God wants all that we are.   It’s really not that complicated.   What’s complicated is when we present ourselves as though we are fully yielded to Him, but we’re not.   What’s complicated is when we point the finger at others for their lifestyle instead of pointing others to Him.  Last time I checked, God is dealing with all of us about our lifestyles, that He is calling us to have lifestyle of worship unto Him…that we are to be living sacrifices (for worship) and this is to be our reasonable act of worship (Romans 12:1). I believe we need to focus more on this.   Maybe the reason we can’t effectively point others to Christ is because we are not exhibiting the power of a life fully yielded to Him.   A life fully yielded to Him walks in the “Spirit” of Christ.

When Jesus met the adulterous Samaritan woman at the well (John 4), what won her over was not His opposition to her lifestyle.   What won her over was not even His “love” for her.   What won her over was His power. This power demonstrated that He was indeed hearing from God. This power demonstrated that God indeed cared about her.   This power led her to run to others and say, come see a man “who told me everything I ever did.”

In my opinion, Jesus was more critical of the religious folk than the non-religious.   He went in on the Pharisees and Sadducees of his day.   Everything He did was in love, but he picked the religious folk apart.   In the same manner, I believe God is speaking to religious folk today.   God desires to be worshipped in truth.   He wants the truth about Himself to known, lived, and spread.

Jerry Maguire said, “Show me the money.” I believe the world is saying to the church, “Show me your spiritual power.”

Paul hit on this when he wrote about all of creation waiting for the children of God to be revealed (Romans 8:19-22). These children exhibit “freedom and glory” (v. 21).   The church must walk in freedom and glory.   Jesus did that when he met the woman at the well.   He was free enough to defy social norms and His glory was made evident by His ministering to her in prophetic power.

I believe that in this hour, the church desperately needs authentic spiritual power packaged in love.   I’m referring to the grace of God that genuinely transforms our lives.   It is not love absent of truth, but rather it rejoices with the truth.

So, for a moment, I’m going to partner with Him and ask some tough questions.   I’m a Christian, so He’s hitting me with these questions as well. There’s a lot of confusion out in the world today, so I’ll just get right to the point.   Respectfully and lovingly, I ask you this question: Are you a true worshipper of Christ, or are you what I call a trans-worshipper?

• A trans-worshipper identifies themselves as a true worshipper of Jesus though in fact they are not.  
• A trans-worshipper focuses heavily on their outward appearance so they can present themselves as a true worshipper of Jesus, though in fact they are not. 
• A trans-worshipper may deceive themselves so much that they actually believe “deep down in their soul” they are pleasing God, though in fact they are not.

God is searching for “true worshippers.” In John 4:23 where it reads that God is seeking “true worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth”, the word translated as “true” is the Greek word, “alethinos” (stemming from “Aletheia”).   This word “alethinos” means “true to the fact; genuine; authentic.” God is looking for authentic worshippers of Him.

In this same verse, the Greek word for “seeking” is the word “Zeteo”.   It means: to seek by inquiring, to investigate to reach a binding resolution, to search “getting to the bottom of a matter.” God is not casually looking or searching because He doesn’t know where we are.   He’s all knowing. And, He’s too loving to search for us casually.  God is looking for us in the sense that He wants to get to the “bottom” of our lives. He wants to come into our lives and transform us from within, for His glory and power to be revealed.   And, like a true gentleman, He waits patiently for us to let Him in.

The cost of obedience to God is high for all of us.   Let’s not get it twisted. The cost is just as high for a person whose character is perceived as righteous as for a person whose character perceived as not.   Jesus had perfect character in that He never sinned yet His cost of obedience was the cross.   He suffered, bled, and died because that’s what it meant for Him to be true to the Father in obedience.

To us who seek to please the God of the Bible, I pray that we would take up our crosses and walk in the Spirit of Christ. It’s time to be true worshippers of Christ.   We may ask God like Moses did, “Show me your glory.”   The world is asking us to show them the same.

To those who are reading this, but don’t necessarily believe in the authority of the Bible or the God of the Bible, I pray that you know God is perfect, but His church is not. While we may disagree on some things, we are all meant to walk in love…and power.

Live the life (God meant for you to live)