After my previous post on “Does Worship Come Natural?“, I’ve had numerous responses, suggesting that I can’t know what’s going on inside other’s people hearts or minds. Or that I’m being unfairly judgmental. Here are some of the most mentioned possible reasons for people not praising in the “praise & worship” service.

  • Music is not my thing. I worship other ways.
  • I can’t sing well
  • I’m shy. That’s not my personality.
  • I don’t like the music
  • I’m worshipping in my heart

And then of course most intellectuals are very quick to point out that worship is not just what you do in church… Worship is a lifestyle.

And while all of these may be true, none of them are really a legitimate response to what I was writing about. I was writing about that time during the church service that we usually call “Praise & Worship”. The term “worship” has come to take on so many different definitions these days, that the term “Praise & Worship” may not really be the most accurate description for what we do during that time. It is truly worship, but it’s a specific kind of worship. It’s a time of corporate praise & adoration. And when I use the term “corporate”, it’s not in the business sense. I’m just talking about joining together in a larger group of believers to publicly give God the praise and adoration that only He deserves. So when somebody says, “I may not be singing, but I’m praising God in my heart,” that just doesn’t make sense. My wife and I went to a couple of marriage seminars when we were young marrieds. They were pretty good. One of the things I remember is that they told me that praising your spouse publicly is very important. Imagine my wife asks me why I never publicly praise her in front of our friends or relatives. I say, “Honey, I may not be praising you out loud, but I’m always praising you in my heart. Isn’t that just as good?” I don’t have to answer that question for you. So who invented this “silent praise” that so many claim to be doing in the church services? Silent praise makes about as much sense as smelling the color nine (to borrow a line from a Chris Rice song). It’s just the most popular copout going today.

So, am I being unfairly judgmental when I criticize people for standing there like a bump on a log during the “praise & adoration” portion of the church service? I don’t think so. If people are able to praise God publicly, and refuse to do so during the time specifically set aside for it in church, I think it’s pretty safe to say that something’s wrong.

Update: 15 pounds down - 10 to go. I cranked my belt down a notch today. It felt good :-)