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Life After Church by Brian Sanders

One of the things many positive traits that Christians should be known for is doing everything with excellence as we strive to make the Imago Dei within us known. As Brian Sanders writes in Life After Church, this should include our leaving church if the Spirit moves us to do so. To some, this suggestion is sacrilege on the order of the pastor declaring that he is leaving his wife because God wants him to ‘be happy.’ Leaving A church is not the same as leaving church, Sanders is quick to remind throughout his work and it is not a confrontation of God. Rather, it is a way of reconciling the internal movement of the spirit within a particular Christian’s life that does not align with the direction of the body in which she worships and has community.

One of the most important things that the author asks us to consider is how we define church. Can a redeemed believer ever leave The Church? Theologically, no. Our membership in the body is sealed at our surrender. To be able to fully deny Jesus and profess unbelief is not the call of this book. Sanders asks the Christian who is considering a move from their current church to no church or to another congregation to consider the form that the soon to be ex-church takes. Three components are needed to declare a body to be ‘church’: worship, community, and mission. He gives three examples (which I quote directly) against which to compare our church:

A group of men who meet in a bar after work to talk about living deeper, more surrendered lives in which they take time to pray for their families and invite their nonbelieving friends to share a meal and the gospel would be church.
A Sunday morning service where a great organ resounds the glory of God and the music and preaching move thousands of unrelated people, who return the next week to have the same experience, never engaging the mission or each other—this is not church.
A group of mothers invites other mothers to a park after school and builds relationships with them and their kids, hoping to share Jesus with them. They also meet to pray for each other, listen to struggles, cry together and recommmit to the goal of living for Jesus and reaching every mother at that school. That is church.
The church softball team plays in a church league, worships together on Sunday and even enjoys good fellowship before and after the games with Christians from their own team and from other churches. This is not church.

The Spirit rebels against a ‘church’ where God is not honored, people aren’t in community with each other, or they aren’t reaching anyone. This is what causes the unrest in the Christian’s soul causing him to consider the jump into the unknown. The absence of one or more elements cannot be made up for by the overemphasis on the others. Again, I quote Sanders on falling into this error;

Just Worship: hypocrisy. If our spiritual life is confined to a privatized worship that’s sincere but doesn’t lead us into mission or into deep relationships with others, we face the threat of hypocrisy. We offer ourselves to God but don’t put into practice what his presence and his Word would require.
Just Community: idolatry. If we pursue deep relationships but fail to live those relationships in the light of the mission of God or to submit those relationships to the headship of Jesus, we risk idolatry. Deep relationships unmediated by a concern for the kingdom and mission of God will take over our hearts, taking a place that should belong only to God. These unbalanced relationships will quickly become unhealthy and detrimental to our spiritual life.
Just Mission: pride. If our spiritual life is confined to independently pursuing mission but not open, accountable friendships or dependence on God, we risk becoming our own God. Taking the mission on ourselves without realizing our need for God or the people of God will certainly lead to error and egomania.

Without all three, the place we find ourselves is not church.

This book didn’t generate the buzz that others have over the past year since it was published and I must admit, this sat on my shelf for some time before I picked it up to read. While it is messy in the way that our lives as Christians are, Brian has filled the book with so many nuggets of wisdom and insight that you want to read with a pencil or marker in hand to underline or highlight those thoughts that you will want to go back to again and again. The final pages about leaving well reveal his true heart for The Church; we are not to leave to damage but to rebuild or strengthen. Selfishly leaving for the satisfaction of injuring others is not an acceptable action for the people of Jesus. We leave in love and concern for those left behind.

