Dealing With The Worship Drug

The other day I was sharing with a person on the telephone from Vermont. We were talking about knowing Jesus, and developing intimacy with Him and how He was concerned with the quality of the heart, not with quantity. I thought about the two on the road to Emmaus and how their hearts burned within them as they learned about Jesus (from Jesus!). Then the Lord showed me a scene at dinner that evening when their eyes were opened, and when that happened, Jesus vanished.

I started to weep on the phone — I was so overwhelmed by the thrill of helping a person plug into Jesus, and when their eyes are opened to Him, that’s when our job of making disciples is largely done (or at least substantially done).

This is also why praise and worship is not the objective we should be striving to attain. This may somehow seem heretical to some, but praise and worship is not an end in itself. Instead, it is a means to the end of developing a relationship with our First Love, Jesus Christ. So for praise and worship to become the Christian’s objective is, at best, a religious cop out. It is part of the bad side of modernism, and powerful praise and worship teams have even become a formula for church growth. But please recognize praise and worship for what it is – a means to help enter His gates and His courts (Psalm 100:4) of intimacy with our Master, Redeemer, and Lord. Satan has perverted modern praise and worship into being, in some instances, an attractant to the soul and not a deepening of the Spirit. People often do not discern the difference, and the church grows weaker in personal connection with the Master, and more drunken with an elixir called worship.

Some believers have been exposed to soulish, entertaining music in the church for so long, they become smitten with the worship drug. I hope some day it will be smitten with the Living Word of God – a relationship with their First Love.

The good news is that praise and worship helps humble the seeking heart that longs to commune with their lover (dialoging two ways!). The bad news is that many saints stop at the praise and worship gate and never advance further. To the Lord, it’s a lot like trying to get the attention of a kid whose ears are stuck in their Ipod music all the time. And the Lord wants them to get quiet on the inside and talk to them, but they are always occupied with their music and are therefore not able to hear the Lord speaking — the music is too loud.

Joshua 3:5

And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you.

“In moving with the Holy Spirit, just as here when Joshua moved with the Ark , sanctification is a necessary conditioning for worship. Worship is accepted when offered in holiness. Prior to seeing the move, and as preparation for following it, holiness is required among My people. Holiness is what the Holy Spirit requires prior to being able to lead My people. Therefore, before worship one must sanctify himself in holiness, cleansing himself from all unrighteousness. For some, this can be as rapid as changing the thought of the heart. For others, this requires a change of lifestyle, and much repentance. I can show the way to holiness for every heart that yearns to know it.”

Joshua 3:6

And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people.

“Before every great move of the Spirit, there is a visible parade of the Ark , carried forth by My ministers. As they carry the Ark before My people, they begin to become alert and pay attention. Those who worship in the way of holiness have no trouble recognizing the carrying forth. Then they speak what they see to others, and the camp begins to pack up to move. This is how the multitudes followed then, and this is how they follow now, those who have ears to hear.”

Joshua 3:7

And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel , that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.

“By this time, Joshua was gaining confidence. My words unto him were becoming real. They were becoming dependable in his spiritual eyes. He had begun to recognize that what I told him on his knees were spirit and they were life for him personally, and – because of his position as prophet to the people – they were life to them as well.”

“Therefore, when I told Joshua that I would begin to magnify him before all Israel , it was well after He had learned to magnify Me in his heart and make it his lifestyle.”

“Once a person learns to fellowship with Me faithfully, then the Father and I can begin to do what has always been the Father’s desire – to commune with and bless His children. The reason Joshua could lead My people was because he had first learned the treasure of worship, praise, and obedience to the will of the Father.”

“Like David, like Moses, like Elijah and Elisha – one learns these things on their knees before the Most High God. This is the narrow way I spoke about to My disciples. This is the way that is available to rich men and poor men, yet it is the way that is visible only to the meek and humble.”

“The way of the Father is to resist the proud. They cannot find their [own] way. Joshua found it. That is why I could begin to magnify him. Despite the miracles he had seen with Moses, Joshua needed to learn the meekness of Moses before I could do the wonders like Moses for him also.”

Joshua 3:8-10

And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan , ye shall stand still in Jordan.

And Joshua said unto the children of Israel , Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God.

And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites.

“Joshua obeyed precisely. By this time, he had learned to no longer question or doubt My rhema.[1] He just spoke it as I gave it to him. I will give you what you need at the time you need it. What Joshua said in verse 10 is the rhema that I gave him the moment he opened his mouth. His election to open his mouth to speak came from the words I spoke into his spirit, [recounted] in verses seven and eight. So Joshua had matured to the point that he trusted My words to him. When he elected to act on my words is when I energized the rhema to the people.”

“Do you see now that all these acts of mighty men and women of God start with learning how to worship, praise, and trust Me? Many are called, but few are chosen. Many are called to worship, but few will prioritize their hearts to worship and praise in their own chambers faithfully. Could I be any plainer? Faithful am I to bless those whose ears are open, who are faithful as Joshua.”

Our Father has always longed for intimate fellowship with His Beloved people. As we draw near to Him, He draws near to us. Worship and praise can help us to draw near, as can speaking in tongues, reading the Word of God with reverence, and obeying assignments from the Lord. Relationship with Lord is everything! Praise and worship is therefore one of the tools which helps us connect with Him. So lest we make the tool itself into an object of worship, let us recognize our first privilege and pursuit is fellowship – a two-way dialogue with our Shepherd and Master, our First Love and best Friend, Jesus Christ. In His presence is fullness of joy indeed.

May His glory be upon you in the secret place of the most High

–Paul Norcross

[1] Rhema is a Greek word that is often translated as “word” or saying.  It refers to revelation, i.e. inspired utterance.  See Dining at the Master’s Table:  Learning to Hear the Voice of the Lord.  More about this book is noted in the references section at the end of the last chapter.