"Why do Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego choose fire over idolatry? They know where the real danger lies. They understand that God brooks no rivals. It is better to die than to bow down before anyone or anything but Yahweh." This is how Mark Labberton opened his chapter about the real dangers of worship in chapter four. It immediately caught my attention and thought it would be fitting to start this blog post in the same way. Labberton just quickly announces the severity of the real dangers of worship. There is reason why part of worship is having a fear of the Lord. There is reverent awe and respect to who God is, his authority, and his worthiness of our worship.
Similarly to the previous chapter, Labberton lists some dangers that occur from and throughout worship. However, in distinction from the false dangers of worship, these dangers are more imminent and serious than the false dangers of the previous chapter. These real dangers that he lists are: Encountering God, Worship that lies to God, Worship that lies about God, Worship that doesn't change us, and Worship that doesn't change the world. If you are familiar with his six false dangers of worship it is clear to see that, in comparison to the real dangers of worship, they are superficial and insignificant. There is so much wisdom and caution throughout this chapter, too much for me to descibe in a short blog post, so, again, I will focus on the real danger that really challenged me the most.
Labberton first real danger, encountering God, stuck out to me greatly because I never picture encountering God as something to be fearful of. I know I already mention the fear of the Lord and how that is a key aspect of worship, but I have never really dwelled on what that means in relation to God's character. I use to always imagine encountering God as having sweet fellowship with Jesus. Spending quality time in holy communion with the Father. Keeping in step with the Holy Spirit as he graciously guides my path. However, I often forget the power of God with whom I meet. He wields so much control and dominion. It stikes fear into those who encounter him in the Scripture. But the crazy thing is that encountering God is both my imagination of it and the danger that Labberton describes. It's not a danger that we should avoid, but a danger that we should be aware of but not afraid of because God loves us and chooses to meet with us. That is why Labbeton says. "This is the greatest (and best) danger of worship." We have the honor to have an encounter with the Most High King of Heaven!
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