Shut The Doors To Worthless Worship | Malachi 1:10

Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. — Malachi 1:10 It's a sad day when believers don't realize their worship is empty and meaningless. When we show up for worship, we go through the motions of worship, but the worship is worthless. This is an oxymoronic statement because worship means "to give worth." So what's happening in this situation is believers are giving "worthless worth" to God. But before we get too quick to judge, what if you and I were complicit in participating in worthless worship? Here is how I see this playing out in our time. The people of a given church gradually take their focus off giving worth to God and exchange it for giving worth to their own needs. Churchgoers verbalize these needs, which are focused on themselves. We hear rumblings about the style of worship, the type of teaching, and the nuances of the programming. As this persists, it begins affecting people and spiritual leaders. The leaders unaware of this diversion will grow concerned about the people's concerns and give into them. Being the servants they are, they will bow to these concerns to meet these needs but, over time, discover their efforts are no longer focused on the pleasure of God but focused on the pleasures of the people. Then one of two things happen to our spiritual leaders, they either become exhausted by pursuing the pleasures of man, or they become narcissists driven by their pleasures. But there is one thing they are not concerned about — God's pleasure. And God is not pleased with this. He would rather have us shut the doors than continue the vain escapade. But the problem is no one realizes the problem. So this week, I want you to assess yourself as you gather at your church. Be brave and ask yourself these two questions: Are you coming to get something for yourself? Or are you coming to give something to God? And if all your thoughts and criticisms are about you getting something, then address the issue of your heart. Set them aside. Give to God. Give him your very best because the only reason to gather for worship is to ascribe worth to God. If not, then we should just shut the doors. ASK THIS: Are you coming to get something for yourself? Or are you coming to give something to God? DO THIS: Give God worth. PRAY THIS: God, forgive me for not bringing you my very best. That is going to change. PLAY THIS: Here I Am To Worship. Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller