We have all heard the cliché, “Worship is a lifestyle,” but I would argue that in our culture, and perhaps most cultures past and present, it is almost impossible to have a lifestyle of worshiping God. There are so many other gods competing for our time, screaming for our attention and worship—ascribing worth to something, or saying to something, “You are worthy of my time and affection.” In our culture, “I” am the center of the universe. More important than anything else in the world is that I please myself, others please me, and that I fill my life with things that make me happy.

What this amounts to is a view that God is merely an “object” of my affection, along with many other objects. I fit God into my “very important” life, saying, “Here you go God. Here’s where you fit into my life. You can have Sunday mornings and an occasional shout-out when trouble comes my way during the week.” In this view, I am the subject, the source, the beginning point, and God is the object of my affection, somewhere far-off, sitting on a throne, begging me to worship Him and not other things.

This is a backwards perspective. If we are ever going to truly believe that worship is a lifestyle, we must first hold to the fundamental understanding that God is the great subject of the universe and we are objects of His affection. God is, in the words of Bob Webber, the Cosmic Narrator, and we are to find our place in His story. We don’t fit God into our lives, but rather, God fits us into His.

This is a revolutionary thought for me. And although I constantly lose perspective, when I am reminded of the astounding truth that God is the subject and I am the object, it is that much more enjoyable and normal for me to live a life of God-worship. I wonder if this subject/object reversal would help others in their daily worship of God.