Worship Sourced On The Right Side
Jesus established the Kingdom of God in His apostolic role, which functioned under the authority of His Father. This was accomplished by the vehicle of submission. He allowed Himself to be dominated by the purposes and priority of the Creator. In this way He obtained the dominion rights lost by the first Adam, and set the example of Representation to the earth realm. We, the people of God, are citizens of this Kingdom. A kingdom is the domain of a king. Therefore, we fashion our lives after the way of life of the King. Aptly defined, we live Kingdom Culture as the byproduct of "in Him we live and move and have our being." Worship is readily identified as one of the pillars of Kingdom Culture.
Our previous look at worship revealed there is a place for silence. This type of silence has all eyes on Jesus, sounding out His worth, and holds the awareness that He ransomed mankind from treason. No one else was capable of so doing.
Perverted Worship, Source of Silence
On the opposite end of the spectrum, perversion of worship can be identified as a source of silence. The counterfeit activity of the satan encourages those made in the image of God to usurp the worship reserved for the King. When this twisted type of silence is measured for authenticity, it is found lacking. Originating and moving carnally, in the works of the flesh, perverted silence does not produce God-worship . . . it produces self-worship. Displays of self-absorption such as ambiguity, procrastination, manipulation, and pouting demonstrate the focus has shifted, become internalized, and presents the wrong side of Kingdom living.
Individually, each of the self-absorbed behaviors has a sound. They are both a measured behavior, and a stand of measurement in and of themselves. When viewed and measured as a derivative of faith producing righteousness, we see they do not represent Kingdom Culture.
Bad behavior cannot produce the glory of God; but it is the glory of God to correct bad behavior.
Silence In The Garden
Can we discover examples of silence usurping worship in the ancient texts? Without question.
The first is found in the Garden account. The self-absorbed, internalized focus of the first Adam, after partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, is readily seen in the act of hiding. "Where are you?" indicates Adam had fallen silent as he hid.
Sound had been an interactive, relational aspect of the collaborative effort between Father and His crowing creation. The naming of things, intricately tied to sound, ceased. Worship no longer had external expression of camaraderie, instead a new source usurped God-awareness, and produced an inverted worship. Silence was the vehicle evidencing the change.
Silence usurped brought constriction.
Constriction limited breath - the very breath, nashamah, of God.
Spiritual death had arrived, with murderous intent, to quench sound and pervert silence, lest anyone signal an outward, upward, focused intention to worship the Creator.
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The master manipulator lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and ate no food. Silence arrived as perverted worship, focused on self. -Angela Broussard
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