Vox Evangelica, (Vol. XXIV, 1994)._7 Kreider, (1994), 30.

Bila

"BILA" a wonderful Homemade Song by CDPC Worship Team (here's the rough demo, you should check out the refined, final product)

Bila
© 2006 CDPC
Bila... aku seorang diri
Ku pilu di hati
Engkau yang muncul di sisi

Bila... ku tak berdaya lagi
Rempuh hidup ini
Tuhan, Kau yang sedia berkati

Biarpun aku lemah
Kau tetap berkuasa
Kau sayangi diri ini
Kasih tak terhingga

Ku sembahMu Tuhan Yesus
Ku puji namaMu
Kerana tiada yang seperti Mu
Tuhan peganglah hati ini
Di tapak tanganMu
Hidupku hanya untukMu

Bila... ku berasa gementar
Akan masa depan
Tuhan, Kau yang meyakinkan

Bila... mataku hanya sedar
Kan serba halangan
Tuhan, Kau berikan kemenangan


Biarpun ombak melanda
Ku tetap pandang
Kepada Yang Maha Esa
Penyayang jiwa


Ku sembahMu Tuhan Yesus
Ku puji namaMu
Kerana tiada yang sepertiMu
Tuhan penganglah hati ini
Di tapak tanganMu
Hidupku hanya untukMu

-----------------------------------------
When I am alone and sad in my heart, You appear by my side
When I have not the strength to go through this life,
God You are ready to bless
Even though I am weak, You are still strong
You love me with an unending love

I worship You Lord Jesus, I praise Your name, For there is none like You
Dear God, hold my heart in the palm of Your hand... My life is only for You

When I worry about the future, God, You grant me confidence
When my eyes can only see the obstacles, God, grant me victory
Even when the waves crash over me,
I will keep my eyes on The Almighty One, the Lover of my soul

Is God Loving In Pursuing His Glory?

A Loving Command
by Millie Chan, 2006

"God commands us to worship Him, mama. Isn't that being self-centered?" my daughter asked me.

I used to wrestle with that question too. After all, we are told that "love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ...does not seek its ownâ" (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Do the rules on humility apply to God?

It all starts with His sovereignty. A sovereign God who is all-powerful and righteous can do nothing less but declare this truth to His creations. If God denies the infinite worth of His glory, by implication He would be abdicating His seat to take second place. He would cease to be God.

It is therefore fitting and essential that God proclaim His glory and worth. In so doing, He affirms an absolute truth.

But why the call to worship Him? One cannot escape the many commands scattered throughout the Psalms to praise God. As C. S. Lewis observes, these demands seemed to portray God as craving "for our worship like a vain woman who wants compliments." Does the command spring from a need on His part to shore up a deficiency?

Again we must reflect on His nature in order to relate to His command. Our God is a joyful God. "Our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." (Psalm 115:3). None of His purposes can be thwarted. He is thus the most joyful of all beings. And there is an expansive quality to this joy which inclines it to overflow. At the very heart of creation is the impulse to share this joy.

What then would be the best gift He could give us to enjoy? In stark knowledge of His own majesty, wonder and beauty, He knows our fullest satisfaction is discovered in Him. When we encounter His goodness and incomparable excellence, we gasp in wonder and we worship. Of all creatures, only humans are capable of wonder. Monte Swan so aptly says that "when we halt in wonder, we instinctively hold our breath - which then catches in our throat. This pause, for a Christian, is in actuality a form of worship."

God is the best source of inexpressible and wondrous joy and He offers Himself to saturate us with this delight. Anything else would see Him giving us less. Our God wants us to delight in Him. In fact the faith that pleases God is a confidence that God will reward us when we come to Him (Hebrews 11:6) - the heartfelt conviction not only that Christ is reliable, but also that He is desirable.

Thus the persistent calls to worship Him. The act of worship is the pathway for the inflow of His abundant joy and love. In worship, eternity transcends time and the richness of God's glory reaches us where we are. The closer we are to God's absolute supremacy, beauty and purity, the more we marvel, and the more we want to worship.
Worship is basically adoration, and we adore only what delights us.

