A teen in my church was debating with me who the NBA GOAT (Greatest of All Time) was. As he labored through a couple of stats to argue in favor of Lebron James, I let him “take the line” and just “set the hook” as I pulled up a YouTube video that compared all his stats against Michael Jordan. As a kid who grew up in the Chicago area, it is no surprise that I was in favor of MJ. The most staggering stats were from the NBA Finals. Michael Jordan never lost! The facts were, the bigger the stage, the better he played, which was the exact opposite for Lebron. These statistics did not even take into consideration all the intangibles of leadership and drive. Everyone thinks and wants their icon (or idol) to be the best.
I realized something as I thought about our conversation: man loves glory. Humans love to search for glory to enjoy and obtain. From sports icons and highlight reels to beauty pageants to amazing animal shows to food competitions, every channel we turn to on television hooks us through glory. That is not to mention that the commercials in between the glory shows are also selling us glory as well: the high life, the toughest Ford truck, the best jewelry, the most extravagant travel destination, etc. Why is a multi-billion-dollar industry structured in this way? Because it works! Why does it work? Because humans are wired to worship glory.
Worship Designed
As you read the account of creation in Genesis 1, you cannot help but notice the same phrase at the end of each day, “it was good.” What this phrase means is that God’s creation perfectly reflected the character or glory of its Maker. God is a glorious God. God created man and designed man in such a way that he craves glory. He loves God’s creation and sees and worships God through his interaction with God’s creation. This is what we read about in Psalm 19. Creation is speaking about the Creator. These lesser glories are to point us to the greatest glory in our God. So, as 1 Corinthians 10:31 states, even eating and drinking should be done in a way that recognizes and gives glory to God. We use and enjoy the gifts as we praise and enhance our relationship with the giver; however, this compulsion for glory and excitement can be dangerous when God is no longer who we are trying to please or worship. Anytime we glorify creation over the Creator, we are heading into addiction. That is exactly what happened in Genesis 3.
Worship Distorted
As we come to the Fall in Genesis 3, we see something very significant happening there. For the first time in history humans looked to creation to bring them glory of their own. Genesis 3:5 “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” The major shift here was the creation was no longer enjoyed to the glory of God, but now man would look to creation to be god. Man would look for creation’s glory to be his alone in the worship of self. This was the beginning of humanism or the worship of man. Since this time fallen, mankind has sought to garner every pleasure he can out of creation without any thought of the God who created and owns all they have consumed out of creation as they worship self. This is the real ugliness of idolatry. All idolatry is truly worship of self, and it is the beginning of chasing after what will never satisfy. Humans are designed for glory but addicted to the pleasure they can get for themselves out of creation. Mankind cannot stop worshipping just as they cannot stop breathing air! It’s how they are designed. The question is, are they breathing clean air or polluted air? Or are they worshipping the Holy God or lesser, corrupting gods like self? Romans 1 tells us that God gives us over to the lusts of our flesh as we seek to worship the creation over the Creator (Romans 1:21-25). This is the theology and reason for addiction!
Worship Re-directed
How does one fix this addiction problem and the direction of their life? The interesting thing about worship is it is not just something we do but it is something we become. It is the direction we are headed. It is clear in Scripture that as we see the glory of God we are being changed into the same image (2 Corinthians 3:18). God allows us to see the revelation of Himself in the Bible and more specifically in Jesus. As a matter of fact, 2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us that just as he called light to shine out of darkness, He shows us the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. As we see His glory, we admire Him. His character is noble and beautiful. As we delight in this, we desire Him (Psalm 37:4). We begin to love what He loves and hate what he hates. This drives our choices and soon we acquire Him. As 2 Corinthians 3:18 states, as we see His glory we are changed into it. G. K. Beale said, “We become what we worship for ruin or for restoration”. This is exactly what God said all throughout the Old Testament. God said the children of Israel became like the ox they worshipped. Psalm 106:19-21 tells us that “they made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt.”
In the New Testament, the Jews wanted political freedom from the Romans, which made them very excited for the Messiah to come. They wanted the Messiah to do their bidding or fix their problems, but that was not why He came. He came to free them from their worship of self and the sin they were pursuing that had them in bondage just like their forefathers in Egypt. They didn’t need someone to fix their external problems, they needed true freedom from sin and the enslavement that came from their distorted worship. The reason people today do not get freedom from addiction is because addiction is worship, and we will never stop worshipping. Addiction (worship) is not the problem. The problem is what are they addicted to? If we are addicted to the glory of God, we will be changed into His image. If men are addicted to creation and the glory that he can get out of it, he will be destroyed by his sin, as he robs God of the glory He deserves (James 1:14-15). According to Isaiah 42:8, God tells us that He will not share His glory with anything or anyone else in this way: “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”
Therefore, the only way to overcome enslavement of worshiping creation is to worship the God of glory, which is what we are created for and our source of true satisfaction, peace, and joy. This is the blessed life of contentment in our Creator. May we point one another and our counselees to the true hope and help that Asaph found in the living God— “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25).
