What do you worship?

The question of worship begs some consideration. Everywhere, certainly in my city—Los Angeles—people worship materiality in the form of money, possessions, career, fashion, the perfect body, drugs and alcohol, and, of course, celebrity. Some salivate at the prospect of their own fame and fortune. Others devote a lot of time and energy to propping up and pumping up the famous. Of course, this extends beyond the movie business to include other highly visible industries such as television, music, modeling, and sports.

Although not close to exhaustive, that list gives an interesting glimpse into what a lot of people find important today. Since we pour energy, time, and thought into that which we adore, it’s worth carefully considering whether or not the object of our attention betters life or detracts from it.

While I’ve certainly had points in my life when some of these things have seemed awfully important, I’ve never found them, in and of themselves, overly satisfying. Yes, who wouldn’t desire to have admirable mentors, a good career, enough money to live comfortably, and beautiful surroundings?

But when these become the focal point of one’s life, to the exclusion of genuine productivity and kindness, they offer little fulfillment. In fact, they very often leave us hungry for more. Because no matter what the promises of these various forms of materialism, they can’t guarantee lasting satisfaction, purpose, or stability.

One of the central questions of Christianity is, “Who or what do you worship?” And one of the central messages of the Bible is, “Whatever you worship will profoundly affect your life.” So it’s pretty crucial to take stock and make some informed decisions about the relevance of this worship.

Through trial and error, I’ve discovered that nothing compares to worshipping one infinite God. In fact, nothing even comes close, because choosing to put God first and foremost produces a life of unshakable harmony and satisfaction. It allows us to get acquainted with our true identity—the divine, Christly nature within each one of us.

There have been times, especially in my youth, when other attractions besides God captured my attention. In my school years, friends were of paramount importance. Wanting to be a cool friend led me to use alcohol and drugs. But in the end they proved totally unsatisfying, particularly on the day after, when I’d try to piece together what had happened the night before. Early in my career, I imagined great success and prestige in my chosen field. But when I achieved it, I ultimately still longed to make more of a difference to humanity.

When at a crossroads, I realized that in my case the world didn’t need another businesswoman nearly so much as someone dedicated to spiritual-mindedness—devotion to glorifying God in both word and deed. That’s when I decided to make a rather significant career change, from owning and operating a marketing communications company to entering the full-time practice of Christian Science healing.

Viewing God as infinite Spirit, the source of all good, prompted me to dedicate my life to glorifying Him in a bigger way than I ever had before. Glorifying God means glorifying good, because God is another name for good. I could imagine a life that focused on glorifying good would be a life well lived.

It would draw out the best in me and in everyone with whom I came in contact. I gained a rich picture of God’s nature by reading the Bible, and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. Through the pages of these two books, I grew to know a God who is limitless Spirit, boundless Love, never-ending Life, and utterly true and dependable because God is Truth itself.

For example, Christ Jesus said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” And First John says, “God is love.” In various places in Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy utilized Life, Truth, and Love, along with several other key synonyms, to define God. Here’s one example: “God: Divine Principle, Life, Truth, Love, Soul, Spirit, Mind.”

This God of “divine Principle” is worthy of our undivided worship. The prophet Elijah provides an excellent example. This early prophet from the Hebrew Scriptures performed great deeds in the name of God. In one account, Elijah stood alone facing 450 worshippers of the sun god Baal—a god fabricated out of matter and worshipped through the five senses, rather than a God who is Spirit and is worshipped through spiritual understanding. Elijah asked the Baal devotees, “How long are you going to waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” (I Kings 18:21, New Living Translation).

The same holds true today. Putting what we value and pursue to the test in this same way, to see if it indicates the power and presence of God, is helpful. One good measurement is to ask if what we’re dedicated to gives an abiding sense of peace, since all harmony comes from God.

In the book of Isaiah, the Bible promises, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Through this as a measurement, those things that don’t have their source in God become more evident.

Elijah challenged the Baal followers to prove the power of their god by building an altar, preparing a bull with wood under it, then calling on Baal to light a fire in order to perform a sacrifice. They cried out for hours, but no fire came. How could it when their so-called god was a lifeless material form? They then stomped on the altar in frustration and disappointment, breaking it down.

Elijah alone, painstakingly, rebuilt the altar, prepared the wood and an ox. He dug a trench around the altar and doused the whole thing with buckets of water until the water completely soaked the altar and everything on it and filled the trench around it.

Then he walked to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself” (I Kings 18:36, 37, New Living Translation).

Immediately the fire came down and burned up the bull, the wood, the stones around it, the dust, and even the water in the trench. I can only imagine the shock on the faces of Baal’s worshippers! It would make a believer out of even the greatest skeptic, as it did with all the onlookers at that time.

Baal’s followers learned where power resides and so shifted their allegiance, proclaiming, “The Lord, he is the God!” And this makes sense for all of us. We probably won’t build altars of stone and wood, or call on God to light a fire for a sacrificial offering. But today’s idols can be surprisingly similar to Baal—full of show and no substance.

We still need to discover for ourselves where power resides and build our lives around that. Worshipping a God of Spirit, of Life, Truth, and Love, brings meaning and purpose and productivity—strength, courage, and compassion. In short, this worship gives value to life and highlights the value in others. It reveals a God who never fails, because He is the very substance of our lives and always present. That’s the one God worth bowing down to.

Colleen Douglass is practitioner and teacher of Christian Science in Los Angeles, California, United States.

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