Jesus
said, “True worshipers will worship the Father
in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking
such people to worship him” (John 4:23). Worship
certainly involves more than what we do when we
are assembled together on the Lord’s Day (Romans
12:1,2; Colossians 3:17). But it is that Lord’s
Day assembly that I’d like to give attention to
here. God seeks “true worshippers”. But they are
not the only ones that show up.
Time
watchers. They cry, “How long, O’ Lord? How
long?!” They don’t mean it the same way the
psalmist did. Things that especially irk
them—the song leader sings too many songs, too
many stanzas and the preacher goes on and on.
Though the time watcher would usually be afraid
to admit it, a response to the invitation may
cause a barely audible sigh of irritation. A
baptism? The church down the road’s going to
beat us to the restaurant!
People
ignorers. These folks are under the
impression that the worship assembly is strictly
a transaction between themselves and God. They
are sadly mistaken. They often delude themselves
into thinking they are superior to others. In
their minds they’ve done their duty by gracing
the place with their presence. With rock-hard
stoicism they silently suffer through only the
most necessary personal contact before fleeing
to their little private places of refuge and
self-importance.
Thrill
seekers. If the singing and the sermon
doesn’t send them soaring they may question
whether the Spirit is really there. They feel
the need to feel the presence of God as if the
reality of such were dependent upon their
senses. They find fulfillment in having their
needs met instead of meeting the needs of
others. These folks are often church shoppers.
They’re happy until they get bored. And off they
go again chasing that elusive dream of the
perfect church.
Late
comers. These folks would be fine if the
elders would stop changing the time and place of
the assembly every week! Otherwise by reason of
habit they’d know how long it takes to get ready
and get to the assembly.
Fault
finders. These are the fashion critics, the
haircut harassers, the weight detectors, etc.
Their mission in life? To straighten the rest of
us out. And they’d probably do it too, if it
weren’t for that troublesome log in their eye.
But have no fear, they’ll continue to work
around it. They only say these things because
they care, don’t you know.
True
worshippers know that we’re all imperfect people
worshipping a perfect God. They assemble to
encourage others. They lift their hearts and
voices in praise of the One they adore. The
Father is seeking such people to worship him.
Are you one of them?
God bless you,
Brad Fry
