Passive Worship

So, here's a little food for thought this week:

Passive worshipers=Passive Christians

If you disagree, feel free to comment, but I think our level of engagement in worship directly equates to our level of engagement in life with Christ beyond the walls of our church (which makes worship really important in our walks).

The words for worship in the Bible all denote action, not passivity. We should be participating, not spectating. Our job isn't to simply sit and listen. Worship is about experiencing a living, active God. You don't do that by simply watching and listening. Church is not about your entertainment. You should be engaged with God. It's a time for us to actively serve God - to invest ourselves - to offer ourselves to Him.

(RANDOM THOUGHT: Perhaps we should think of worship services as practice for Heaven. I'm thinking that we should learn to actively worship now because we're going to be doing it for all of eternity.)

For those of you who are still confused, let me try to break it down a little more. Listening to a worship song on your iPod or Christian radio and letting it 'wash over you' is passive worship. There is nothing wrong with this scenario, but on Sunday morning, try to think of what you're doing as 'coming to worship', not 'going to church'. You aren't contributing anything by sitting and letting the music and message 'wash over you'. You are not the audience. God is. You aren't there to spectate. You are there to participate!

Going to church is easy; worship may not always be. When you actively worship, you become vulnerable - you expose yourself to God's almighty power and have no control over what happens. Moments spent actively in God's presence can bring peace, hope, revelation of sin, healing, and forgiveness. It isn't possible to spend time worshiping your Creator and leave unchanged. Time spent in God's presence will ALWAYS change you.

Did you 'go to church' today or did you 'come to worship'? I encourage you to become more active in your worship time. Enter the sanctuary with the intention of encountering God and being changed.