friends . . . are we really honest with one another?

Are we really honest with our friends? Do we really want them to be honest with us?

When things are going well with our friends, it can be easy to be honest with them. When things in their life seem to be going along smoothly being honest with them does not cost us anything. And the same works in reverse. When everything in our lives is going well, it can be easier for our friends to be honest with us.

But, what about when being honest could cost something? Are we honest then?

judging worship

Have you ever been in a church service and found yourself judging whether you like the way the band was playing the songs? Or whether you liked the songs in the first place? Or whether you thought the musical interludes were too long?

I will admit it, I have. I still do that sometimes. Although I wish I did not. And my guess would be that most people have had these thoughts (even if only briefly) at one point or another - even if they would never admit it.

Lately, I have been wondering how harmful this can actually be for us. When we are doing this, we are not worshipping God in any way. Rather, we are setting ourselves up as the authority on worship. And we are moving away from God, not closer to Him. The attitude of our hearts is in need of a change when we find ourselves doing this.

"It's helpful to remember that the world, the devil, and our flesh actively oppose our desire to give God the glory He alone deserves. The real worship wars aren't about music styles, forms, and practices. They're secretly waged in our hearts, as idols try to rob us of our passion to exalt God above everything. If we aren't aware of those worship wars, we'll have a difficult time understanding or experiencing worship that honors God, no matter what it is we're doing on the outside." (Idolatry on Sunday Mornings, Pt. 3, Dec 1/05)

Satan wants to get our minds off of what they should be in worship. One of the easiest ways he can do this is to get us thinking about our preferences in relation to what the worship team is doing. Corporate worship choices may not always line up with our preferences, but we should still do our best to keep our focus on God and not get distracted by what we like or do not like about it.

If our problem with worship comes because it is not biblically or theologically correct, we need to seek the proper channels to deal with that with those in leadership. But if the problem we are having is because of personal preference, maybe it is our hearts that need changing, not what the band is doing or the songs being sung.

why do we emphasize the emotional response is worship?

I have done and I have heard other do the same - we evaluate the worship during a church service by our own or others' emotional response to it. We evaluate worship by how much energy the music had or how many people responded publicly with a request for prayer or with tears. There is nothing wrong with any of these being a part of our worship, but they should not be how we evaluate it. God can be just as present in a service with none of that as in a service with it. And He can be just as absent from a service fill of emotion as from a service with no emotion. Our emotional response is not an indicator of how "good" a worship service was.

"Each time we meet to worship the triune God, He should be the all-consuming center of our attention and affections. His greatness and splendor should become bigger in our minds, hearts, and wills. His desires and commands should become more precious to us. Jesus Christ and His atoning work should become more glorious and amazing to us." (Idolatry on Sunday Mornings, Pt. 2, Nov 30/05)

These things can involve an emotional response, but it is not required. The important thing in evaluating worship is that God was glorified and exalted through that time spent together singing.