Blaise Pascal wrote this confession after he had an encounter with God
while reading the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John:

From about half past ten at night to about half an hour after midnight,
FIRE
"God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob", not of philosophers and scholars
Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace.
God of Jesus Christ, God of Jesus Christ.
The world forgotten, everything except God.

"O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You" (John 17:25).
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.

No, the rules of humility that apply to a creature cannot apply in the same way to its Creator. For God, the act of seeking His own praise is the ultimate loving act. Precisely because He loves us so, He relentlessly commands us to pursue the praises of His name in our hearts. Think of what we would be missing if God did not insist that we worship Him. We would never know the source of ultimate satisfaction.

"Delight yourself in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4). What a loving command!

Enthralled by God's Love

Have you ever been in a situation where you know something is wrong but did not do anything about it? One Sunday at worship service while singing the song "When I look into His holiness", the Holy Spirit convicted me.

"When I look into His holiness" is a song of worship with serious meaning, and it is often sung with a mistake in the lyrics, which I discovered some years back. Sometimes I would point out to a few students in the Christian fellowships when they make the mistake in their "praise and worship" time. However when they don't make the correction, I never did anything else. Most other times I just sang the correct version on my own.

The mistake is in the line "When my will becomes enthralled in Your Love" where "enthralled" is frequently but wrongly substituted with "enthroned".

My will becoming enthroned in God's love means my will is exalted by God's love, that God's love revolves around me, and therefore, I am more important. On the other hand, my will becoming enthralled means I am captivated by and submitted to God's Love, which is the correct meaning in the context of the song.

I wonder how the original writers feel if they know their song has been changed and, sometimes, massacred. There are many instances where lyrics and melodies of songs have been unintentionally taught wrongly and intentionally modified without acknowledging its writers and their original works. It is time we seriously consider our responsibility in handling the intellectual/creative property of others.

I wonder how we can sing the wrong lyrics (of the song discussed) so many times without suspecting that something is amiss. I confess that there are times that I sing without thinking, but my worship will be meaningless if that is all I ever do. We need to be more mindful when we sing in worship of what the song means and whether we mean what we sing.

I wonder how many of you are like me, knowing the error but not doing anything substantial. Here is what I learnt from this incident about doing something to right a wrong.

I need to work hard, researching for concrete facts (in other cases, to find evidence) to back up what I claim.

I need to communicate it appropriately (choosing the right words and approach) through the right channel (who can/will make the change)

I risk rejection or unpleasant repercussions

I am compelled to act (against the easier path of not rocking the boat) as I am enthralled by God's Love.

Evelyn Meng is a former Fellowship of Evangelical Students staffworker who is now on sabbatical. (2003)

Graduates' Christian Fellowship
20 B Jalan SS 21/35
Damansara Utama
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: 03-77272962 Fax: 03-77267250
http://www.gcfmy.org

Cinta Tuhan Demi Tuhan

Suatu penemuan paling mustahak yang pernah saya buat ialah kebenaran ini:

Sinar kemuliaan Tuhan paling gemilang dalam bahang kerinduan kita terhadapNya.

Itulah penjana yang mendorong pelayananku sebagai seorang pastor. Ia mempengaruhi setiap tindakan saya.

Sama ada saya makan atau minum atau berkhotbah atau apa saja, matlamat saya adalah untuk memuliakan Tuhan dengan cara saya melakukannya (1 Korintus 10:31). Ertinya, tujuan saya berbuat sesuatu adalah dengan corak yang akan mempamerkan bagaimana kemuliaan Tuhan memuaskan kerinduaan hatiku. Jika khotbah saya memberi tanggapan bahawa Tuhan tidak memenuhi keperluan diri saya sendiri, ianya kepalsuan. Jika Kristus bukan kerinduan hatiku, apakah orang lain akan percaya jika saya mengumumkan kata Yesus, "Akulah roti hidup; barangsiapa datang kepada-Ku, ia tidak akan lapar lagi, dan barangsiapa percaya kepada-Ku, ia tidak akan haus lagi”? (Yohanes 6:35)

