"Wherefore
we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have
grace, whereby we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly
fear: For our God is a consuming
fire." (Hebrews 12:28-29)
In the Old
Testament, “reverence” occurs as the translation of two Hebrew words: Yare’
(yaw-ray’), which carries the meaning of “fear.” This word is used to express
the attitude toward God Himself (Psalm 89:7, Leviticus 19:30; 26:2). The
thought being one of fear, awe and respect. The second word, shachah
(shaw-khaw’), carries the meaning of “falling down” as in the prostration of
the body. It is used to express the attitude and behavior toward another who is
considered superior (1 Kings 1:31, II Samuel 9:6 , Esther 3:2,5). The thought
with this word being honor, submission and obeisance.
In the New
Testament “reverence” occurs as the translation of three Greek words, Deos,
phobeo, and entrepo. Deos (de-os), which has the meaning of awe and Godly fear,
is a feeling of profound awe and respect. Because of His majesty and holiness,
God arouses a feeling of reverence in those who worship and serve Him (Hebrews
12:28). The second word, phobeo (fob-eh’-o), carries the thought of being
frightened or alarmed, by analogy to be in awe of or to have a deep and abiding
respect. This word is used to illustrate the proper attitude of subjection that
a wife should have toward her husband (Ephesians 5:33). The third word, entrepo
(en-trep’-o), sets forth the idea of a self evaluation of inferiority or
superiority over someone else. In the consideration of reverence for God, the
former always being the case. The mental imagery is of willingly setting the
subject of consideration on a higher level while placing oneself beneath (Matthew
21:37, Mark 12:6; Luke 20:13, Hebrews 12:9).
Habakkuk 2:20,
"But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before
him. Reverence means a respectful, submissive attitude of mind resulting in
affection and esteem for the person to which it is directed.
Today there is
no reverence or respect for the house of God. If we were invited to a
state dinner at the White House, naturally we would wear our best
clothes to the President's house. Right? So, then why do we casually
wear whatever makes us "feel comfortable" when we are invited
to God’s house? Why do Christians show disrespect for God’s
house by wearing casual clothes, and make no proper physical or
spiritual preparation to "come and dine" with the Lord?
In 1999,
people publicly chastised Martha Stewart for wearing a pink pants suit to a
White House state dinner. She disregarded White House protocol by wearing short
pink pants. She should have known better. Formal clothes are appropriate for
special occasions, especially at the White House. The White House social
secretary later commented "I think she needs to read books on how to dress
properly for such an occasion. A state dinner means a long dress to the
floor." So why should anyone be upset by Martha's short pink pants? "The
White House is different," said the secretary. "It's like a church
and should command the same respect."
Christians today
don’t dress with respect to worship in the house of God. Reverence for God is
an important issue that is overlooked by many today. We seem to be of the
mindset that being "under grace not under law" gives us license to
worship and approach God anyway we like. Nevertheless, appropriateness or suitability
in clothes has always been defining to what to wear for the occasion or
activity.
Clothes fall
into several categories:
1. Active
sport (for participating in sports)
2. Spectator
sports/casual (for sports events, school, street, and travel)
3.
Informal (for church, business, and so forth)
4. Formal (for
special occasions)
Unquestionably, sportswear,
or play clothes, are not appropriate for church just as they are not
appropriate for a funeral, wedding, or other special occasion. Only immature or
indifferent or ignorant people do not care about appropriate dress for church.
Christians express their casual attitude toward God and the church in their
dress and behavior. Their dress and their behavior express a spirit of
casualness and convenience.
For years,
church etiquette required proper dress and proper behavior. But today
anything goes. Churches often advertise: “Come as you are.” In other words, dress how you want:
shorts, flip-flops, ragged jeans, and so forth. It’s a very self-serving
ploy to get us to their church by catering to our self-centered
feelings. So, if we don’t feel like dressing appropriately for church, we
don’t have to. We don’t have to reverence and respect God’s house. We don’t
have to maintain dignity.
The Church used to uphold high culture, it has rapidly declined into low
culture. The Church has gone from Christ-centered to man-centered. It use to be that we did not applaud after
someone sang in the church service. Then after some churches began to
substitute entertainment in place of holy worship, applause became a standard
response to any performance in a church sanctuary (auditorium). In other words, the church was no
longer a sacred place of worship, but a place of pleasurable entertainment.
