It’s Not About You:
The Glory of God and Your Preferences

Thesis:  The idolatry of the modern church is this: we sing the kind of music we enjoy and call it worship; we do what we like to do and call it service, and we give what we can afford and call it a sacrifice. We are more concerned with our preferences than with the true purpose of the church: to stand in awe of and reflect the Glory of God to a lost and watching world.

1. Introduction: The Power of our Preferences
1. Brand/Advertising
1. Burger King, “Your way right away”
2. Holiday Inn, “Pleasing People the world over”
3. McDonald’s, “I’m Lovin’ It”
4. Sophie Starbucks Order
2. [FRAME INTRO] When we interact with nearly anything, we are evaluating that thing in light of our preferences.  What do we think of that thing/person/institution?  Does it meet our needs or align with our preferences?
3. While some allowance for our preferences is fine in many commercial enterprises, it should not be the norm in the church.
1. Self-worship
2. Idolatry
2. The Glory of God
1. God’s zeal for his own glory Isa 42:8:

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

1. In everything He does, He seeks to display His glory:

a)     Hab 2:14

b)     Rom 11:36

2. He created the cosmos to display His glory:

a)     Psa 19:1

b)     Psa 8:1-4

3. He created mankind to display His glory: Isa 43:6-7
4. He called Israel into existence to display His glory:

a)     Isa 49:3

b)     Jer 13:11

5. He raised up Pharaoh so that He might display His glory in judgment: Ex 14:4,17-8; Romans 9:17
6. He delivered Israel from Egypt to display His glory: Psa 106:7-8
7. He gave Israel victory over Canaan to display His glory: 2 Sam 7:23
8. He did not forsake Israel despite their idolatry in order to display His glory: 1Sam 12:20, 22
9. He restored Israel after the deportation in order to display His glory: Ezek 36:22-23
10. Jesus sought the glory of the Father in all he did:

a)     John 7:18

b)     John 17:4

11. He saves us to display His glory

a)     Isa 43:25

b)     Isa 48:9-11

c)      Psa 25:11

d)     Psa 79:9

e)     Matt 6:13

f)       Eph 1:4-6

g)     Romans 3:25-26

h)    Heb 2:9

12. We are to do good works so that God gets the glory:

a)     Matt 5:16

b)     Phil 1:9, 11

c)      1Thes 2:12

d)     1Tim 6:15-16

e)     1 Pet 2:12; 4:11

13. Seeking to magnify the glory of God is a prerequisite to saving faith: John 5:44
14. The Ministry of the Holy Spirit is to display the Glory of God: John 16:14
15. Worship is primarily about declaring the glory of God:

a)     1 Chron 29:11

b)     Psa 108:5

c)      Isa 6:3

d)     Hab 3:3

e)     Neh 9:5

16. Even the mundane aspects of our lives are meant to display His glory: 1Cor 10:31
17. Jesus’ second coming will be to display His glory:

a)     Isa 60:19-21

b)     2 Thes 1:9-10

c)      Rev 21:23

18. Judgment comes to those who fail to glorify God:

a)     Acts 12:23

b)     Romans 1:22,23; 3:23

19. Even in the exercise of His wrath, God’s aim is to display His glory:

a)     Romans 9:22-23

2. So what is the Glory of God?
1. OT word: כָּבוֹד, kavod means “weight,” as in something substantial.

a)     Set as an antonym against “shame” and “contempt,” so honor is a suitable sense of the word.

b)     Also associated in a secular sense with wealth or a dynastic lineage.

c)      Can be a metonym (symbolic pronoun) for the afterlife in heaven or even of God himself, “the glorious one.”

2. NT Word: δόξα, doxa means “honor” or “light.”

a)     Connotations of luminosity (1Cor 15:41).

b)     Antonyms with “disgrace,” “suffering,” “dishonor,” and “affliction.”

c)      Being made in the image of God is seen as reflecting God’ glory (1Cor 11:2-16).

3. John Piper Video (2:31)
2. Everything in the church ought to be wired to magnify the glory of God
1. Buswell, James A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion.

