Tempted to Worship People? Don't.

by Bunmi Laditan

"We just wanted something to worship. Something we could see."

I imagine that's what a child of Israel would have whispered to Moses as an explanation the day he came down from the mountain and saw them dancing around that calf.

It's human nature to want to worship something. We were designed for worship. We were designed to be starry-eyed for something, full of reverent love, undying loyalty toward something.

I was thinking about worship the other day and asking Abba why He wants it so much. When I slip into thinking of God as a person who demands worship, I feel a sourness.

But He's not like a person.

He answered me by showing me that worship isn't something He needs to ask for. It's a natural response to who He is. In His presence, hearts fail, souls fall, knees bend, not because He's a puffed-up insecure, power-hungry ruler, but because of who He is.

If you've ever witnessed power being abused, the idea of worshipping God may be tainted for you.

If you've seen people fall over themselves trying to impress human beings and felt disgusted, seen power plays, watched and participated in self-abandoning bids for attention, and witnessed how improperly people can wield status, worshipping God may feel ruined for you before you can experience how pure it is.

God isn't like people. He's perfect.

He's loving to the point of His own pain. He's forgiving. He's slow to anger. He sees the vulnerable, outcasts, and those in deep need and covers them. He's merciful. He loves humble people.

Psalm 147:6 says, "The Lord lifts up the humble, and casts the wicked down to the ground."

The closer you get to Him, the more you will know that indeed, He is worthy.

He's given me something to share about worship because in this time, He's dealing with improper expressions of it.

Years ago I was talking to a friend about a church. I asked him if it was a cult, not because I was convinced it was, but because another friend of mine had told me just that.

He was very involved in the church. Extremely. So I thought he'd be the one to ask even if he couldn't be truthful. He said,

"No, but if they wanted it to be, it could be one by tomorrow."

I knew what he meant. I'd seen some things.

God had given me a dream in that place. He'd shown me a back room area that was off limits. He showed me many employees gathered around in that dimly lit space like a mini-service.

Then the two leaders came in. They were received with a type of praise and worship as if God had come into the room. Hands wanted to touch them.

Faces were bright with anticipation and something else I can't quite describe. A wanting. A needing, a desperate happiness. It was more than just love and honor; it was reverence and excitement in a way that didn't quite feel right.

In this time, God is wanting His people to be careful.

Leaders, He is asking you to be honest about where you are receiving worship that is only due to Him. You know when it is honor and when a person's eyes are full of something more as they gaze at you. He is saying, "You know."

Enjoying it is not a reason to continue. Human beings do enjoy being worshipped; celebrities do it every day. They soak up the cries of their names, the asking of autographs, they enjoy it.

God wants leaders to be careful. Worship is not meant to be stewarded by a human being. It will change you.

And it is theft. Because worship belongs to God alone. All of it is His.

For people, members of the flock, God is wanting you to examine where you have begun to idolize human beings.

Again, God is not against honor. He is not against having heroes of the faith.

When I asked Him how someone would know if they've slipped into the worship of a human being, He showed me emotion. If your emotions are tied to that person in an unhealthy way, worship has begun.

If you are broken if they don't see you, doing whatever you can to be seen, thinking about how to be seen and wanting, scheming on how to be noticed by them the way a teenager might before going to a concert of her favorite singer, there is something wrong.

The woman with the issue of blood sought after Jesus for healing, not validation. She wanted healing from God, not for a human to fix or fill empty or missing parts of a soul that only Jesus can bridge.

Ask God to help you search your heart for where you have begun to worship a human being.

God believes in honor. He is a God of order and systems, discipleship, and family.

But we have all seen that get twisted before.

God is asking people to be honest. To detach from what is not theirs. If you have received worship or created a system of receiving worship, and you are engaged in the worship of a human being, anyone at all, even within families, even with one's children, stop.

A person is being worshipped when they are centered and taking the role only God should take. No human being can handle being worshipped. A child will become a monster. A leader will become a despot.

Only God is powerful enough to receive worship.

The worship of humans is a faith issue. It is a fear issue.

Your destiny, your life is not in the hands of human beings. It is in the hands of Jesus.

Do not be afraid to detach from worship and put human people in their proper places in your heart. It doesn't mean you have to leave a place where someone has slipped into the wrong place in your heart. God can correct it right there.

But at times, if a system of worship has been created, He might ask you to. Just ask Him to guide you and He will.

Honor the ones God has called you to. Respect them. Listen. Trust the ones God has given you for safekeeping.

But keep God alone as Lord in your life. Keep Jesus as your first love.

Spend time with Him. Read the Bible. Love Him. Realign your heart. Repent of any improper worship of man.

He loves you.