Clearly, the
house of God is no longer a house of prayer; it is a house of
entertainment: Christian rock music with strobe lights, dramas, movies,
book discussion groups, sports, dance, Christian comedians, dinners and other
recreation to have a good times.
Whatever
happened to Bible study? Today
Christians will read every book except the Bible. Instead, they want to read the latest
“Christian” bestseller. You will find the most ungodly books in a
Christian bookstore. But, the
purpose-driven, commercial-driven, entertainment-driven, and money-driven
church of today has been exposed by God.
Pentecostal
worship has been characterized by informality and spontaneity. We are not a
church with formal liturgy. Freedom in worship has been God’s special gift to
Pentecostals. But informality can sometimes fall into unintended irreverence
and disrespect for the things of God, His people, and His place of worship.
Behavior in the sanctuary should always be respectful and reverent towards God.
Those who have not been taught such reverence sometimes treat it as a place to
play, run, shout, and socialize.
Word
definitions:
1. Sanctuary: Derived from the Latin word sanctus meaning sacred, holy. A sacred or holy place.
2. Auditorium: The space for the audience in a
church, theater, or the like
3. Reverence: To regard or treat with
reverence; venerate
4. Respect:
Show esteem or respect for
Notice that
the definition for auditorium excludes sacredness or holiness. When
churches renamed the sanctuary to “auditorium,” this exclusion of sacredness or
holiness hastened the secularization of the church and it's decline. The church
sanctuary (auditorium) is no longer a place of prayer and holy worship. The church sanctuary is an auditorium
for the false worship of unholy, carnal reveling. Instead of the Church
transforming the world, the world has transformed the Church.
I saw a card
that a church mailed out inviting people to their church it read: “At our Church
you’ll find:
1. High-Energy
ministry for all ages.
2. Coffee and
donuts!
3. A casual
atmosphere. Don’t worry about wearing the right clothes, come as you are!
4. A place to
make friends and made a difference.
On the card is
a picture of the pastor and his wife dressed in t-shirts. Their
casual attitude toward the Gospel is reflected in their casual dress. They
lack dignity, reverence and respect for God and His church. In the past,
the Word of God and culture dictated that we honor the house of God by
appropriate dress and appropriate behavior: reverence, respect, dignity.
Unfortunately,
church culture has been lowered to appeal to carnal tastes in a foolish
man-made effort to trick sinners into coming to church. In order to increase
attendance and increase tithes and offerings, pastors and churches today teach
that we should throw out reverence and respect to make sinners feel comfortable
coming to church. We should not make sinners feel uncomfortable by asking them
to show reverence in God’s house. Thus Christians do not have to show reverence
in God’s house. Man’s willful law dictates: Thou shalt not show respect in the
house of God. Thou shalt not honor God with reverence in His House.
Simply put,
self-will overrules God’s will. Thus man’s law overrules God’s Law to reverence
His sanctuary. The sanctuary of God’s house is to be a refuge from the
carnal reveling of the world. The sanctuary of God’s house is to be a holy
place of prayer. We must reverence the sanctuary of God’s house.
This is not a suggestion. This is God's command (Matthew 21: 13; Isaiah 56:7, Leviticus 10:3, 19:30).
Clearly, God
commands us not to profane holy things, including His house. God must be
reverenced. And those who reverence God must reverence His house. Jesus
made it perfectly clear by His words and actions that the temple must be a
house of prayer.
What would
Jesus see and hear if He went into our churches and looked around? Would
He see and hear carnal reveling, dramas and other entertainment, sports, and
other profanation? Or would He see and hear praying, Bible reading, sacred
songs, pure gospel preaching, and reverent worship?
Would Jesus
angrily rebuke us and throw out the loud bands, strobe lights, coffee and
donuts, ungodly Christian books and other entertainment that desecrates the
holiness of the church into a casual and irreverent auditorium? Would Jesus
angrily rebuke us: “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have
made it a den of entertainment?"
There must be
cleansing of the house of God and a revival of reverence. How can we
expect the world to reverence and respect God if we the church don't set the
example. "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the
house of God" (I Peter 4:17).
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