Lovers of Self

            I absolutely believe that man will worship something. He may not worship God, idols, pagan gods or whatever, but there is something that every person has that he will place over and above everything else in his life, that he will show adoration for, and that he loves more than anything else. God made us to worship, and if we don’t worship God, we will worship something. It is something that was placed in man when he was created and that man will do whether it is according to knowledge or whether it is because that is just what is in his nature to do.

            The only correct object of our worship is God. “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Mt. 410). To worship any one or anything other than the true and living God, is error, but, of course, that does not mean that man does not do it. Just look at the Israelites. They no more than left out of Egypt, and after seeing and witnessing at that they had up till that point, they still made for themselves a golden calf to worship (Ex. 32:1f.). They said, “These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt” (v. 4). Look at Solomon. Here was a king of Israel. Here was a man who built the great temple of God. Here was a man who God gave great wisdom and riches to; First Kings 10:23-24 says, “So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.” But, in the next chapter we read this:

And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and went not fully after Jehovah, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. And so did he for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. (1 Kgs. 11:3-8)

People have been known to worship other people. During the time of the Roman Empire people were made to worship the Emperor as a god. A statue of Julius Caesar made in 44 BC had an inscription which said, “to the unconquered god”. His son Augustus, dedicated a temple in Rome to the “deified” Julius, which implied that he was the son of a god (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_cult _(Ancient_Rome). “In ancient China, an emperor was considered the Son of Heaven” (htt

p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_cult). “The Ancient Egyptian male Pharaohs were believed to be incarnations of the god Horus” (Ibid.). The Thessalonians were warned:

Let no man beguile you in any wise: for it will not be, except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God. (2 Thes. 2:3-4)

            In the world today, there are traditional religionists who worship their ancestors. And here where we live, money is the god that is worshiped by a large percentage; it is their idol (cf. Col. 3:5). Money isn’t the only thing that people worship today, though, there is another god whose worship has become very prominent in the modern world. It is a god that we have all been tempted by at one time or another. It is the god of self. For so many people today God has been replaced by self; the center of their lives is me, myself, and I.

            Let’s look over at a passage found in Second Timothy 3. Verses 1-5 say,

But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power therefore. From these also turn away.

It almost sounds as if Paul is specifically talking about modern America! He wasn’t, but that’s what it sounds like.

“In the last days grievous times shall come.” What does that mean? “In the last days” is talking about the Christian dispensation—from the death of Christ on the cross until the second coming. Although it’s not limited to the present, we are currently in the “last days.” Well, what’s going to happen in “the last days”? Grievous times will come. There will be bad times, unfortunate times, times of grief. Why? Because “men shall be lovers of self.” People during these times of grief will put themselves over and above everything else. It’s not a wrong to have a proper love for ourselves, Jesus said to “love our neighbors as our self.” That implies that we are to love ourselves in some way. Paul said that the husband is to love his wife as himself (Eph. 5:33). So again, we are to have a healthy love for ourselves, but what is condemned is a love for self that puts self first, even before God, and everyone else afterwards. That is exactly the opposite of the way it’s supposed to be.

             In Matthew chapter 22 a lawyer was testing Jesus and asked Him what the greatest commandment was. Jesus answered,

And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. (Mt. 22:37-39)

The first commandment is to love God. The second is to love our neighbor. If we are doing those two things, we are putting the things of God first in our lives and glorifying Him, and the things of others second.

Paul said to the Philippians,

Make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. (Php. 2:2-4)

That’s just the opposite of putting self first. “If any man would be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mk. 9:35).

            Even within the various bodies of what is commonly called “Christianity” there has been a clearly evident shift away from God and toward self. Many times when people start looking around town for a new church, the main interest isn’t “where is the truth being taught” and “where is the work or God being accomplished,” but “which place has the most to offer me and my family?” Fellowships and youth programs, lady’s programs and all of that is all well and fine, but that is not primarily what it’s all about. The focus should be on Christ and serving Him, not on ourselves and the church being there to serve us!!