“Roti” gemilang kerana ia memuaskan kelaparan. “Air hidup” megah kerana ia menghilangkan kehausan. (Yohanes 4:10) Bagaimana harus kita menghargai sumber air di atas gunung yang segar, tulen dan tidak terbatas curahannya? Perlukah kita mengheret baldi-baldi air dari kolam di kaki gunung demi memberi sumbangan kita sendiri kepadaNya? Bukan itu caranya. Kita memberi penghormatan kepada mata air apabila kita rasa dahaga, maka bertelut dan minum dengan penuh kenikmatan. Lepas itu, kita berseru, “Ahhhh!” (itulah penyembahan!), dan meneruskan perjalanan kita dengan kekuatan baru dari air pancut tersebut (itulah pelayanan!).

Air mata gunung paling dimuliakan apabila kita paling puas menikmati air curahannya. Malang sekali, ramai daripada kita diajar bahawa kewajipan, bukan kenikmatan, adalah cara untuk memuliakan Tuhan. Kita tidak mendapat didikan bahawa kegembiraan dalam Tuhan itulah kewajipan kita! Kerinduan dalam Tuhan bukan suatu pilihan ekstra yang tidak wajib dalam tanggungjawab sebenar seseorang Kristian. Malah, ia tuntutan paling asas sekali. “Bergembiralah kerana TUHAN” (Mazmur 37:4) bukanlah cadangan sahaja, tapi perintah. Begitu juga: "Beribadahlah kepada TUHAN dengan sukacita" (Mazmur 100:2) dan “Bersukacitalah sentiasa dalam Tuhan!” (Filipi 4:4).


Beban pelayananku agar semua sedar bahawa “kasih setia [Tuhan] lebih baik daripada hidup” (Mazmur 63:3). Sekiranya kasih setia Tuhan lebih unggul daripada hidup, ia juga menjangkau segala tawaran duniawi. Ertinya, kita tidak puas dengan kenikmatan hadiah pemberian Tuhan sahaja, tetapi dengan kemuliaan Tuhan sendiri – kasih sayangNya, kuasaNya, kearifan, kesucian, keadilan, kebaikan dan kebenaranNya.

Sebab itulah Asaph berseru, “Siapa gerangan ada padaku di syurga selain Engkau? Selain Engkau tidak ada yang kuingini di bumi. Sekalipun dagingku dan hatiku habis lenyap, gunung batuku dan bagianku tetaplah Allah selama-lamanya.” (Mazmur 73:25–26). Tiada apa-apa ciptaan sempurna Tuhan di atas muka bumi yang dapat memuaskan kerinduaan hati Asaph. Hanya Tuhan mencukupi. Inilah makna Daud yang berkata, “Engkaulah Tuhanku, tidak ada yang baik bagiku selain Engkau!" (Mazmur 16:2).

Daud dan Asaph mengajar kita keinginan berpusatkan Tuhan, yang tidak mungkin puas dengan pemberian harta, kekayaan dan kesihatan badan semata-mata. Hanya Tuhan memenuhi kerinduan kita.

Adalah salah jika kita tidak bersyukur di atas pemberian hadiah Tuhan (”Janganlah lupakan segala kebaikan-Nya!” [Mazmur 103:2]), tetapi ia boleh menjadi pemujaan berhala jika kita menganggap kegirangan daripada hadiah tersebut sebagai cinta untuk Tuhan sendiri. Apabila Daud berkata kepada Tuhan, “Di hadapan-Mu ada sukacita berlimpah-limpah, di tangan kanan-Mu ada nikmat sentiasa” (Mazmur 16:11), hasrat hatinya hanya ingin mendampingi Tuhan, satu-satunya kenikmatan paling memuaskan di alam semesta. Bukan anugerah Tuhan penghayatan hati Daud seperti seorang kekasih.




