Friction Free Worship

As I’ve thought more about the impediments introduced by the church coffee shop and bookstore, I see a great deal of value in moving in the opposite direction of the “mall church” trend and instead designing a friction-free worship environment. This would be one which leads a worshipper directly from the narthex to the chancel (or in modern language, from the doorway to the altar) with as few obstacles as possible. Consider this passage from Isaiah as we reflect on the intentional design of our celebration event;

A voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. (Isa 40:3)

and this one

And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people. (Isa 57:14)

Each of these verses serves the larger context of the passage in describing the movement of the Lord to the holy place in which He meets with His people. Because He is the King, his people’s desire is to smooth the way for their meeting by removing obstacles and straightening the path so that there is as little friction as possible in His movement toward the destination.

I’m getting the feeling that the ‘all-in-one’ church design is beginning to deter from the core reason for the Sunday celebration. We may not all agree but from the perspective of a pastor, my understanding of the Sunday (or Saturday or Tuesday as it applies) gathering is the corporate worship of God. With this objective placed properly in the hierarchy we can then clearly examine the effect that other activities might have on accomplishing this goal. For example, an issue I raised in an earlier post has to do with the distraction caused by the church coffee shop. It has a certain stickiness, an attractiveness that introduces friction on the path to worship. I am tempted to stop and enjoy a cup of coffee on my way to sanctuary, perhaps justifying it as fellowship, rather than moving deliberately toward the altar, physically and mentally.

When we introduce friction in this manner, we are placing obstacles in our people’s preparation and attendance to worship. Their minds can become distracted from the purpose of the gathering and thus, they become not fully present to God. Our task as the called leaders of the Church is reduce rather than increase any friction between God and His people. Must we do away with the coffee shop or the bookstore? No, they serve a purpose in the community of the church and the lives of the congregation. Perhaps we might consider closing them before and during the worship gathering and opening them afterwards to contribute to the fellowship and growth of the family of God. In doing so we accomplish two things. One, we establish the priority of the corporate worship event and practice in the life of the Christian and two, we make straight the path for the worshipper’s heart so that there is a frictionless path from the door to the altar. What do you think?

The Church Cafe and Shallow Worship

The incongruity of the scene doesn’t affect you as you sweep past on the way to the sanctuary so that you might find a seat a least a few moments before the praise team takes their places. The rich, bittersweet smell of the daily roast caught you as you entered the lobby of the church and you wind through the clusters and knots of people surrounding the cafe. The brisk pace that you set for the family belies the fact that the Nine O’clock hour is moments away, but you can’t help but notice the number of people sitting at the little tables sipping coffee and the number of people still waiting in line to purchase a steaming cup of their own. Taking your seat with a minute or two to spare you glance around at the sanctuary which is barely one quarter full. Your eyes close and your head bows and you focus on the process of quieting your heart and bringing yourself fully present to the community worship of God.

As people trickle into the room for the next twenty or thirty minutes, you can’t help but wonder how many of them were sitting outside enjoying their latte as the praise leader skillfully attempted to lead the congregation into the immediate presence of God. Sure, many of the latecomers have no sense of urgency in being present while prayers are lifted up and voices raised in praise; to some it is simply a prelude to the sermon and it serves no purpose other than ritual. Do those same notions fill the hearts of the coffee drinkers? Have we gone too far in attempting to create an inviting environment, so much so that we have abandoned our primary mission as the Church – the worship of God?

I believe we have. I believe that in some instances the Church has leaned so far into the venues of the world in an attempt to be relevant or attractive that we have done so to the detriment of the Church itself. We would do well to contemplate again and again our purpose in convening on Sunday mornings. Is it to meet our needs for fellowship and only incidentally about worship? Or, do we gather at an appointed hour and place specifically to give corporate expression of our love and worship to God? With our answer in hand, we should then strive to ‘cleanse the temple’ of everything that distracts from that purpose, stripping away things that do not direct the people of God in the appropriate direction.

What do you think? Do you think that the cafe/bookstore/etc. contributes to preparing the hearts of the people of God for worship? Or, should these venues be closed and the hospitality ministry be directed to remove any friction between the front door and the chapel wherein people can quiet themselves, put the world aside, and prayerfully seek to know the presence of the Father?