“When we quote such texts as the following, ‘But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of Yahweh’ (Num 14:21), those who do not know the Lord are puzzled or offended, for they think of Him as a finite being, one among many; and they think of His glory as of the self-glorification of a finite person.  Such criticisms would be completely answered if the critics would but reflect upon the attributes of God as revealed in the Scriptures.  Since God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in all of His perfections, it follows that the greatest good that could be conceived within the finite creation is that He should be glorified.  That His love, His goodness, His holiness, and His justice should be infinitely magnified among all His creatures is the highest conceivable goal of all finite events.”

2. Eph 3:21

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

3. If we are wondering, “should we do this in church?” we ought to hold it up to the great purpose of the church in reflecting the Glory of the living God to a lost and dying world and ask, “Does this exemplify or obscure the Glory of God?”   

a)     Are we doing whatever we are doing (or not doing whatever we are not doing) because we believe that by this action God is most glorified in us? 

b)     Or are we making these decisions based on our own hunt for glory, not the display of God’s?

4. Charles Bridges says,

“The Church is the mirror that reflects the whole effulgence of the Divine character. It is the grand scene, in which the perfections of Jehovah are displayed to the universe.” When we understand that the local church exists by God and for God, we see that God’s glory, not the needs of saved or unsaved people, is meant to be the ultimate determining factor for all the church does. The church does emphasize reaching the lost and it does emphasize edifying the saved, but it does so in ways that are honoring to God and consistent with his will. It ensures that both the method and the message of the church bring glory to his name.

3. Christian Idolatry
1. Worship
1. Definition: “Worship is the believers’ response of all that they are--mind, emotions, will, and body--to what God is and says and does.”  Warren Wiersbe, Real Worship
2. John 4: 19-26

19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

3. Worship is not:

a)     Where

b)     How

c)      What style

d)     Whose preferences

4. Worship is:

a)     Spirit

b)     Truth

c)      “Bible Munch” video (2 min)

d)     Worship is the outpouring of our Spirit towards God in response to the Truth of God’s Word.

5. The worshipful response of our lives to the Lord is focused on God’s glory and oriented by the truth of scripture, not our preferences.

a)     Say and sing true and glorifying things about God in response to who He is, and do it however you can! 

b)     No stylistic command in scripture whatsoever.

(1)   Foolish to do so.  None of our musical styles existed when the scriptures were written or the psalms were penned. The oldest song we have on record is 2,000 years old.  We don’t even have any idea what music was like before then. So “Biblical Music” is a meaningless term.

(2)  Dutch reformed church worship of amelodic psalms.

(3)  “The bridge” worship of “worship metal.”

(4)  Loud and divergent feedback in my job.

(5)  Commanded to sing “Hymns, and Psalms, and Spiritual Songs” twice (Eph 5:19 and Col 3:16.

(6)  “Hymns” appear in scripture, but this doesn’t equate to our musical style by the same name.  A “Hymn,” literally, from the Greek (Lexham Bible Dictionary)

c)      [FRAME OUT] If you “can’t worship” because of the style of music, you aren’t there to worship but to be worshiped.  You aren’t there to give to the Lord, but to receive from Him.  Certainly, we can be blessed when we worship, but our enjoyment is not the point.  It can be a happy byproduct, but it is not the focus.  If you aren’t blessed by a particular song, I really don’t care.  Was God blessed?  That should be our focus.

2. Service
1. In the OT, you were born into your ministry (Num 18).
2. In the NT, you have all received a ministry and the gifting to accomplish it well.
3. 1 Pet 4:10-11

 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

a)      The gifts of grace.

(1)   Because God loves you, He enjoys giving gifts to you.

(2)  These are called gifts of grace, because we do not deserve them nor can we merit them.

b)     “Speaking” & “serving” stand as broad heads over multitudes of gifts.  There are numerous gifts at work in the church, and Peter here groups them under these two categories.

c)      Every believer has been given gifts to use in the church, so whatever role you play here, you are included in this statement from Peter.

d)     The church is to have, as its focus, the glory of God.  It is the target for everything that we do because all the Glory in the universe belongs to Jesus!

