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By now you may have heard that one state senator has proposed that the state require people to attend the church of their choice. She believes this would give America a “moral rebirth” so they would not feel like they needed to carry a pistol. Of course lawyers were quick to say such a law would be unconstitutional. A more compelling reason for not having such a law is that worship that pleases God must be voluntary. God condemns meaningless ritual—people going through the motions without having a heart of reverence and submission to God. In Amos chapter 5, God calls His people from empty pagan worship to worship as He proscribed: God said, “Come back to me and live! Don’t worship at the pagan altars at Bethel; don’t go to the shrines at Gilgal or Beersheba. For the people of Gilgal will be dragged off into exile, and the people of Bethel will be reduced to nothing. Come back to the Lord and live! Otherwise, he will roar through Israel like a fire, devouring you completely.” So unless we voluntarily worship God with the Holy Spirit; unless we come on the merits of God’s Son, confessing our sins of arrogance toward God and injustice and unrighteousness toward others, we fall short of worship that would give our nation a moral rebirth.
