(part 2 of a two-part post…catch up on part one here)

Think about acclaim. What we want, what we desire that this idol promises to deliver is to be noticed, praised, and adored. The idol of acclaim is about taking glory that belongs only to God. The antidote begins with worship – to give glory back to God.

Repent: Repentance in this case looks like giving back to God what is rightfully his: worship. Glory. Renown.
Believe: Believe that the glory that comes from God is better, richer, and more lasting than the transient glory that comes from man (John 12:43).

Repent: Be humbled as you realize you have attempted to use the ministry and gifts God has given you to pilfer from him the fame and renown that he and he alone deserves.
Believe: Be lifted up as you realize and experience afresh your unalterable identity as son or daughter of the King who died to make rebels and glory thieves his kids.

Worship to repent. Worship to believe.

And I’m not just talking about a “lifestyle” of worship. A true lifestyle of worship begins with the specific practice of worship. For those of us who wrestle for our lives with the idolatrous whore of acclaim, then we need to build into our lives consistent habits or rhythms of worship, both corporate and private.

We need a consistent practice of seeing the greatness and beauty of God with the eyes of our hearts then pouring out praise with extravagance and abandon. This is the only thing that will begin to free us from ultimately worshipping ourselves or seeking glory from others instead of seeking glory for God.

If acclaim is your idol of choice:

-Begin the day with worship. Don’t rest till your study, meditation, or prayer leads to adoration.

-Command your soul to worship. Don’t wait for the music or the feeling. David did this multiple times throughout the Psalms, just look up “O my soul”.

-Practice being more expressive. Shout, clap, dance. You have to retrain your body, mind, and soul. Learn again the language of adoration. This is a fight for your heart’s affection.

-Memorize Psalm 16 (“In your presence there is fullness of joy.”) Psalm 42 (“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”) or Psalm 63 (“My soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you.”)

A great place to start, right now, is to sing, pray, and meditate on these words from Be Thou My Vision:

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

***Jonathan McIntosh is the founder and pastor of Christ City Church, a new church planting in Memphis, Tennessee. He lives in Midtown with Ashley, his wife of 10 years, and two daughters Cora and Nola. Follow him on Twitter here.

“When you’ve had all the experiences – met all the famous people, made some money, toured the world and got all the acclaim – you still think ‘is that it?’” –George Harrison

Most Christian leaders I know got into this whole ministry game because of a passionate love for God and a deep love for people. At some point, however, every pastor, worship leader, speaker, musician and leader faces a crisis. At some point in our hearts we are tempted to make ministry more about us and less about God. We start to believe our own press (whether good or bad). We start to feed off of and need the attention and respect we get from others. We crave bigger platforms and more influence. We start to give in to the idol of acclaim.

At this point, it becomes almost impossible to distinguish whether the leadership decisions we make are fueled by zeal for God’s glory or for our own. This is dangerous ground for any leader, but especially for those of us whose job it is to constantly point back to the beauty, fame, and glory of Christ.

SIGNS OF ACCLAIM’S INFLUENCE

What are some signs that you’ve been lead astray by a desire for your own acclaim?

-Jealousy: Do you become easily envious of leaders who have more influence, a larger platform, or a bigger following than you?

-Despair: When someone’s talent, level of attention, fame or power eclipses your own, does it practically affect your level of joy – even driving you to despair?

-Self Absorption: Do you find yourself busily preening your public image, Googling your name, obsessing over how many times your sermons or songs have been downloaded, the number of hits on your site, or the number times you get retweeted?

-Need for Credit: Is it hard for you when others get credit for something you deserve? Do you find yourself constantly needing to set the record straight, making sure people know that was your idea, how hard you worked, or that you were in fact the genius behind the big success?

It’s very possible you have already given your heart to the idol of acclaim and you are sin-sick with pride.

Certainly the answer is that you and I need to again repent of our idols and embrace the gospel at a deep level. But how? How can we detach our hearts from the idol of acclaim, before we are destroyed or enslaved by it?

***Jonathan McIntosh is the founder and pastor of Christ City Church, a new church planting in Memphis, Tennessee. He lives in Midtown with Ashley, his wife of 10 years, and two daughters Cora and Nola. Follow him on Twitter here.

The past several weeks at The Austin Stone, the church I pastor, we have given our normal preaching rotation a break, and brought in a few men who were not only good friends, but honestly some of the best preachers in the country.

I was excited to have them come, but at the same time nervous about what they would experience at our church. You see, though we had been friends for years, none had actually worshiped with us before.

I was naturally curious about what they would say, so I planned to pick their brains about their observations, whether good or bad. Interestingly, they all had the exact same comments, specifically on the music portion of our worship and how deeply it had impacted them.

These were their observations and just a few of the core values we strive for in our worship through song at the Austin Stone.

1. God-centered: Who is the hero of the song? Man or God. We pick songs that are God-centered, God-aimed and God-exalting. It is shocking how many songs coming out of worship culture today are not truly centered on the person and work of God.

2. Theologically sound: We believe that our worship music is an extension of the sermon. Music teaches and music preaches. Music will often stick in the mind and heart of the believer long after the sermon has been forgotten. We make absolutely certain that every line of every song fits with the theology we hold to.

3. Celebratory: We do have slow and contemplative music, but the general theme of our music is celebration. God is amazing, powerful and awe-inspiring! He has done great things and His love endures forever! The gospel produces joy and we want our worship to reflect that.

4. Outwardly expressive: All through Psalms you see an inward and outward expression of worship. Mouths and hearts as well as hands and feet. You can worship God in silence and stillness, but often times worship of God will express itself outwardly through raising hands, shouting, clapping, dancing, you name it. Sorry Baptists, it’s not charismatic, it’s biblical!

These are simply some of the aspects of our worship philosophy that will be expressed on any given weekend. However, we strive to ensure that what makes our church a church is not an hour on a Sunday, but individual people who make up the Body of Christ, living together on mission, for His glory, all over the world. If worship isn’t taking place in that context first, then it’s not taking place at all.

*** Matt serves as lead pastor at Austin Stone Community Church, which he planted in 2002. The first meeting of 30 people now encompasses 4000 worshippers on Sundays, making Austin Stone one of the 100 fastest growing churches in America. Matt’s vision is to foster the churches passion for Christ, love for each other, and outreach to their communities – ultimately planting churches throughout America and the nations, supporting missionaries who are loving the peoples of the world and bringing them the hope of the gospel. In addition to pastoring at The Austin Stone, Matt is a cancer survivor, author and speaker for camps and conferences nationwide. Matt holds a MDiv from Southwestern Seminary and lives in Austin with his wife Jennifer and their three children.