Psalm 22 ~ Why Have You Forsaken Me? Part 3

The psalmist turns in the final section of this psalm to the nature of steadfast faith. In the middle segment we encountered the voice of despair as the believer found himself facing travail from every direction. Despite the struggles he knew who would save and redeem him from these challenges. In the closing verses, he praises the Redeemer for the future good that the will bring.

I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him all you descendants of Israel! (vv 22-23)

Instructive for us is the expansive view that the suffering man proclaims. It is easy to dwell on our personal issues and troubles at the expense of looking outward to others. The Christian must face the possibility that their suffering is for the good of another, either as instruction and example, or to directly benefit them at your expense. A true and deep faith looks beyond today toward the promise of tomorrow and our eternal time with the Lord.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him – may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. (vv 25-28)

Faith always look forward.

The Blue Parakeet ~ Women in Ministry 4

Let’s use our discernment skills and examine a passage, shall we? Perhaps a good one would be 1 Timothy 2:8-15:

I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Read the passage and break it down into its basic commands. As you tick off each one, make a note of whether or not this command should be practiced today.

1) Males should pray with their hands lifted up.

2) Males should pray without anger or disputing.

3) Women should dress modestly.

4) Women should not have elaborate hairstyles or wear gold or pearls or expensive clothing.

5) Women should have good deeds.

6) Women should be silent and quiet.

7) Women should not teach or have authority.

So, what were your answers? Unless you answered in the affirmative to every single one and live out that commitment you have put some framework of discernment in place with regard to the biblical commands. Can you identify the source of your decision matrix. For example, Paul commands that men should pray with their hands lifted up. I looked about during worship this Sunday morning and noted some hands clasped and most heads bowed but none of the men had their hands raised during moments of prayer. The Apostle also commands that women are to dress modestly but I suspect that what passes for modestly in Southern California or Florida might not be the same as the requirements in North Dakota or Alabama. Is it proper to make cultural adjustments to a biblical understanding or must the first century dress of women be the bar against which all current and future dress is measured? The point here is that there can be reasonable disagreement on the application of these commands and yet, the restrictions on women have become fossilized and made their way as the hard and fast tradition of the Church. Why flexibility on some and not on others? Is our discernment colored by other factors that we are unwilling to give name to?

It’s important to answer these questions for ourselves because many in church are simultaneously willing to ignore the first command of the passage and maintain the last as a hard and fast rule. This, in spite of the fullness of the Bible’s story in which women were active in ministries and leadership throughout the story. Is it appropriate to allow the WKSPs to control the greater body of WDWDs? Genesis 3:16 has become indurate and tradition bound up in its words, proscribing women forever to inferior status. Reading this in context however can lead us to see it as the result of the transition from Oneness to Otherness and the struggles that obtain from this relational status.

How do we respond then to Christ’s restoration of Oneness:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Co 5:17)

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Ga 3:27-28)

Do we see the power here that Christ brings? At the very least, the new creation might be seen as a restoration of Oneness between men and women but, even more powerfully, it unleashes the Spirit within to undo the the Fall in our world. Thoughts?

Rembrandt in the Mud

John Burke’s first book No Perfect People Allowed solidified a lot of my ideas about ministry and in his new book, Soul Revolution he’s just as good. I came accross this paragraph on my first read,

Imagine you found a Rembrandt painting covered in mud. You wouldn’t focus on themud or treat it like mud. Your primary concern wouldn’t be the mud at all, even though it would need to be removed. You’d be ecstatic to have discovered something so valuable. If you tried to clean it up without the expertise, you might damage it. So you’d take the painting to an expert, who could show you how to restore it to its original condition. When people begin treating one another as God’s masterpiece waiting to be revealed, God’s grace grows in their lives and cleanses them.

The more I think about this, the more I love this.