            I have been told by people that the reason they won’t go to services at this place or that place is because they don’t get anything out of it! The number one reason for that person to go to church is not to worship God, not to learn what the Bible says, but for himself. That is completely backwards! Instead of us being here to serve Christ, it’s as if we think that the church exists to serve us! That does not mean that we shouldn’t enjoy services, and that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t get anything out of it. We should, but that is not the main purpose and should never be the main focus or the reason for us going or not going, or belonging to the church that teaches and practices according to the truth or one that doesn’t.

            There was once a preacher who had gone to preach somewhere and when he returned somebody asked him how he did. He said, “I’m not sure.” When the other person asked him what he meant. He said he “had thought that he really preached it,” but when everybody walked out, many of them thanked him and told him that they enjoyed the sermon. Apparently, he thought that if people got to much enjoyment out of it, it must not have been what it should have been. There is certainly a point where we can go too far, but at the same time, the purpose of worship is not to be entertained.

            If we go into some place and sit down and are song to by a choir and played music for by a band, and then some person gets up and gives us either some type of self-help speech or tells nice little stories and jokes the entire time without teaching the word of God, what have we done? We have been entertained. We have made ourselves the central focus of so called “worship.” This type of thing is going on all across America on any given Sunday and thousands upon thousands of people are participating in it is it is growing in popularity at an extreme rate. We need to realize that when we go into worship, it is not about us, it is about God.

            What exactly, then, is worship? Worship has been defined as,

…an act or a series of religious acts characterized by a feeling of reverence and love. These acts are addressed to God (thus they involve purpose and intent to worship God). These acts must be directed by God if he is to accept them. These acts are to be performedby a faithful servant of God if they are to bring honor to God and to bless the worshiper. (Steersman, Jackie. Topical Bible Study Notes. 18)

There are many words of the New Testament that are translated by some for of our English word “worship”, but three of the most common are “proskuneo,” “sebomai,” and “latreuo.” The word “proskuneo” has to do with the bowing of one’s self down before another (Kenyon, Brian. Do You Understand Worship? “Defining Worship.” Pulaski, TN: Sain Publications.14-15). It is the word used in Acts 10:25 where it says, “And when it came to pass that Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him”; and in First Corinthians 14:25: “the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed.” The word “sebomai” “originally meant ‘to step back from someone or something, to maintain a distance,’ and the reasons for maintaining this distance ranged ‘from shame, through wonder, to something approaching fear’” (Kenyon 16). “By New Testament times, sebomai moved from the idea of respect to ‘denote religious veneration, including acts of worship’” (Kenyon 16). The word “latreuo” is usually translated “serve” in the New Testament, but “because worship is a part of religious service, latreuo also carries the idea of ‘worship’ in some contexts.”

By putting the three of these words together, along with their meanings, we can get a general idea of what worship is supposed to be. It is to involve an attitude of humility. Just as a person would have to have humility to kneel down and kiss the feet of another, we are to have that same attitude of humility in worship to God. We are to have an attitude of reverence and respect when we worship. And, worship involves more than just the right kind of attitude, but it also involves acts of worship as a part of our service rendered to God. John 4:24 says, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” When we worship, we must do it with both the proper attitude, and also, according to the truth.

It is not up to us to worship how we want to worship. We are to worship according to the “truth.” Since the Bible tells us how to worship, that is how we must worship. If we worship any other way, then we are not worshipping according to the truth. There are five acts of worship that are authorized by God. We are told to sing (Eph. 5:18-19; Col. 3:16), to pray (Acts 2:24; 1 Ti. 2:8), to teach (Acts 2:42; 20:7), to give on the first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-2), and to partake of the Lord’s Supper every first day of the week (Acts 2:42; 20:7). If we add something else to worship like drama skits, dancing, or whatever, we are participating in false worship. When we add our own things to the worship of God, we are doing what we want to do instead of what the Bible teaches us to do; once again, putting ourselves and what we want in place of God and what He has commanded.

