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NASB | John 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 4:24 "God is spirit [the Source of life, yet invisible to mankind], and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." |
Subject: Worship service or performance? |
Bible Note: Mommapbs, good day to you! To your question, "Is applause misused or abused?" -- While I'm keenly aware that any answer is probably more subjective than objective, I'd cast my vote with those who feel it is abused. In most churches I know, at any rate. I've written on these pages before my concern -- and disdain -- for the carnival atmosphere that pervades a number of houses of worship today. The line between worshiping God and being entertained is becoming so pale and ill defined that it is increasingly difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. The thing that is most disturbing of all is that so few pastors and music directors make any effort to curb the outbursts of applause that accompany hymns and sermons these days. On the contrary, they seem to encourage them and enjoy having their efforts to serve God applauded by men. It's a contrast indeed to the time so long ago when the heralds of the apostolic church frequently had the daylights beaten out of them and were run out of town for preaching Christ and Him crucified. It makes one wonder how many of the preachers today who leave their upscale air-conditioned homes in sparkling new luxury cars to travel to carpeted, air-conditioned church buildings to preach their 20-minute feel good messages to the faithful sitting in padded pews -- how many of them would stick around if the going got as tough for them as it was for Paul? Oh, but someone asks, Why should Christians live in such primitive conditions today? Well, one possible answer is that the majority of the world's people have no other truly viable option. They still live in conditions that are primitive by our standands. Perhaps if Christians were more willing to share their material blessings with the less blessed, the less blessed would be more inclined to listen to the infinitely more significant message that Christians have the clear command of our Lord to deliver to them, the spiritual message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In what can only be viewed as the majority of modern churches, much of the material resources are used up internally and never go any farther than the building and its paid staff. Similarly, I fear that a good portion of the applause never goes any farther heavenward than the ceiling of the building. --Hank |