Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  I’m about to give you one of my church rants.  I’ll feel much better once I’m all done.

You’ve seen them: the dads with their arms crossed, the teenage guy with a girl to text, the grumpy old man.  All standing there during worship time at church doing nothing or even worse, distracting someone else.  They apparently have something better to think about or do than worship.  They’re “too cool” to do that.  The question I must present is, “Why?”

I kind of understand it.  We, as guys, don’t want people seeing us being “emotional”.  We think people might think we’re strange if we stand there with our eyes closed and hands raised up.  I get it.  But it’s not right.  God doesn’t hate emotion.  Jesus got angry–heck, He went on a wild rampage through a church building.  David, a guy known for being “after God’s own heart” and ruddy (that’s Bible-ese for “hot”), danced half-naked through the streets of his city because the presence of the Lord had returned.  If that isn’t emotion, I don’t know what is.

Look at the message of the cross.  The creator of the universe became a human.  He lived with us, in our fallen world, for 33 years.  He was falsely accused and brutally murdered.  But then the amazing thing happened.  He came back.  Not for Him, but for us.  We were sinners, and in His spectacular goodness He chose to give us a pathway out.  Then it’s up to us to accept it.  The crazy thing is that a lot of the guys that stand around and don’t take part in worship are the same guys that are really great at talking about a great Christian life.  I’ve even seen pastors do this.

Christ has done an amazing thing for us.  How can we keep from shouting, singing, and praising His name for what He’s done?  His love is beyond crazy- it’s extravagant.  Over-the-top. How can we just disregard that because “it’s not cool” or “I can’t sing”?  I don’t think you can.  I don’t think you should.  Guys, come on now.  Be willing to admit that God is the coolest thing imaginable- and anything that brings glory to Him is cool simply by association.  Worship your heart out this weekend.  Let it all go.  Bring Him glory.  Let me know what you think in the comments.

Every night I have a quiet time which consists of a short devotional (in the ESV) and that day’s “Bible in a Year” assigned reading (in the Message paraphrase). Last night’s reading was the book of Malachi (I start in September). I had read this passage before, and many other translations carry the same meaning, but the Message’s paraphrase of Malachi 1:12-14 especially stood out to me:
“Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, ‘Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,’ and when you say, ‘I’m bored—this doesn’t do anything for me.’ You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it’s a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I’m going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!
A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I’m a great king, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I’ll not put up with it!”

My initial response to this was, “Great! A good way to guilt people into donating new items to the Children’s Ministry!”. But then in thinking about it some more, I realized that this could be applied to our personal lives as well.

Often when we are burned out, we stop giving our best to God. We may or may not attend worship, but whether we do or not, we may not feel like giving God our worship or may feel like prayer is ineffective. However, our God is amazing and deserving of our best! And many times, you will find that if you give your best, God gives his best back.

Check out God’s word for encouragement constantly, and connect with other ministers in your area. Encouragement can come from the strangest places sometimes. Don’t be terribly showy. Just give God you, and nothing more, and that will make him more than pleased.