Intensity vs. Accuracy
In the fifteenth chapter of his prophetic book, Isaiah pronounces God's judgment on the Moabite nation and their idolatrous practices. Their response, he predicts, will be to intensify their religious rituals.
They have gone up to the temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep.
- Isaiah 15:2
Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;
Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.
Isaiah prophesizes that this nation will eventually cry out and do penance to their gods with great fervor but to no avail. In the end, history confirmed that the Moabites were indeed destroyed and all their pagan deities were not able to stop their fall.
Their zealous prayers and desperate worship demonstrate a universal truth about religion in general: It's not the intensity of the religion, it's the accuracy of the religion that counts. In other words, a cup of cold water in Jesus' name does more to please God than any lofty or spectacular show of religion devoid of Christ.
We need to remember this in our search to develop worship styles and approaches that meet the needs of modern society. Worship, or any other practice in the name of our faith, must first pass the biblical accuracy test before it can be adopted. Sincerity, intensity, results or popularity are no substitutes for accuracy according to God's word in deciding what or how to do something in the carrying out of our religion.
In the end, the proper relationship between intensity and accuracy is the following: The more accurate your religion, the more productive your intense practice will be.