Please Allow Me to Clarify

It has come to my attention that some were a little upset with me last week due to a slight misunderstanding of the gist of my Musings. That being the case, it’s obvious that I failed to communicate as clearly as I could have. Let me see if I can clear things up a bit. The following is a re-quote from the last paragraph of last week’s Musings.

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Rick Warren reminded us at the beginning of his book, “It’s not about you.” It is about God. Do people’s opinions matter? Sure they do … but God has the final word.

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What I was trying to say is this:

1) It can be hard when people criticize a worship service that has been prayed over and wrestled with throughout the week. Sometimes it seems that when we read “worship service” we assume that we are the ones being served by the choir, the pastor, the soloists … or even served by God. While grace is in essence God doing for us what we are powerless to do ourselves, in worship, it is we who give service to God.

2) Encouraging words are more valuable than gold (my apologies for failing to communicate this accurately). Your ministerial staff cherishes every last one.

3) Sometimes positive responses to worship merely mean that we have pleased the people. Sometimes what pleases the people also pleases God. Sometimes what is required in order for us to please God may not necessarily please the people. It can become difficult to discern whether one is pleasing the people, pleasing God, or both. In worship, God’s pleasure is more important than ours.

That’s enough to think about for now …