“Seperti rusa yang merindukan sungai yang berair, demikianlah jiwaku merindukan Engkau, ya Allah. Jiwaku haus kepada Allah, kepada Allah yang hidup. Bilakah aku boleh datang melihat Allah?” (Mazmur 42:1-2) Daud hendak mengalami limpahan kasih dan kemuliaan Tuhan: “Ya Allah, Engkaulah Allahku, aku mencari Engkau, jiwaku haus kepada-Mu, tubuhku rindu kepada-Mu, seperti tanah yang kering dan tandus, tiada berair. Demikianlah aku memandang kepada-Mu di tempat kudus, sambil melihat kekuatan-Mu dan kemuliaan-Mu.” (Mazmur 63:1-2).

Hanya Allah memuaskan kerinduan Daud kerana dia jejaka yang mengikut kehendak hati Tuhan. Inilah matlamat kita dicipta – mengasihi Tuhan sendiri! Kasih kepada Tuhan bererti kita patuh kepada semua perintahNya, percaya WahyuNya, bersyukur atas segala anugerahNya; tetapi asasnya, mengasihi Tuhan adalah penghayatan diri Tuhan sendiri. Dengan menikmati rahmat Allah kita memuliakan keagunganNya dengan sepenuhnya, meskipun dunia sekitar jiwa kita terlerai. Kita sudah tahu kebenaran ini dari gerak hati dan Alkitab.

Adakah kita rasa penghormatan tinggi daripada seseorang yang melayani kita bermotifkan tuntutan tanggungjawab atau kerelaan setia kawan? Isteri saya paling dihargai apabila saya berkata, “Saya sungguh gembira meluangkan masa denganmu”. Kegirangan saya adalah gema kecemerlangan peribadinya. Begitu juga dengan Tuhan. Sinar kemuliaan Tuhan paling gemilang apabila kita paling puas dalam kenikmatan diriNya. Kita tidak mungkin mencapai kerinduan dalam Tuhan yang sempurna. Saya sering bersedih kerana hatiku merungut apabila kehilangan keselesaan duniawi, tapi saya juga pernah merasai kebaikan Tuhan. Dengan rahmatNya, saya telah jumpa sumber air yang abadi kegiranganNya, dan saya ingin menghabiskan riwayat hidupku untuk memikat sesiapa sahaja datang berkongsi kegembiraan ini supaya mereka juga berkata, “Satu hal telah kuminta kepada TUHAN, itulah yang kuingini: diam di rumah TUHAN seumur hidupku, menyaksikan kemurahan TUHAN dan menikmati bait-Nya.” (Mazmur 27:4).

Karya John Piper
Terjemahan Hedonese

No To False Dichotomy

Shall we choose between unity or doctrine?
Personal or Propositional?
Relationship or Truth?
Orthopraxis or orthodoxy?

Why can't we have both, avoiding a tunnel vision?

As LT Jeyachandran once said to me, "But the devil is in the details". Here's thot-provoking article from KrisisPraxis on some "details" that broaden and open up our options:

"It has become fashionable in some Christian circles to deride the need for theory or to disabuse the importance given to doctrinal orthodoxy as a poor substitute for living faith. Indeed, it is claimed that preoccupation with doctrinal orthodoxy leads to judgmentalism. Hence, the favourite slogan “From Absolute to Authentic”.

I think these criticisms are unfair. Do contemporary theologians view right doctrine as substitute for faith? Do theologians really offer their doctrinal formulations as absolute truth? For that matter how can Christians be authentic if they reject belief in absolute truth (which admittedly is fully grasped only by the omniscient God)? In any case, clarity is needed since contemporary theologians and critics differ on how the word ‘absolute’ is significant for Christian faith and understsanding...

“truth as transformation always involves truth as disclosure; speaking the truth is never separable but is distinguishable from doing the truth.”"

