Becoming a Better Worshiper

When I’m worshiping outside my own congregation (and even in my own congregation) I sometimes find myself thinking the strangest things: the tempo of that hymn was too slow, the pastor preached too long, the reader kept stumbling over words, the microphones weren’t turned up enough, the pew cushions aren’t soft enough, the service felt sluggish, the song leader waxed philosophic, etc.  I soon discover I spent the whole worship service evaluating the worship service instead of worshiping.

I suspect I’m not alone in this.  Too often I think the problem is the service itself.  Rarely do I focus on my self rather than locating the problem in a million other things over which I have no control.  Worship is as much about my attitude as it is about the liturgy in which I’m participating—or refusing to participate…  It’s easy to spend the 60+ minutes brooding over what I didn’t like than feasting on the words of eternal life that were offered.

Also, if I spend the whole service expecting to be inspired, moved, empowered, fed, or energized in some obvious or glorious way by the simple trappings of the liturgy (the “praise band,” the organ, the preacher, the sacraments, the hymns, the prelude, etc.) then I am sure to be disappointed.  A God who makes himself known in a manger bed, as a carpenter’s son, as the One who dies a criminal’s death on a cross is not a God who reveals himself in the obvious or the glorious (by human standards).  He comes to us as one unknown, unexpected and mysterious.

My worship is worked out in relationship—to God and to the neighbor.  Being open to the proclamation of the Word in foreign and unexpected ways requires a humble heart.  Being willing to participate in worship fully for the sake of the other requires a certain death to self, putting my own wants and desires aside and participating in something I may not like, solely out of love for the brother or sister in Christ who sits beside me in the pew.  The trappings of worship, regardless of style or appearance, are simply tools provided for me for the working out of my own worship on Sunday morning.  They are the steps for the ballet, the 60+ minute dance with the Lord of the Dance that I am invited into by the host of the wedding feast.  My spiritual attitude will determine how freely and joyfully I will enter into it.

Instead of focusing on how “good” the service was or how well I “liked” or “disliked” it, I will seek to focus on how well I worshiped, knowing that I alone am responsible for the “goodness” of my worship.