Not only that, but John 4:24 said, we “must worship in spirit and truth.” We must do it; we have no other choice. We have no say in the matter. What if we won’t? Then we are not true worshippers of God! Hear what Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers” (Jn. 4:23). If that is how the “true worshippers” are going to worship Him, then those who don’t worship according to spirit and truth are not His true worshippers, and He is not seeking such to be His worshippers. The kind that He is seeking are those who worship Him the way that He wants to be worshiped.

            There was a famous thing that, I think Kennedy said years ago: “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Borrowing from that, “ask not what Christ and His church can do for you, but what you can do for Christ and His church.” We have to get beyond what we want, what we think, and how we feel about things, and move on to what He wants, what He thinks, and how He feels about things.

            I was asked to conduct a funeral service down in Florida just a short time after I had graduated from the preaching school. I was extremely nervous because it was the first funeral service that I had ever done. While I was waiting in the back room trying to calm my nerves just a little bit, one of the men who worked at the funeral home there came back and started talking to me about the services. He said, “most of the preacher who come in here these days don’t say very much about faith in God, heaven and hell, or things like that,” he said, “they usually just say some nice things about the deceased and try to comfort the family. It really doesn’t have much to do with their beliefs.” I thought to myself, “how sad.” We should try and say some nice things and comfort the family, but it has everything to do with heaven and hell and our spiritual beliefs! What better time could there be than while everybody’s minds are on the passing from life into death to bring up our hope that we have of eternal life? But even there, the focus is shifting away from the spiritual and toward the carnal, away from the things of God and the here after, and toward us and this life only.

            When we look at a person that leaves a different faith and obeys the gospel of Christ, we call that conversion, and that’s exactly what it is. That person has converted from one faith to another, from one system of beliefs to another. But, conversion also takes place when a person who claimed no prior religious convictions obeys the gospel. That person has converted from doing what’s right in his own eyes and living a life governed by his own understanding to doing what is right in God’s eyes and submitting to the commandments of Christ. Until a person is willing to do what God has said to do rather than what he wants to do, he is still not fully converted.

Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my words: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me. (Jn. 14:23-24)

“Ye are my friends, if ye do the things which I command you” (Jn. 15:14). There are so many today who claim to be the friends of Christ and who claim to be serving Him when they really aren’t because they still won’t do the things that He has commanded.

            In the last part of that passage we read earlier from Second Timothy 3:1-5, it says that some will “hold a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof.” They will look as though they love God, but it is only in appearance. There are so many who look like they are godly and this and that, but they have denied the power of what they are trying so hard to imitate. If we still put ourselves first before all else, we are not godly. If we are still worshiping the way that we want to worship rather than worshiping God the way that He wants to be worshiped, we are not godly. If we are trying to see how much the church and Christ can do for us rather than seeing how much we can do for the church and for Christ, we are not godly. If we still can’t let go of our own self-willed spirit and submit to the Lord’s will, we are not godly. We may be going to church and all of that, but unless we do it for the right reasons, with a proper attitude, and according to the truth, we may be just maintaining the appearance of godliness and nothing more. Paul said, “from these also turn away.” Those who hold the appearance of godliness without actually being godly have denied the power of it. The power of godliness isn’t in the appearance of it, but it is in actually being godly itself.

            Well, what’s the conclusion of the matter? We should be keeping our focus where it belongs, not on self, but on God. When we place all importance of life on ourselves we become an idol to ourselves, to serve self rather than God. We are not our own gods any more than some emperor or kind is a god. There is one God and we worship Him alone. He is to be the focus in our lives, not us. When we assemble together for worship, we are not to be the center of worship, God is. We are there to worship Him, glorify Him, praise Him; He is to be the focus of our worship and our reason for going, not ourselves. We are to worship Him the way that He wants to be worshiped. It is not about how we want to worship. If we worship the way that we do because that’s what we want to do, then we need to take the focus off of us and what we want and move it back over to where it belongs, on God and what He wants. When we were converted we were supposed to move the focus off of us and over to Christ in all things. Who do we have at the top in our own individual lives? That spot rightfully belongs to God!