Read on for the rest of article

A Call To Redeem Culture

Kam Weng presented this discussion on cultural mandate and intellectual witness at an iBridge Camp. Some of the slides were done by him while the rest were taken from all over the Net.

Reasonable Faith 2007

Reasonable Faith Training Program

Date: April 13 - 15, 2007
Venue: Hotel Puri Melaka, Malaysia
Contact: iching@rzimap.com.sg (IChing) for more details abt registration

Exciting and Relevant Issue: "Jesus among other lords"

The experienced RZIM team will take you on a discovery exploration on Religion roulette: How can we know for sure?, Interactive Movie Discussions, Worldview thinking, How now shall we live?, Postmodern spirituality, Jesus then and now, Ecclesiastes, Communicating the gospel in a pluralistic society and so much more!

Without a firm foundation in Scripture and the uniqueness of Christ, we would risk being captivated by religious pluralism and postmodern spirituality which reduced the gospel narrative as merely one among many religious options in the supermarket. I highly recommend this camp to everyone!

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)

Remember the time during the Cold War where the thousands of ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) from the two superpowers, the USSR and the USA, faced poised at one another, ready to be released at the press of a button to unleash complete total destruction on both countries? The thinking behind this fearsome strategy is MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction). The fact that your enemies can destroy your country at the same time you destroy theirs was meant to help the leaders not to be too hasty in their decision making at the threat of war.

In our society today, there is also a MAD strategy in play. Only the proponents are ourselves and other people in our society. This play is very destructive. It is more dangerous in that it is acting on our subconscious, at a level where we are all unaware that we are involved in the destruction. And more surprising is that it is socially acceptable. In fact society praises its outworking. I am talking about our achievement orientated lifestyles.

What is wrong with being achievement orientated? Achievement by itself is good. All the comforts and security of our society is created by people achieving what they set out to do. It is the cost of achievement that is the problem. Many achievements are obtained at the price of broken relationships, dysfunctional families, exploitation of fellow human beings and self abuse. How does this situation come about?

We are created in God’s image. Human beings are created for unconditional love. Unfortunately, early in our childhood, we are taught that love is conditional. We are given love if we do something; be nice to our siblings, being obedient, be polite. Love is withheld if we misbehave. So we learn young to play the game, the game of gaining conditional love. We learn early that achievement always win conditional love. Yet, our souls long for unconditional love. Almost all of us can recall the longing for this love. Because we cannot get this unconditional love from our loved ones, we learn to repress it.

Repression does not make the longings go away but converts it to aggression, irritability and anger. This repression is self destructive. Many of us are angry most of the time. Some of us develop ulcers, hypertension and depression. This repression also causes us to be cruel to other people, and to want to hurt them. As these impulses are subconscious, we often do it without realizing it. That is why we always hurt the ones we love.

While we repress our need for unconditional love, we continue to pursue our need for love, even conditional love, by achieving things. Unfortunately we soon discovered that earned love is not fulfilling. With all our achievement, we feel empty inside. So we anaesthetize ourselves with entertainment, sex, trophies or even more achievements. We discovered the maxim, “he won dies with the most toys win”, wins nothing. So it become a destructive vicious cycle, this achievement orientated lifestyle.

The only way for us to get out of this vicious cycle is to receive unconditional love. God is the only Person who can give unconditional love. Receiving the unconditional love is the first part of the journey. We next need to break the subconscious thought patterns that have developed in our minds.

We can break these destructive thought patterns by worship. In worship, (1) confession brings to our conscious mind the destructive thought patterns, (2) repentance helps us to renounce it, and (3) proclamation and prayer helps to celebrate and embrace the healing unconditional love brings to our lives. When we establish a pattern of worship in a community of faith, this repeated pattern helps us to break out of the vicious cycle of the achievement orientated lifestyle.

It is only when we receive unconditional love and do not have to repress our need of it that we achieve shalom; the peace with God, with man and with all creation. Hence the need to continue to worship regularly with a community of faith. Worship is the antidote to prevent the mutual assured destruction of our souls.

Soli deo gloria