Superficiality and Sham

 Revivalists Evan Roberts once got up in a service and stopped the whole proceedings chastising the congregation for superficiality and sham. He discerned the insincerity of the people. His rebuke offended many. That did not make it any less true. The people of God prefer pretense to authenticity. 

There is superficiality and sham in the church today as well. It is sham when we spend more time critiquing the worship music than engaging in authentic worship. It also a sham when any praise team is more concerned about the perfect performance than about leading people to connect with God in praise and worship. It also a sham when worship leaders lead singing but do not actually engage in worship themselves. It has always been my conviction that that best worship is led by those who worship themselves and ask others to join in with them. 

It also superficiality when preachers and teachers proclaim truth from an intellectual standpoint instead of engaging authentic hearts transformed by that same truth. Many have delivered sound doctrinal messages devoid of passion and sincerity in living out that truth. This especially happens when lazy pulpiteers peruse the internet for putrid sermons that God fired in the heart of someone else originally, but they try to warm up and preach again. 

If God manifested the real reasons people show up to worship publicly how many would have come for superficial purposes and a pretense. Superficiality and sham offend holy God and grieves the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is grieved He can also be easily quenched. When He is quenched no great work of God happens. We can offer well crafted and program services that lack any spiritual power. Tell the truth, does this characterize what happens most Sundays where you worship? 

I yearn for real moves of God. Where people are convicted of sin and repentant. Where the show and sham give way to real revival. I long to see people yearn for the deep truth of scripture and profound encounters with the living God. Life transformational God moments. 

I figure the fear of man holds us hostage. We are superficial and worship can be a sham because we are more concerned with what people think about us than what God thinks. What a sham. We are more self conscious about those around us than about the very God we have come to worship. 

I wonder if God would ever call me to stop the service because of superficiality and sham? You know there would be a price to pay. It is easier to just go along with the status quo. I find that increasingly difficult to do. Often I call attention to lyrics of songs that we do not mean or are theologically wrong. We sing them anyway. We do not give thought to what we sing. It is superficial and sham before our Heavenly Father. May He call us on it until we worship in sincerity and truth.