What you gaze at, you grow into
Worshipping God is sometimes treated as a bit odd. Say the word “worship” and people picture anything from a traditional church to people praising God arms aloft. Chances are worship is not something they see themselves doing.
However here is an uncomfortable truth, everybody worships something.
Worship isn’t only about church. Worship is what happens when you give your gaze, your attention, your habits, your heart to something. It’s about what takes centre stage in your life.
Look around, think about your own life. We worship our phones probably more than anything. We wake up to them, fall asleep to them, bow our heads to them a hundred times a day. We worship shopping, endlessly scrolling for the next purchase. We worship celebrities, influencers, political figures, or even sometimes ourselves. Some of us worship productivity; some of us worship rest. Even “I don’t worship anything” usually means you worship something but you won’t admit it.
So if we all worship, and we do, how is what you are putting your gaze upon helping you grow?
Psalm 115 speaks to this talking of idols as lifeless things with eyes that can’t see and mouths that can’t speak. Then comes the kicker: “Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” In other words, you become what you worship.
That’s as true with a smartphone as it was with a golden calf. Fix your gaze on an endless scroll, and you become restless and distracted. Fix it on money, and you become anxious and calculating. Fix it on approval, and you become fragile.
And what about if we worship alcohol, drugs, or destructive habits? How do those make us feel?
At first, these things look like they’ll give freedom or comfort. But over time, they demand more and give less. That’s worship too, but it’s worship that eats away at you from the inside.
So the real question is not whether worship is silly. The question is: what’s your worship doing to you?
Does it lift you up, or does it drag you down?
Does it make you more connected to your community, or more cut off?
Does it help you love better, or does it shrink you into yourself?
We all worship something, and what we worship shapes us.
Worship of God might look strange from the outside, but it’s worship that doesn’t drain us or hollow us out.
So before judging worship as “weird,” maybe it’s worth asking: what are you already worshipping and what kind of person is that making you?
A Prayer
Lord, You know the pull of our hearts and the habits of our eyes.
Forgive us for giving our worship to things that cannot give life.
Turn our gaze back to you, the Living God.
Shape us by your love, fill us with your Spirit,
and make our lives a reflection of your goodness.
Amen.
This article was written by Sarah Newton and reflects her opinion on this matter. Other opinions within the church and the wider Church of England may differ.
