Robotic Worship and True Love

Issue 2.24

What is love for God? Is it praise, obedience, passion, or sacrifice? Is it songs or art or words or quietude? Could it be devotions, disciplines, or fellowship? Serving others or evangelism?

While we might argue that it's all of the above, here's one thing that love for God is certainly not: mechanical.

"This is the purpose of man: to love God on a personal, not a machine level. Other things in the universe are properly on a machine level: the hydrogen atom is a machine, the star system is a machine. Their relationship to God is mechanical. But any time we come to a service and sing the doxology mechanically, we have made a mistake. We are not praising God on the level of who we are."

- Francis Schaffer, Genesis in Space and Time , pg. 41 (Complete Works 2, Crossway 1982)

The very nature of our being-human being-tells us that worship and love must go beyond robotic responses or pre-programmed recitations.

God wants us. He wants you.

In the church we must keep a sharp eye on our worship services, small groups, and corporate activities. Are we giving people the opportunity to worship and love God on the level of who they are? When we meet for song or prayer, are people functioning as God created them to function? Or are they limited by tradition and expectation, never venturing beyond what any right-minded robot could achieve?

Prayer Question: Lord, do I love You personally? Does my church?

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