Wesley on Wednesday ~ Purity of Heart

John Wesley comments on what it means to be pure of heart from one of his sermons on the Sermon on the Mount.

“The pure in heart” are they whose hearts God hath “purified even as he is pure;” who are purified, through faith in the blood of Jesus, from every unholy affection; who, being “cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfect holiness in the” loving “fear of God.” They are, through the power of his grace, purified from pride, by the deepest poverty of spirit; from anger, from every unkind or turbulent passion, by meekness and gentleness; from every desire but to please and enjoy God, to know and love him more and more, by that hunger and thirst after righteousness which now engrosses their whole soul: So that now they love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with all their soul, and mind, and strength.

Which God is He Praying To?

Though much has been written about Donald Miller’s prayer at the DNC last week, we can suffer one further look at his continued attempt to erode Christianity and make it palatable to the masses. For those of you who don’t know, Miller is a hero of the pomo-emergent church who, true to postmodern philosophy, construct their own truth as they see fit. Given his lack of theological depth, it seems improper of him to offer a covering prayer as a representative of the (capital C) Church that the Lord gave His life for. Since he addresses the prayer to the “Father” we can assume he is attempting to gain a hearing by the God that Christians worship so let’s see how he brings glory to the Father through his words. Here is a transcript of the prayer:

“Father God,

This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future. We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation. We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy. Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left. Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them. Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.

Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle. Help us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education. Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony. We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.

Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world? A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American. Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world? Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.

Lastly, Father, unify us.

Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common. And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.

God we know that you are good. Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans. I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice. Let Him be our example.

Amen.”

Jesus taught us the proper way of prayer and it is identified by a desire on our part to see the will of God being done, not our own (Matthew 6:10). Does this prayer succeed?

“Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left. Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.”

What, Donald, of the 1.3 million children that will be aborted this year? This a foundation of the Democratic party platform that you are praying for God to endorse and support. Does this align with His will? I would suggest No, Don. I would suggest that each of these lives was a creation of the Father you addressed (Ps 139:13-14) and that He would desire that they be given a chance at life and the fulfillment of the purpose for which they were created. Wouldn’t these be the least of these?

“Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.”

This sounds noble, Mr. Miller, like much of your writing but what does it mean? While I am a huge proponent of the ministry that Jesus describes in Matthew 25:31-46, the service is in furthering the will of the Lord. Does service to people only take the form of accommodation to the problems that people face without confronting the spiritual paucity that lies at the core of those problems? Liberal practice teaches that we cannot point out the true problems that a person suffers, we can only offer comfort for them while allowing them to remain mired and dependent in the problem that is consuming them. How does this demonstrate God’s love?

“Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle. Help us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education. Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony. We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.”

We do indeed need your help God. Mr. Miller, we finally find some agreement! Sadly, your collectivist approach to God seems far apart from the individual responsibility that we have before Him (see again Mt 25 and note the goats and the sheep). God has a specific purpose for each of His creatures, unique from the others. While He does see people as “His people”, he also counts the few remaining hairs on my head and knows my name. I am responsible before Him to live UP to the purpose he assigns me. (BTW, Don, every human being in this country has “health care”. They simply need to purchase it. No one who appears at an emergency room can be turned away, even though the losses to hospital system are huge. So, what you meant in your coded language, is God, give everyone free health care.)

“Lastly, Father, unify us. Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.”

Mr. Miller, did you remember that this was an interfaith service? Were you aware that the Lord you were addressing said that He was the only way to the Father? (John 14:6-7) Not one of the ways, not one of many alternate paths, the only way. So, Don, how do you propose to find unity? In seeking the Christian God’s will or by discarding it in favor of your new Humanism? It seems to be the former might be better than the latter. Perhaps, you and I won’t find unity on this front.

“I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.”

