A critic or a worshipper?

In the course of three weeks I have met with other Christians for worship, in three different cities, in three different styles, in three different denominations, with three different emphases. There is one sense in which this is hugely enriching, enjoyable, and positive - and not just in an educational sense either. The down-side is that it's hard to be a worshipper when you are in a new context, because we all (rightly) like to evaluate before we participate. This presents though the danger of becoming a worship-critic, rather than a worship-er!

In one church service I went to the preacher made an absolutely howling theological gaffe, which made my hair stand on end! In another, I was disturbed by some of the claims made and practices that flowed from them. But what is the correct reaction? Like someone long ago more qualified than myself so to do, I had not come to judge! I had set aside those hours those Sunday mornings to focus on God, to honour Him, to bring my (frequently reluctant) heart before God for refreshment, cleansing and blessing, to learn from Him and to gain knowledge, encouragement and wisdom. The greatest barrier to doing that was simply my tendency to act in church as if I was a theatre critic judging a performance. So I resisted the temptation to either question the leader whose ministry model I found so disappointing, or take to task the preacher with the woeful inconsistencies in his message; and instead to try and pray.

Perhaps the word performance I used earlier is a key thing. In Tim Chester's recent series on his blog about "Communities of Grace vs Communities of Performance", he points out the damage that can be caused when performance replaces relationship in our worship. My experience over the last three weeks has been an extreme example of this. Because I have been travelling I have worshipped largely with strangers and so their 'performance' is all I have encountered of them! This is interesting, but far from normal or satisfying, because we are so much more naturally forgiving of people we know, understand and empathise with. Perhaps the inconsistent preacher is ill, or tired, or has unwell family members who consume his energies, and when tired doesn't express things well. Perhaps if challenged the leader with the questionable ministry model would accept that he misused a biblical text to justify is practices, or have an explanation for it. ... .. . .

Knowing me so well my (ever wise) wife pointed me to 1 Thessalonians 5:21 which says, "Test everything, hold onto the good". Like the apostle who first penned those words, she was right, and it was this that helped me to cease being a critic and start being a worshipper. The stress of Paul's instruction is not to test in order to judge what you find lacking, but to gather-in what you find good, true, pure, and wonderful! The truth is that in all three radically contrasting worship experiences there was SO MUCH that was good, so much that was, encouraging, biblical, helpful and real - that I have been given plenty of fuel for the flames of worship to consume!

I hope that now I am settling back into life in my home church after these weekends away that I will be able to use the truth of this verse so to become a little of what the Bible teacher Louis Giglio describes as, "not a consumer of worship services, but someone consumed in worship of God". I have a long way to go, but I am sure that this is a first-step.