Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Worry”
Our Bible verse for today: “I hate, I despise, your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.” Amos 5:21 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Don’t worry about how others worship; is the practice of your own faith genuine?”
As I write this it’s Friday and the weekend is upon us. As a Pastor my thoughts naturally turn towards Sunday when the church family will gather for worship and fellowship. Hopefully you’re preparing yourself to be a part of that as well.
Are you in a church that you truly love and feel comfortable in? I hope so. But, is it possible that you think a little too highly of your church and the way you do things? In fact, do you like it so much that you’re convinced that your way of “doing church” is right and all others are wrong? That’s a common problem in modern Christianity. Worse, we often become highly critical of other Christians who use a different translation of the Bible, or who prefer a different kind of music, or who have practices that we don’t use.
Sadly, there’s a lot of cross-denominational mudslinging going on in the Christian world these days. We worry way too much about what others do or don’t do, and we don’t worry near enough about whether or not our own practice of the faith is genuine and meaningful – or if it has simply become a matter of mindless routine.
That was the case in the days of the Old Testament prophet Amos. The people were very religious; they went to church; they went through the motions of worship; but it was all repetitive and mindless – and God hated it. They were so stuck in “the way we’ve always done it”, and so worried about honoring tradition, that there was no room in their thinking for the possibility of trying something new and different. And, their relationship with God suffered because of it!
God is much bigger than your tiny little religious tradition (whatever it is). God is divine and eternal and He cannot be contained in the boxes we create for Him. He is not limited to expressing Himself through a single translation of the Bible, or through only one type of music, or through any other particular practice or tradition. So we need to stop worrying so much about how others do or don’t connect with Him.
This is a matter of being worried, or concerned, about the right things. We need to worry less about how others do or don’t worship God, and pay much more attention to our own practice of the faith. Is it real? Is it sincere? Are you sure? Now that’s something worth thinking about.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 