So that’s why Jesus gave His life? Mr. Miller, I would dare say that even the First and Second grade Sunday school classes would be able to help you out with the theology of the crucifixion. It was not against the “forces of injustice”, it was against the forces of total human depravity and the sin that infects our fallen world. The injustices that we see are a byproduct of this sin. Jesus gave His life so that you and I might be redeemed from this condition, discover God’s purpose for our lives, and through us, He could address the corruption that creates the injustices.

—

Mr. Miller’s attempt to make the Democratic talking points appear as God’s agenda, they are not. It seems as though others agree. Steven Camp speaks to this here and Dr. Douglas Groothuis offer comment here.

Friday is for Rawk! Guest Contributor

Christians and (Christian) Music by Ken Hicks of newgenevaopc.org

Before we start I want to make some points so that people don’t immediately get their dander up. If you keep these points in mind as you read this it should help you understand where I am coming from.

The main thing to remember when considering my stance is that Paul tells us that “…everything that does not come from faith is sin” Rom 14:23. So in this article the mention of sin will be in this context not in an accusatory “You are in sin” sort of matter. Also remember that though we are “justified” sinners we are sinners none the less and we still possess the propensity for sin that we inherited from Adam and the fall. Everything we do has the stain of sin on it and it is only Christ in us that pleases God. As we live out our daily lives we fall short in many respects without even actively engaging in things that we know to be sin. Our thoughts wander, we are complacent, we are judgmental, we don’t make the most of our opportunities to share the Gospel, etc. Everything we do is a sort of “yes and no” in regards to sin. Glory to God that it is Christ’s righteousness imputed to us that makes us right with God and that He is gracious and merciful towards our shortcomings.

Having said that, let’s talk about Christians and music or more specifically modern western Christians and music. Do I think Christians that listen to secular music are in sin? Well, “yes and no”. Yes in that we still maintain the flesh and so all we do is tainted by sin. No in that all things are permissible (but not necessarily profitable 1Cor 10”23). Are you a youth that has parents that don’t want you to listen to secular music but you do anyway? Then you are in sin and need to repent and honor your parents. Are you a new Christian that still clings to the world and the music you listen to keeps reminding you/drawing you back to your old ways? Then you should probably give it up for awhile. Are you a mature Christian that can listen without being sucked in by the World’s agenda to corrupt? Then go ahead. Go ahead as long as you are not causing a weaker brother to stumble. But to those that would adamantly oppose secular music I would ask them if we should stop reading secular books or enjoying secular art too? In reality it comes down to one’s convictions and for others to judge is not their place.

But now let’s get into some meat and talk about some biblical concepts. Mainly “types and shadows”. Types and shadows are a concept that everything that goes on in the earthly, temporal realm is a type or shadow of things in the heavenly realm. The classic four year old’s question “Why is the sky blue?” can be met one of two ways (three if you count abdicating and shrugging your shoulders). The first could be the scientific explanation that the visible spectrum of light from the sun passing through the various elements within our atmosphere cause the sky to appear blue. But if one believes that it is our God that has created all the elements, set up all the laws of physics, created the human eye to perceive the above mentioned interactions in the way it does then the first answer hasn’t really explained WHY. God could have very easily set things up so that the sky appeared green. The why is the “type and shadow”. Ex 24:10 …and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself. Anthropomorphically speaking, we consider the heavens as being above us. Our blue sky is a “type and shadow” of the sapphire “floor” that separates God and the heavens above from the earth below. The concept can also be seen in the notion of the City of God as opposed to the City of Man. Is it a coincidence that the areas that are fulfilling God’s mandate to subdue the earth, i.e. farms and rural areas, are relatively free of the corruption and crime that goes on in the cities of men with their towers being built to reach the heavens (that God knocks down every once in awhile but that’s another topic of discussion)? This type and shadow concept plays out in the fall too. Lucifer was cast down because he desired the praise and glory that was due God alone. He desired to be like God and he enticed Adam and Eve with the same thing. “You can become like God.” So how does this relate to (modern) Christians and (Christian) music? Well I see the same thing going on in Christian bands. A type and shadow of the fall and the impulses that have resulted from it. Praise and adoration heaped upon the members of the band. Does the atmosphere of a concert differ that much from the descriptions we have of what is going on in the heavenly realm other than the object of that praise and glory? We are wired to worship/praise and the fall distorts/distracts so that we spend our time heaping our praise and adoration on “idols” and our “idols” seek it out.

