In my 5th grade classroom, above the chalkboard, on the right side, Mr. Dale had hung a poster. It said, “You are what you eat.” Below this saying there were pictures of various foods, the only one I remember was a chicken drumstick that had a human face. Not supposing that anyone would actually turn into a drumstick, I thought the poster was funny and didn’t take it seriously. Now, suppose I said, “You are what you believe.” How would you respond? If I turned the saying into a funny poster with pictures of famous religious and non-religious thinkers would it make you wonder?
Truth be told, we are what we believe and we do what we believe. An atheist does not worship anything but himself (likely not confessionally) since he or she would argue there is no God, no Mover, no Creator, no universal Sovereign. Now, take the various viewpoints that are commonly taught in places called sanctuaries or worship centers and sold in places called Christian book stores. Some would like us to believe that God’s purpose for our life is comfort, happiness and a lot of money. To be sure, this fits nicely with the American dream of prosperity, blanketed with a doctrine of positive thinking, Joel Osteen style.
Unfortunately, this belief crumbles. In the real world people really work, get really sick, and they really die in poverty; no matter how positive their thoughts were. Thus, if one believes that God’s chief end is to make people happy and comfortable, then when those vaporous dreams vanish so does the praise. That faith is dashed to pieces, perhaps into agnosticism, since it is not grounded in good teaching or theology.
Theology is of utmost importance, and good theology even more. Whom we believe God to be and what we believe God has done is our center. This is where we live, pray, respond, praise, think, play, worship, and love. Take praise. What would a person’s praise look like if he or she believed God to be stingy, not willing to offer blessings to His children? Furthermore, adding to His (supposed) stinginess, what if He were big, but not big enough, powerful, but not powerful enough, or smart, but not smart enough? Sadly, Christians often act as if God really is all these things, despite whatever they may say about Him. To some, God isn’t sufficient to give them what they want or He does not really exist at all. And this belief will be reflected in their praise.
Such anemic praise is going to be half-hearted, perhaps a quarter-hearted fake-a-thon. It was like the time when your Mom made you put on a shirt you despised, but because it was a gift from your favorite Aunt you had to wear it whenever she came over. You were ungrateful for the shirt because you didn’t much like it, but you slowly pulled it out of the dresser and put it on. The shirt wasn’t something you wanted; it didn’t connect with your perceived wants; it wasn’t cool. And your gratitude to your Aunt was heartless performance instead of passionate praise.
And so it is with our praise to God. Hollow, stiff-necked, meager, or burned-out praise tells God who you think He is and what you think of His blessings/gifts. He and His blessings are not worthy of much praise from this perception. But genuine, joy-filled and earnest praise can only come from a mind that truly knows Him. That is, when you who genuinely lift up your soul to God in private and public praise, thanking Him and praising Him with every fiber of your being, you show God that you get it. You know your God, His attributes, and His blessings. You are a true worshipper.
Now, I don’t think any of us are always true worshippers. I don’t wake up with a smile on my face everyday, ready to praise God. It can be pretty ugly until my first coffee. That is why I need to hear Scripture, to be around other believers, and to fellowship. I need good Bible time, good Bible preaching to motivate my heart to praise. I need to be reminded of how to believe in God, of who He is, and what He has done for me in His Son.
Oftentimes, toward the end of our worship service we sing a song called The Doxology. It goes, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise Him, all creatures here below; praise Him above, ye, heav’n-ly host; praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. A-men.” Lately, we’ve asked something before we sing it. “Have you anything that causes you to praise God?” To answer this, to really praise Him, we must be mindful, dear Christian, of something true about our God; a belief. To borrow from Spurgeon’s little catechism he says this of God’s creation of man: “God created man male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.” And when one believes that they are created in God’s image, suddenly there is good reason to shout out praise to the living God.
Take for example another hymn called What Wondrous Love is This, which says we are to worship God because of what we believe about His love. Since we are so awestruck by Him, and His love we never stop singing of it: “And when from death I’m free, I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on [. . .] and through eternity I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on.” The heart and mind that believes the truth about God never stops singing of Him and to Him.
Dearest reader, you are what you believe. Last Sunday we saw Stephen who, despite his life being poured out for Christ because he knew Him, saw His glory. Christ’s glory was his center. What is at your center? Certainly, there are hollow, worldly beliefs about God and yourself all around us; I’ve got those too. But are you willing to exchange your thoughts about yourself and God for the Bible’s? When you and I begin to do that we will be able to truly sing doxology to our matchless King.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come (Ephesians 1:18-21).
