What is Acceptable Worship?
Everyone wants to be accepted by God in worship. What is acceptable worship? Churchgoers consider themselves religious people. There are several instances in Scripture where religious acts of worship were not accepted.
Cain’s sacrifice was not acceptable to God (GE 4:5). According to HEB 11:4, Able offered a better sacrifice than Cain by faith. Apparently Cain’s heart was not right. In Old Testament times God made it plain when he was not happy with worship.
I hate; I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings, and grain offerings I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harp (Amos 5:21-23).
When you come to meet with me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? (ISA 1:12) What constitutes acceptable worship? The Lord explained in Isaiah 1:15-17.
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you, even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; wash and make yourself clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the cause of the widow
Acceptable worship begins with righteous living! It’s not enough to worship right; we must live right. It’s not enough to refrain from doing evil. We must do good deeds.
Do we live better because we worship correctly, or do we worship acceptably because we live right? We must do both. Without righteous living, worship is just a trampling of his courts!
Beautiful prayers, perfect pitched songs, and eloquent sermons, do not make acceptable worship, but less perfect worship, and a reasonable effort in living right do. The Lord knows we are not perfect, and he has arranged for that. All he is asking for is that we try.
Christ told the woman at the well that the true worshiper must worship in spirit and truth (JO 4:23-24). This means not only to be guided by the Spirit, but to understand the significance of what, we are doing. If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind (1CO 14:14-15).
Worshiping in spirit also suggests the idea of mind set. We must have our minds set on what the Spirit desires. (RO 8:5). We must be united with Christ in spirit (1CO 6:17). We must have the mind of Christ (1CO 2:16) If we have sin in our life, it is out of harmony with this idea, and unacceptable to God. We must repent and ask his forgiveness if that is the case.
English Should Be the Official Language of the United States
There is no doubt that the United States is a diverse nation.
Meanwhile, it is also true that a common language binds a people. We need look no further than our neighbors to the north for evidence of what can happen without one: Canada is officially bilingual, which has brought about burden, conflict, and the prospect of secession by Quebec. This sounds far removed from anything that would happen here, but in our country’s early history there was a real fear among Pennsylvanians of the language of German immigrants taking over. Had the government acquiesced to speakers of German, we may have found ourselves in a similar situation.
We can see the influx of immigrants. Generations ago most immigrants eagerly embraced English, certain that their future was dependent upon doing so and adopting the “American Way of Life.” Today, many immigrants resist English and even U.S. citizenship. Many newcomers cannot speak English and some oppose learning the language of America.
Opponents say that we need not make English official, we should rather encourage non-English speakers to learn English. City governments churn out documentation in Spanish at a cost of thousands of dollars per year. This does not encourage non-English speakers to learn English. According to a Department of Labor study, churning out materials in other languages actually discourages immigrants from doing so.
Opponents also claim that making English official would be mostly symbolic. This is perhaps true — it would be a very important symbol. It would send a message to all who want to participate as citizens that there are responsibilities as well as benefits to being here. And one of those responsibilities is learning the historic common language of these United States. Our national motto is E pluribus unum – “out of many, one.” Immigrants of many nationalities built our nation, but the “melting pot” melded us into one people. This long tradition of assimilation has always included the adoption of English as the common means of communication. There is no reason why our expectations for current non-English speakers should be any less than our expectations for those who came before.
We’ve worked hard to curb illiteracy in this country. So why a different standard for those who don’t know English? Learning English improves the lives of these immigrants. Why put up barriers to discourage this from happening?
Why must we spend our tax dollars to publish ballots in Spanish? Because a certain percentage of the population speaks Spanish. That may be true — but — you have to be a citizen in order to vote. Those who have become citizens have passed a test in English in order to do so. There are some exceptions to this, too many if you ask me, but the bottom line is there is no reason to have ballots printed in Spanish.
As our federal government has been slow for decades in dealing with illegal immigration, local municipalities have had to take up the slack. In Maryland however, government leaders are looking to allow illegal immigrants to for instance, pay in-state tuition to state schools. Over the years, where local governments have acquiesced toward those who speak Spanish, illegal immigration has increased. In the municipalities that have cracked down on illegal immigration, such activity has decreased. Prince William County in northern Virginia is a good example of this. Unfortunately, illegal aliens that have fled that county, have seen Maryland as a more welcome environment.
If we concede two languages, which shall they be, in addition to English? Polish? Or an Arab tongue? There are 322 numerous languages spoken here, according to the last Census. If there were an influx of illegal immigrants from Quebec, would we add French to the mix?
Thirty states and many municipalities nationwide have passed amendments or laws making English official, most if not all with large majorities – as high as 9 to 1 – voting to do so.
53 UN-member nations have English as their official language, why hasn’t America? 85 percent of Americans (including a majority in every subgroup) favor doing so. Even more interesting, more than 2/3 of Hispanics favor it, and 91% of foreign-born Latino immigrants agree that learning English is essential to succeed here.
Pro-English does not mean English only. None of the states with official English laws prohibit government agencies from using another languages when there is a compelling public interest for doing so. These include: protecting public health and safety, assuring equality before the law, teaching foreign languages, and many other legitimate needs.
If English were made official, other languages could still be used in private life and in worship. Other languages could be used by the government in emergency situations or in the investigation of crimes. Other languages would still be taught. Other languages could still be used by elected officials to communicate with constituents. Non-English terms of art, names, phrases or expressions could still be used.
So what is the fuss about?
It is fine and good to honor one’s language and culture. But to enter America is to accept a fresh start. English is the historic and common language of the United States. Making it the official language is not meaningless, it is the thing to do.