“What about using your talents for Christ?”
Cain thought he was using his talents for Christ, too.
Going all the way back to the beginning of human history, man has struggled with worship. And going all the way back to the beginning of human history, Scripture tells us that God cares a great deal about the manner in which we worship. And we know the God of the Bible does not change.
I won’t tell you I know how we are to worship for I’ve struggled with this issue myself. However, I am certain much of what passes for worship in our day is repugnant in the sight of God. It’s irreverant and little different from secular entertainments. I think we should ask the following of anything we do in the name of worship: Is it in accordance with the Scriptures? Is it for His glory or does it please the flesh?
Our general lack of knowledge of Scripture is the hub of the matter. Over the past few generations we’ve had tremendous doctrinal erosion and worship has deteriorated right along with it.
The God I read of in Scripture is sovereign, mighty, and HOLY HOLY HOLY. In our day He’s too often profaned and treated with flippancy and triviality. Compare the manner moderns treat the Lord with the Prophet Isaiah who saw the Lord sitting on His throne and said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
Cain did his worship for selfish motives. Hence why it wasn’t accepted. His focus wasn’t in the right place. Which is what I”m referring to. If an organists focus isn’t in the right place, it’s still as much as a diservice to God as an electric guitarists focus being in the wrong. I mean, music evolves. Wasn’t hymn music developed from Bar-room music?
“I am certain much of what passes for worship in our day is repugnant in the sight of God. It’s irreverant and little different from secular entertainments. I think we should ask the following of anything we do in the name of worship: Is it in accordance with the Scriptures? Is it for His glory or does it please the flesh?”
I think we have to be careful about distinguishing between content and vehicle: the vast majority of the praise tunes that are sung in contemporary churches are either direct Scripture or paraphrases of Scripture. Paul says to use “hymns, psalms and spiritual songs”, he says nothing about tempo or instrumentation.
I also find it true what you say. My belief about Christianity these days is that we're expecting God to ease our situations, cure our ails, and just generally make our life somewhat comfortable. That is not God, nor is it what He does. Jesus Himself said that those that follow Him will suffer for it.
Philippians 1:29 (ESV) For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake...
We've conveniently fogotten that.
I also think Christians today have gotten far away from the notion of just how big and mighty and powerful God really is. That, coupled with His unwavering holiness and purity, make Him Someone not to be trifled with.
I saw a video of a preacher named Louis Giglio entitled "How Great Is Our God". In this video, he starts off on a 'journey of scale'. He begins with us, normal humans. He then continues up the scale, comparing our size to our planet, then our planet to the Sun, then our Sun to more massively-sized stars until he gets to the biggest known star, CG Canus Majoris (literally, "Big Dog"), which is sized several million times that of our own Sun. And what's more, like the late Carl Sagan said, there are "billions and billions" of these stars out there.
Our God made ALL of them.
As someone pondering this mind-bendingly massive evidence of just how BIG He is, wouldn't you want to...no, wouldn't you need to alter your behavior accordingly?
Except for the undeserved love of Christ, we stand no chance before a God of that magnitude.