Day 10: The Heart of Worship

Time for another read and comment on the PDL with Rick Warren. You will have noticed that I am not really using this book as I am supposed to use it. The days are supposed to be contiguous rather than with these big gaps. Still we can read and consider...

I really like the way this chapter begins...'the heart of worship is surrender'. I often say myself that if I wanted a general all-purpose modern word to convey the ideas in the word 'worship' I would choose the word 'surrrender'. I think it also includes 'beholding God' or comtemplation on who He really is, but surrender is certainly a key part. The earliest uses of the words for worship in the scripture have nothing at all to do with music and meetings; they are accounts of personal surrender.

The only lurking discomfort I have is that we still seem to drift towards 'how to worship' and the danger is that we end up with yet another technique. The danger is amplified when we begin to talk about our circumstances. The danger here is they we may begin to opt for a pattern of 'surrender to our circumstances'. I think it is important to understand that 'worship' is always 'surrender' to a person not to a set of circumstances. To slide into passivity would be a deadly error.

I was doing pretty well with this chapter until the last page when my old enemy reared up once again. The problem is revealed in his illustration of surrender; his illustration is Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ. I am not going to comment on Campus Crusade itself but only on Rick Warren's comment; it reads...

Through Crusade staff around the world, the Four Spiritual Laws tract, and the 'Jesus' film (seen by over four billion people), more than 150 million people have come to Christ and will spend eternity in heaven.

I have finally stopped spluttering! What an extraordinary statement and what a revealing comment about the foundation understanding of this writer. Apparently by processing the thought concepts of 'Four Spiritual Laws' etc a person 'comes to Christ and will spend eternity in heaven'. This is not only foolish it is a deadly complacency. Like so many, the writer has equated an evangelical process with regeneration. This is no biblical warrant for this presumption and to leave someone thinking that because they prayed the prayer of chapter 7 they are now rightly related to God is a travesty of biblical truth and a deadly deception.

...I do fairly well with the PDL until it reminds me just how rotten its foundations are.

Day 09: What makes God smile?

The old answer to this question used to be; "telling Him your plans for tomorrow" but the PDL has a series of better answers to the question. It is worth listing the things the Rick Warren says 'make God smile'...

1. God smiles when you love him supremely.
2. God smiles when we trust him completely.
3. God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly.
4. God smiles when we praise and thank him continually.
5. God smiles when we use our abilities.

I could wish for a little more focus on No 5 but this is a good list of things that please God. It's not supposed to be comprehensive but it is a good start.

'Making God smile' is PDL's synonym for 'pleasing God' and that must always remind us of the Shorter Westminster Catechism's (SWC) answer to what is fundamentally the same question; what is the chief end of man? The answer is "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever". You will find some interesting commentaries on the SWC on The Shorter Westminster Catechism Project. I would particularly commend the comments of Thomas Watson which can be found on that page.

It is interesting to read this website and to compare it with the PDL's take on things. I know that the PDL is designed for a different kind of audience and that most people who would read the PDL will not be reading the SWC Project pages, but the differences are not just of style and substance but of focus. The SWC as befits its Reformed origins is 'God centred theology'. It is not just more 'dignified' than the PDL but somehow incorporates an entirely different viewpoint.

Giving God something to smile about is a somewhat different concept to 'Glorifying God and enjoying him forever'. Nevertheless theew are some good points in Day 09 of the PDL and the 5 points of Rick Warren's list may provide a helpful check list.