“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.”
-David Foster Wallace, This is Water
David Foster Wallace was an agnostic and an American novelist who shocked everyone when, in a commencement speech in 2005, he stated that there actually was no such thing as not worshiping. That is, he rightly said that everyone worships something.
If you worship money…
You will never feel you have enough.
Worship your body and beauty…
You will always feel ugly.
Worship power…
You will end up feeling weak and afraid.
Worship your intellect…
You will end up feeling stupid.
Wallace went on to say, “We all know this stuff already.” That is, if we really think about these common ways people tend to find their identity, we know they cannot fully satisfy our souls.
What does it mean to worship something? Essentially, five things:
⦁ To see something or someone as the most important thing in your life.
⦁ To look to it as the source of your identity.
⦁ To be willing to trade every other valuable thing on your life to get, have, or keep.
⦁ To place your hope in it as the answer to the question, “What would make everything right?”
⦁ To place such value in something or someone that if you lost it, life would not feel like it is worth living.
Again, David Foster Wallace said, “Everyone worships. There is no such thing as not worshiping.”
So, what do you worship? Take this short quiz:
Your answers to these questions will help you discover what you worship!
Wallace continues, “The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship…is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.”
In other words, many of the things we worship have no power to help us in times of desperate need, and even worse, tend to destroy us, despite their promise to provide satisfaction and freedom. So, where does that leave us?
The Bible speaks of the uselessness of the things we invent for ourselves to worship:
Psalm 115:4–8
Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them. (ESV)
Anything other than God himself will fail to satisfy us, deliver us, free us, and save us. The reason is that our primary problem is not a lack of money, beauty, power, or intelligence. Our primary problem is our alienation from the God who made us for a relationship with him. We are alienated from God because of our sin. What is sin? Any violation of God’s holiness or worshiping anything other than God.
How serious is sin?
The Bible describes sin as deadly—not just for this life, but for eternity.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
What can we do about this deadly condition?
The good news is that God has acted to reconcile us to himself through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. He is not merely a guide to the way of salvation; he is the way himself. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Salvation is not found in a way of life, a path, or a set of rules. It is found in a person—Jesus Christ.
Yet, many people would rather worship their own gods of money, power, sex, status, reason, control, and more, even though those things cannot save them. There are many reasons for this:
- We may be afraid to let go of what is familiar to us
- We don’t trust that Jesus will be enough to satisfy us
- We don’t believe God could ever love us or forgive us
- We have doubts
In response, God reminds us of his great promises:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16–17)
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved… For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-10, 13)
If you acknowledge that you have worshiped something or someone other than God and have broken his commands, God calls you to confess your sin and turn to Jesus for salvation. Simply cry out to God to forgive your sin and put your faith in Jesus alone to save you.
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