Show Me!
By Grant Gaines
While it’s not certain where the state of Missouri got its nickname “The Show Me State”, many credit US Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver with coining the phrase. In the late 1890’s Vandiver was speaking to Philadelphia’s Five O’Clock Club and began to question the accuracy of an earlier speaker’s remarks when he concluded, “I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me.” This idea stuck around and was eventually adopted by many Missourians as the state’s motto—“Don’t just tell me, show me.”
I wonder if God has a similar motto for His people today. We go to church, sing worship songs to the Lord, and profess an unwavering love for Him, but when push comes to shove, we do a lot of talking and not a lot of “walking”. We are perfectly content with honoring God with our lips and never seeing our professed love carry over to our actions.
How do you think that would play out in a marriage? You go to the alter on your wedding day, say your I do’s, slip the ring on your finger and you’re off to a happily ever after! But quickly you begin to notice that despite the fact that your spouse floods your ears with sweet, affirming words, they never seem to help around the house, with the kids, or with the bills. Day after day they tell you how much they love you but you’re always the one left with the filthy scrub brush, heavy trash bag, or lengthy bill in your hand. Eventually you would look at your spouse as they begin to sing your praises and plea, “Stop telling me and start showing me!”
God must feel the same way about us sometimes. I would even venture to say that this is one of the biggest problems in the American church today. We love to tell God how much we love Him through our songs. In fact, Christian music as a genre is booming at one of the fastest rates in our country’s brief history. And yet, despite the boom in worship music and a professed love for God, poverty rates throughout the world are sky rocketing at an equally alarming rate.
We’re not lacking music, but muscle. We’re not lacking songs, but service. We’re not lacking words, but true worship.
How do you think God views this type of worship—all song and no substance? Wasn’t it Him who proclaimed, “…when you refused to help the least of these My brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help Me” (Matthew 25:45, NLT)? Wasn’t it Him who rebuked the Pharisees for the same half-hearted worship saying, “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain…” (Matthew 15:8-9, NIV)?
It doesn’t take too much digging through the Bible to discover that the Lord desires an active worship to pair up with our vocal worship but one particular instance in the Old Testament stands out above the rest.
This specific occurrence takes place in the book of Amos where the prophet and author of the book—Amos—was writing to the Israelites about thirty years before they were taken into captivity by the Assyrians in 755 BC for being unfaithful to the Lord. As you could imagine, things were pretty hectic around Israel at this time—people were worshipping idols, prostituting themselves, and following every ungodly desire that ran through their mind.
But as soon as the holidays rolled around, the Israelites put on their best Sabbath suits and would go to the Temple to sing their songs and perform their religious festivals. Of course, as soon as the holiday was over they would return to their detestable ways only to repeat the cycle the next time the holiday season came around. (Is it just me, or does that sound an awful lot like our culture today?)
One would assume that such surface level, hypocritical worship would fall on deaf ears in heaven. But surprisingly, this type of worship caught God’s attention—in a bad way. And through the prophet Amos, God communicated to His people His thoughts on this type of worship—“I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies…Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living” (Amos 5:21-24, NLT).
“Stop telling Me and start showing Me,” was the essence of the Lord’s rebuke to the Israelites.
Ouch! That had to hurt! Despite their catchy songs, God was not pleased, He was looking for something more. He was looking for action to back their words. He was looking for deeds to prove their faith (James 2:14-26). And He is still looking for the same thing today.
John 4:23 promises that the Father is seeking worshippers who worship Him both in Spirit and in truth. God is not idly sitting around waiting for His people to worship Him with both, “…words and speech [and] with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18, NIV), He is actually actively seeking this type of worshiper.
Be the type of worshipper the Father is seeking this Thanksgiving season. May His eyes come to rest upon you with favor as you actively worship Him. Worship God with your words, but don’t let the worship stop there. Do you see those dirty dishes? Why don’t you be the first one to get your hands dirty? Do you see that full trash bag? Why don’t you be the first to lug that bag to the trash can? Do you remember that family in need at your church? Why don’t you be the first one to help them out?
In doing so, you won’t just tell God how thankful you are, you will show Him the depths of your gratitude.
“…I tell you the truth,
whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine,
you did for Me!”
—Matthew 25:40 (NIV)
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
