Becoming

"We become what we worship." (Louie Giglio, The Air I Breathe)

Worship defines us. We choose what we worship, but in the end, the object of our worship becomes our obsession. Our obsession guides every decision, every action, every word, and every thought.  It's a frightening idea that we choose that which ultimately motivates every moment of our lives. And yet we choose so carelessly, without pondering the ramifications, without searching for truth. We follow society. We follow family. We follow friends. We follow celebrities. We follow emotions. We follow experiences. We follow our own accomplishments. We follow...we follow...we follow.

God did not create mankind to follow other created things. God created us for fellowship ("followship") with Him, in all His wonderful and radiant glory. Nothing else can satisfy the longing every human has to worship. Anything else, no matter how pleasant or "good" it may be is a poor copy of what is real, and will ultimately let us down. Then what?

If I define myself by my own accomplishments, what happens when I don't succeed? What does that make me?

If I define myself by my friends or family, what happens when they leave? Where does that leave me?

 If I define myself by society or celebrity, what happens when those things change? How does that change me?

Who am I when my worship and obsession leads me only to myself?  I shudder to think that my own "wisdom" is the end of all my knowledge and understanding. 

So often, though, I find that I forget the magnificent obsession that is Christ. Whatever I do, whoever I am...it is nothing if it does not bring honor and glory to His name.

 Perhaps that is part of the problem in the "Church" today. Even church leaders fall prey to the idea that accomplishment or celebrity is the desired outcome of some event or program. Tozer says it best:

The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship, and that servile imitation of the world...testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all. If we would find God amid all the religious externals we must first determine to find Him, and then proceed in the way of simplicity... (A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God)

Religious externals, societal externals, personal externals---these are all false gods that destroy our testimony, and ultimately define us, not as Believers, but as created beings ignoring the Creator.

I want to be totally obsessed with God. I want to LONG for fellowship with Him they way He wants me to seek after Him. I want to be defined by my relationship with Christ. I want to BECOME more like Him, so that my worship of Him is complete, unadultered, and pure.