Now I’m not saying that if you are in a band you are in sin (so to speak) I just see the fall playing out in our lives daily. Our sin nature drives us to seek to become like God. To make a name for oneself (you should look into the concept of name theology). Remember how consumed with making a name for himself and being remembered by history Brad Pitt’s character in Troy was? We as Christians should desire to claim the name of Christ but the flesh wants to make a name for itself apart from God. Having one’s name means you belongs to them and the autonomous flesh will have none of that but it does want the praise and adoration due to God. So now we’re back to the “yes and no”. I think, as modern Christians, we spend most of our time worrying about our wants and desires and give little thought to what is really going on around us. “But God has called me to be in this band.” Did He really? How? I think, as with most things, we just do things because we want to. We usually only scratch the surface in seeking God’s will in things. Personally I think that all the reasons given for the existence of modern Christian music are excuses. God doesn’t need us to be relevant to get His Gospel proclaimed. He needs us to be lights to a fallen world. To do that we need to set ourselves apart from the world not copy it and act like it. So in the above sense yes you are in sin because you have been complacent (at least and rebellious at worst) in examining your motives for listening to the music you do or the reason you are in a band. No in that all things are permissible. You want to listen to Slayer? Have at it. You want to be a band? More power to you. I would just encourage you to engage in more self-examination. Holding your wants, desires, motives, etc. up to the light of God’s Word and let it illuminate the reality of what is going on. If your convictions allow for you to listen to whatever, to tear it up on stage, to drink (but not unto drunkenness) who am I to judge?

Poor, poor Uzzah and The New Cart

In an ongoing discussion with a brother in another forum (here) I was reflecting on the importance of Holiness in the Church and how it is affected by our theological constructs. There is a telling incident in 2 Samuel that gives us a lot to dwell upon. King David, recognizing that the Ark represented the earthly throne of God devoted himself and Israel to returning it to Jerusalem. His motives are good but his actions turn out bad, as we will see:

David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill.

Oops, a small detail catches our attention. The ark is set upon a new cart for its transport back to Jerusalem. God should be pleased with our motivation and the way we decided to move it. After all, our hearts are in the right place. But, if we refer back to God’s instructions for handling the ark ( Exodus 25:12-15 ) we find that it is to be carried on poles balanced on the shoulders of the Levites. Why would David make such an error? Not because he was ignorant of importance of the ark or the instructions of the Lord but because he was affected by the culture. He saw the Philistines transport the ark by cart with no ill effect and he followed in their footsteps. Perhaps David thought that the ‘rules’ could be overcome by the charismatic worship of the Lord that surrounded the movement:

Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

We stand warned that worship that we deem worthy of God is not always so.

Neither are all of the actions that we take on behalf of God. It is easy for us as sentient beings to feel that if our motivations tell us we are doing the right thing that it will be perceived by everyone as being the right thing. This may work on an interpersonal level but our Lord is stickler for detail. Watch His reaction when we substitute what we think is right for what He says is right:

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

Uzzah had the purest of motives in keeping the holy ark from touching the ground but this purity still conflicted with God’s clear instructions. How often do we substitute our ideas for what is right for the clear instructions of our Lord? For myself, probably far too often. When the consequences of our actions visit us, do we repent or do we get angry with God? David himself gives us a clue as to what usually happens:

Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

Perhaps beginning today, we reexamine the things we do to please God. Are they in line with His expectations or do we expect Him to fall in line with ours?