4. In the NT, we are all one body, with different parts of the Body of Christ doing different things (1 Cor 12:14-20)

14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts,[e] yet one body.

a)     Notice, no part of a body is without a purpose. Everyone has something to contribute and something to do.

b)     Parts of bodies don’t really get to complain about what they do or long for a different role in Christ’s body.

c)      When there is a need in the body, all the parts of the body are meant to work to meet that need.  If something needs to be done, the whole body is meant to work on that need.

5. Personal preference is not the issue.  There is no place in the body for parts that don’t feel like meeting that need or doing that job.  You are not asked to do what you want to do.  You are called.  You are chosen, and you are equipped for a role in the body.  Take-up your place in the body.
6. John Christ Video?
7. [FRAME OUT] If meeting a need is “just not you,” then you’ve already named the problem.
2. Sacrifice
1. OT “Tithe” not a part of the law, a principle demonstrated by Abraham in Gen 14:19-20 and Jacob’s vow in Gen 28:22, four hundred years before the law.
2. In the NT, it is to be:

a)     Joyful and of a free will (2Cor 9:6-7)

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully[a] will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

b)     Faith-filled (Matt 6:24-33)

 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[g] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

c)      Sacrificial (Heb 13:15-16)

15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

d)     We are not commanded to give 10% within the context of the NT, but the argument can be made that the NT goal of joyful, faith-filled and sacrificial giving should be seen as a higher threshold, not a lower one.

3. 2019 Church Giving report:

a)     With some regional variances, a given congregation only has about 10-25% of its people tithing.

b)     Most of those people are not the highest-earners.  Only 1% of people who make more than $75K/year tithe.

c)      The average Christian gives a total of 2.5% of their income to charity, including their church-gifts.  In 1935, during the depression, that figure was 3.3%.

d)     Since 1990, the population of the US has gone up 32%, but the amount of money American Christians gave to Christian charities dropped by 50%.

4. God does not call us to take care of our needs first and then give Him what we can.  He challenges us to worship Him with our giving first and trust Him to meet our needs (Mal 3:10).

10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

5. Admission to my own shortcomings in this area.
6. Calvin

 “The glory of the Lord is infringed when man glories in himself.  To this purpose, indeed, Paul accommodates the words when he says that all the parts of our salvation are treasured up with Christ, that we may glory in the Lord (1 Co 1:29).  For he intimates, that whosoever imagines he has anything of his own, rebels against God, and obscures his glory.   Thus indeed it is: we never truly glory in him until we have utterly discarded our own glory.  It must, therefore, be regarded as a universal proposition, that whosoever glories in himself glories against God.”

7. Where are you on this question?  Are you prioritizing and magnifying God’s Glory or serving your own preferences?
8. [FRAME OUT] People will encourage you to give to God the first part of your treasure.  I’m going to tell you that you already do.
9. You always give your god the first part of your money.  The question is, who is your god?  You or your creator?
3. Repentance
1. Isa 6:1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b]

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

1. The Glory of the Lord overwhelms Isaiah here.

a)     A witness to the worship of God in His Glory.

b)     Made aware of his sin

c)      Gives everything He has to the service of His God.

2. Isaiah’s preferences never enter the picture. He doesn’t consider himself at all.
3. God’s glory is all that matters!
1. “The Freedom f Self-Forgetfulness” by Tim Keller
1. If you think of yourself too highly, the solution is not to think lower of yourself.  That can also be pride.
2. The solution is just not to think of yourself that much at all.
3. Focus on the overwhelming life-changing, awe-inspiring Glory of God and live your life serving and worshipping Him.
2. [Break Frame]
3. Piper Quote: So I ask, “Do you see it? Do you love it?” You were made for this. Deep down in your heart if you are a totally disinterested person sitting there tonight just eager for the service to be over, there will come a day, I hope tonight when enough of the crust is scraped off that you will say, “I am made for this. This is why I exist to see that. Everything is pointing to that. All the glory that I thought was so attractive is going there. This is all husks and ashes. He was right. The Bible was right. Jesus was right.”