Attitude and Worship

An emotion and action that go hand in hand.

Anyone who has gone to church more than maybe a week knows what it’s like.  It’s Sunday morning, and the alarm didn’t go off (or half asleep, you turned it off when it did properly function), the kids are fighting, you finally get dressed after finding a stain on the clothes you want to wear, and right as you are walking out the door, you realize no one has eaten breakfast yet.  At least that’s a Sunday we have had.  Every Sunday, it seems something happens to distract us from worship.  And by us, I mean all of us.  It doesn’t matter if you live alone or have 10 kids, something will try to distract you from worship.  These things can range from a dislike of the sermon series, a “bone to pick” with the music minister, a family problem, or you just simply woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  It happens and, since we’re all sin-filled humans, we should expect it.  However, it’s what we do with those trying circumstances that shape how we worship.  I’m speaking strictly on a Sunday morning basis, but this applies to our worship every day.  Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”  That’s difficult to do when life throws you a curve ball and your focus should be on God.

                

That kind of sums up the whole point of worship though.  When life is crazy and all around us falls apart, God remains constant and He is there.  He lifted us up from our brokenness and raised us to life.  Even when we didn’t deserve any of it.  That’s what justifies a change of attitude.  When measured up against hell, what we experience is minuscule.  If we looked at the blessings God has extended to us, it will change our attitude in dealing with circumstances and our hearts will be prepared for worship prior to us arriving at church.  When we’re ready to worship before the service begins, it’s an amazing freedom to worship and enjoy that sermon series that once wasn’t so interesting.  Maybe there is something in there for us after all.  One of my favorite scriptures that I have to constantly remind myself of is Philippians 4:8-9.  They say, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”

Sometimes our attitude is that of cynicism.  We look at everything through the filter of what we want and what we prefer.  It happens.  As a baptist minister, I see it every Sunday, and most I hear about it as well.  The problem though is that we look at things through our experiences and desires, typically, it equates to what we grew up with, and our background in church.  Think about it for a second, honestly, now you see that I'm correct.  If someone comes from a highly liturgical background, that is their preference.  If someone didn't grow up in church, but came to Christ at an age later in life, you'll see their preference relates directly back to the first church they did attend.  We're creatures of habit and that shapes our attitude in worship.  If something breaks that habit, it's viewed as either incorrect or not for you.  We end up with the tendency to critique it under a microscope until we find something, anything wrong with it no matter how small that something is.  Unfortunately, that is a huge fault, and is sin.  It takes the worship God deserves and desires and we end up worshiping ourselves, our wants, our preferences and not the God who gave His life for ours so we could be blameless.  Philippians 2:14-18 warns us about this saying, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me."

Sometimes I get the feeling that people place a high responsibility on others (ie, pastors) for their own worship, when in reality, we all have a responsibility for our worship. I believe questions we need to constantly ask ourselves is this; is my heart in the right place? Am I willing to give time to God? Do I have an attitude of praise and an openness to be challenged by the word of God? Am I a spectator or do I join in God's work? 

In conclusion, I think there are three things we can do to keep our attitude in check.  First, the church is the bride of Christ and we should respect it.  Jesus died for the bride He adores and I'm pretty sure He cares how we talk about it.  Second, we should all reject anything that resembles an "us" vs "them" mentality.  Jesus was very honest about truth and spoke confidently to those who challenged it with their hypocrisy and legalism, but He did it without mocking or belittling anyone. He didn’t post open letters on the town gates and He didn’t publicly ridicule those who questioned him, nor did he get on the phone to His pew-mate. He met them with Scripture and self-control. If they felt foolish, it was because they were caught with their foot in their mouth, not from Jesus laughing at them with crowds behind Him.  Finally, we should focus on what is good.  As I previously shared one of my favorite scriptures, it fits nicely here.  Philippians 4:8-9.  In the four chapters of Philippians, Paul tells the church in Philippi to rejoice 15 times.  Paul doesn't focus on why their being negative, but rather, he is very concerned with their choosing to change.  

Next Sunday morning, life will go crazy.  Take a deep breath, think about what the Lord has done, and enter the church with praise, joy, and thanksgiving.