Which Comes First?

Having done a lot of work in the ministry through the years and having worked in various fields and areas with Christians, I find this question to be a place where lines seem to become blurred. Which comes first? Worship? Service? Holiness? Work?

We know that when Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus and Martha was rushing around "serving" and "working" that when she asked Jesus to tell Mary to help her, Jesus made it very clear that Mary was the one doing the right thing by sitting at the feet of Jesus, by being in a place of worship. We are also told in 1 Samuel 15:22,

"So Samuel said: 'Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.'"

God wants our obedience, our worship, He wants us to be Holy as He is Holy.

Somehow along the way, it seems that service and "doing" things for people has risen to become the most important thing in the eyes of many churches and Christians. I'm not trying to sound like I'm judging, I'm honestly just making an observation. Much importance is put on saving the orphan and feeding the needy, all of which is good and talked about in scripture. But where is the spiritual aspect? Why are we not placing an even greater importance on our hearts and the hearts of those who we are serving? If we feed them and clothe them and save them from worldly troubles but don't feed their souls our point them to Jesus, or lead them to salvation, are we really doing anything for them other than providing a more comfortable road to hell? Service should be an overflow of our relationship to the Lord. It is important, but it is not the most important thing.

Our world is greatly helped and blessed by Christians and Christian organizations....but how much more of an impact would be made on our world, if we as Christians and as churches were MORE concerned with the spiritual lives of our fellow Christians and those we are helping and with being Holy and worshiping God. If those were our main concerns, I really believe that the there would be an even greater outpouring of service in this world.

So where is this all coming from? Well I encountered a lot of service seeming to be greater than worship and holiness through the years and so this theme has been something that is really strong on my heart...and then this morning I read the devotion below by Tozer. It once again reminded me that yes, it is good and great to serve, but we NEED to be worshiping God and we NEED to be Holy FIRST, because these things are the most important. We were created to WORSHIP God! Serving those in the world is secondary to worship and holiness.

Below is the awesome devotional by Tozer.

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Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His
mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of
the Holy Spirit,...that having been justified by His grace we should
become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
-Titus 3:5-7

"To teach that the filling with the Holy Spirit is given to the
Christian to provide "power for service" is to teach truth, but not
the whole truth. Power for service is but one effect of the
experience, and I do not hesitate to say that it is the least of
several effects. It is least for the very reason that it touches
service, presumably service to mankind; and contrary to the popular
belief, "to serve this present age" is not the Christian's first
duty nor the chief end of man....

The primary work of the Holy Spirit is to restore the lost soul to
intimate fellowship with God through the washing of regeneration....
God wants worshipers before workers; indeed the only acceptable
workers are those who have learned the lost art of worship. It is
inconceivable that a sovereign and holy God should be so hard up
for workers that He would press into service anyone who had been
empowered regardless of his moral qualifications. The very stones
would praise Him if the need arose and a thousand legions of angels
would leap to do His will.

Gifts and power for service the Spirit surely desires to impart;
but holiness and spiritual worship come first."