By David Santistevan – June 10, 2021 (www.churchleaders.com)
We say that worship is a lifestyle, but how many of us actually live it? Merriam Webster defines lifestyle as “a particular way of living: the way a person lives or a group of people live.” If that’s the case, this is pretty important stuff.
It makes sense, right? The Bible isn’t silent on this matter:
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). All. Do all. Whatever you do.
I’m no theologian, but from my perspective that doesn’t leave any stone unturned. If worship is a lifestyle, no facet of our lives is exempt from the glory of God. We don’t keep any for ourself. We don’t hide anything behind closed doors. There are no secrets, no facade, no silence when it comes to God and His glory.
He is a jealous God—passionate for our full attention, admiration and affection. And He’s the only being in the universe that can demand such loyalty. It’s right for Him to do so.
All of our lives should reflect the greatness of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. But so often this worship is reserved for the holy moments … the spiritual parts of our life such as church attendance, devotions, small groups and when we’re listening to worship music.
In the grand scheme of our week, that’s a small amount of time. What about the rest?
Worship Is a Lifestyle
If your worship is a lifestyle, it affects every part of you. It’s not just a conversation you have, a t-shirt you wear or a conference you attend. It is … you.
Consider your senses:
- Are you using your eyes to constantly see more of His glory and stand more in awe?
- Are you using your ears to be tuned in to the voice of Holy Spirit?
- Are you using your mind to comprehend the mysteries of God through the Bible?
- Are you tasting and seeing that God is good?
- Are you feeling strong affections for Christ deep in your bones?
- Are you reaching out and extending God’s grace to the world?
If I’m honest, I’m far from it. Most of the time I’m swirling in a world of dirty diapers, sleepless nights, selfish pursuits and overflowing to-do lists.
I recently finished Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit. I must say, it was one of the most insightful, helpful books I’ve read in a long time. The whole premise of the book is about automating our lives to see the results we want.
Stop Making So Many Decisions
If worship is to become a lifestyle, it needs to be automated—second nature. You shouldn’t wake up in the morning and have to decide whether you’ll read your Bible or not. It needs to be an automatic action.
You shouldn’t have to decide whether you’ll love Jesus today. It’s automatic. It needs to become a habit.
I think that’s the problem with the practicalities of “doing all” to the glory of God. We rely on our decision making power as to whether it will happen or not.
Simply put, that’s hard. I’d rather eat cookies than broccoli. I’d rather sleep in than pray. I’d rather read a gripping novel than the Bible. Resolutions aren’t enough. A task list isn’t enough. Putting it on the calendar isn’t enough. We know this is true because we’ve all ignored these things plenty of times.
But as Charles says in his book, a habit can be changed when you associate a habit with a certain cue and determine a reward. For example, if I want to spend time in worship each morning, I need to identify the current habit hindering that from happening. Maybe currently you hear the alarm, hit the snooze and sleep another hour.
In order to change that, you need to associate the habit of morning worship with the alarm. The reward could be a closeness with Christ throughout the day that you wouldn’t experience otherwise. See how that works? It’s all about training yourself to develop a worship habit, and live in the reality that worship is a lifesytle.
What’s Next?
When I say the words “habit” and “automatic” I don’t mean mindless, boring, heartless action. I mean, like Aristotle says, “We are what we repeatedly do.”
Therefore, to become a worshiper, we need to repeatedly embrace the fact that worship is a lifestyle. I want that action to become as natural as breathing, brushing my teeth, and eating my meals. Because it’s of even higher importance.