Our Behavior In Worship
 By John Hendrix

   Worshipping God should be as natural to a 
Christian as eating or breathing. Paul said that man 
was placed on the earth to seek God (Acts 17:27). Our 
very existence is tied to our devotion to God. God 
should be the center of our lives (Ecclesiastes 
12:13), and the worship of God a continual part of 
our lives (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
   The worship of God is not something to approach 
lightly. We remember well the fiery indignation of 
God when Nadab and Abihu dared to worship Him in a 
profane--not hallowed--way (Leviticus 10:1-3). God 
said,
     "By those who come near Me I must be regarded as 
     holy; And before all the people I must be glorified." 
     (Leviticus 10:3)
   How awesome a thing it is to approach God's throne 
and offer worship to Him! Instead of the flippant 
attitude with which a heathen man might approach an 
idol of wood, we should approach the Living God with 
the utmost reverence:
   But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the 
earth keep silence before Him. (Habakkuk 2:20)
   Paul spoke sternly about the Lord's Supper: the 
communion of the body and blood of Jesus (1 
Corinthians 10:16, 11:27-29). Paul further commanded 
that the public worship of a congregation must be 
with decorum and orderliness (1 Corinthians 14:40). 
Specifically, he called for one to speak at a time 
(verse 27), no one to speak unless he could be 
understood (verse 28) and women to never speak (verse 
34). His concern was the edification of the church 
(verse 5) and the appearance of the believers to the 
visitor or unbeliever (verse 23). Paul also insisted 
that God not appear to be the author of confusion 
(verse 33).
   But awe, reverence and sobriety are not the only 
guiding thoughts in worshipping God. Contemplating 
the greatness and goodness of God, we also find place 
for extreme joy, thankfulness and enthusiasm:
     Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His 
     presence with singing. (Psalm 100:2)
     Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of 
     the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the 
     disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud 
     voice for all the mighty works they had seen. . . . 
     (Luke 19:37)
     Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all 
     wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in 
     psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with 
     grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)
   "Rejoice in the Lord!" the apostle Paul commanded 
(Philippians 4:4). Our worship--both public and 
private--must reflect the great joy we have in 
serving our God and the overwhelming thanksgiving we 
must feel for what He has done for us. Praise is 
perfected by the experience and expression of joy and 
thanksgiving. Without joy and thanksgiving--both felt 
and expressed--praise can be nothing more than a cold 
recitation of God's accomplishments, a list that 
Satan himself could give as easily as a saint.
   The praise of God is not the sole object of our 
assemblies. Colossians 3:16--quoted above--makes that 
clear. The writer of Hebrews was just as clear:
     And let us consider one another in order to stir 
     up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling 
     of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but 
     exhorting one another, and so much the more as you 
     see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25)
   We worship God and encourage each other to 
righteousness. Indeed, these are a lot of things to 
keep in focus during worship! We sometimes find it 
difficult to keep all of these elements alive. 
Rejoicing may seem opposed to decorum, enthusiasm may 
appear inconsistent with reverence, encouraging 
others may seem to make us lose focus on God.
   Barton W. Stone preached in a period of great 
excitement as many people learned God's word more 
accurately. There also were some sensational 
displays: people jumping and shouting, falling into a 
stupor and making strange noises. He commented on 
this extremism, saying that many the people did good 
things during that time. He further said, "For of 
what avail is a religion of decency and order, 
without righteousness?" 
   His comment is thought provoking, but somewhat 
misguided. He implied that the righteous acts were 
the result of the emotional outbursts in their 
worship. Truly, righteous acts are prompted by strong 
emotions, but not by emotional outbursts. Shouting 
and jerking does not add any virtue to a man's life. 
The shouting and jerking may be related to strong 
emotion, but is not justified by it. Where confusion 
reigns, so does error (compare James 3:16).
   We should not, however, "throw out the baby with 
the wash." Some may push "the old ways"--beloved 
traditions--in the name of decency and order. I have 
witnessed a few examples of this. Some may forbid 
newer songs because learning new ones "causes too 
much disruption." Some might insist upon a rigid 
order of worship to eliminate confusion. (Perhaps to 
let people worship without any thinking!) Some may 
insist that repentant Christians "walk the aisle," 
instead of addressing the assembly from their seats. 
Many such things might be bound upon people in the 
name of decency and order, but those who do this are 
violating the command of Jesus:
     [Jesus] answered and said to them, "Well did 
     Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 
     'This people honors Me with their lips, But their 
     heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, 
     Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" 
     (Mark 7:6-7)
   I am certainly no enemy of tradition. We can find 
much comfort in traditions. There can be many good 
reasons for the traditions. But they are still just 
traditions, and they may stand in the way of 
thoughtful and heartfelt worship. Emotionalism can 
lead easily to many errors. Casualness can lead 
easily to irreverence. But rigid and stoic worship 
can chill the ardor of many souls and lead to empty 
ceremony and indifference.
   We must worship God as He commands, with the 
emphasis He commands us to have. This may mean 
refusing many changes in our assembly. It might also 
mean embracing others. The focus is edification of 
the congregation and proper adoration of our God. The 
focus is God's will, not ours.