Deuteronomy 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise.
Have you ever visited a church while you were on vacation? Isn’t it encouraging when you find that you serve the same God, study the same Bible, and have the same fellowship as the church you visit? And, isn’t it shocking on other occasions when you realize how differently Bible believers may run their services? As an evangelist I travel quite a bit, and I can tell you that churches in rural Kentucky, urban South Florida, and the deserts of Arizona are quite different in some ways and very much the same in others. That is the way it ought to be. The bottom line is that we serve the same God, the God of the Bible and creation. Our worship of Him should be more informed by Who He is than by who we are and where we live.
While it may be allowable for us to have a certain “flavor” in our church based on where we are ministering, God is the One Who should ultimately inform how we worship God. In other words, God is still God in a new environment, whether a new land, a new year, or a new attitude of the era. God is still God.
In Deuteronomy 12:1 it says, “These are the statues and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. “ So the children of Israel were going into a new settled way of life, from leaving Egypt to occupying Canaan. They were going to encounter new ways, new people, new lands, and a new day, but God was still God. That did not change. Moses said, “Ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee.” While this was a new land for Israel, this was the same God leading them who had led their fathers.
They were going from worshipping in the tabernacle and living in tents to a place where there would eventually be a temple and they would have permanent homes. You find that God gave them the land, and you find that God was to choose the settled place of worship where the temple would eventually go. That was something that over again God said He would choose.
Later, God basically said, “Don’t be snared by the ways of the land into which ye come, don’t add or detract from the ways that God has already given you, and don’t ask how did these nations serve their gods so that you may do likewise.” No! When I worship God, I am to do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
Our worship should be more unique to God than to the age, the country, or the culture in which we live. The day may change, the scenery may change, but God does not change. God is the One Who is to be honored by my worship.