I’ve grown in my conviction that God is worthy of all worship. Jesus is exalted.  He is the Son of God, the only mediator between God and mankind.  He is the King of Heaven, and will be the King of the new earth.  He is the perfect image of the invisible God, and as such is worthy of all praise and glory and blessing.

That is to speak about Him.

But now let’s focus our attention on the worship we fallen humans offer Him.  I have never worshiped Him in a way that wasn’t less than His actual worth.  The best sermon I will ever offer Him is like a crayon drawing my kids would offer me when they were little.  They sometimes needed to tell me what they had drawn, but I still displayed them prominently in my refrigerator door.  They were not that good by any standards.  But they were given to me in love by my children . . . And so they mattered to me.  God always stoops low when He receives our worship.  There is a minor difference to whether He stoops just a little further to receive the worship of a cartoonist or the worship of a man who spends his days pumping septic systems for the glory of God.

Anything that we do, that is not sin, can be done for His glory and honor.  I heard a speaker at camp once tell the story (at a men’s retreat) of an old timer at his church who stepped up to the urinal and uttered, “Thank you, Jesus!” Was that worship?  Did Jesus blush?  Was He offended?  Is the bathroom a place where His worship is blocked?

I have been thinking about this in the light of some controversy surrounding the little silicone Jesus’ that I find at coffee shops and hidden around other businesses.  I’ve also seen them on the top of gas pumps.  Is injection molding a no-fly zone for worship?  Is it possible that the man who made that mold did so out of love for Jesus?

I interacted with a man who says that this form of worship is too cheap, juvenile, and simplistic for Jesus.  And I would say, all worship is too cheap, juvenile, and simplistic for Jesus.  Now some hate the little pieces of silicone because they think they are idolatrous, and that is another issue altogether.  And while I disagree with this overly simplistic view of idolatry, that would need to be reserved for another blog.  I am addressing the idea that some art is worthy of Jesus while other art is not.

Who would get to say whether or not my sermon has risen to the skill and accuracy to be worthy of being called worship?  A man who draws cartoons can do so for the glory of God.  A writer of children’s books can do so for the glory of God.  And I truly believe that a man who makes injection molds for silicone figures can do so for the glory of God.  There is not a ‘holy medium’.  There is only worship or not worship.

And as far as doing our best being the standard of worship, there have been plenty of paragons of musical excellence that were NOT performed at all for Jesus!  I have grown in my conviction that excellence has been at war with worship in the church for decades.  And excellence is winning in many evangelical churches.  That is why many church services are increasingly feeling like concerts.  I can either keep my eyes on Jesus and do what I do for his worship, or I can shoot for excellence which requires me to focus on the work of MY hands.  I can only tell if what I am doing is ‘excellent’, if I keep my eyes on my skill, my ability, my work, and my sacrifice.  I am not shooting for excellence.  I am seeking to keep my eyes on my Lord while doing whatever I do for Him.

I don’t do this perfectly and that keeps me humble.  He who said, that our strength will be perfected in weakness . . . Is obviously delighted to receive our weakness as worship.  We don’t sandbag for Jesus.  But we also don’t showcase our sick skills for Jesus.  We ought to just keep looking to Jesus, and think much less about ourselves.