Worship

1 Timothy 3:4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect.

Last night, at the end of a long Session meeting, we discussed a current issue of the behavior of some of our older kids in the church. It's not easy to do, because somewhere along the line, someone is going to be offended. The trouble is that behaving in church is just part of a larger problem that civilization is dealing with right now : the problem of raising our kids in a narcissistic society.

We want our church buildings to be safe and welcoming places for families, but we also need to keep our sanctuaries sacred and our worship of God reverent, as well relevant. For too long, we've allowed ourselves to become the center of our church life, pandering to our needs, seeing to our convenience, fulfilling our desires. That's what being narcissistic means. The trouble is, there's no room for narcissism in the Christian church.

We are meant to think less of ourselves as we enter into God's presence. We are meant to respect His holiness as we come into His house. A whole generation of people have grown up with the mistaken idea of being pally with God and that He's okay with everything that we say and do. Our fierce independence and staunch pride makes it hard for us to accept that there are important rules and traditions in the church. To allow ourselves the luxury of doing our own thing, or behaving however we like, or to disrespect God's presence, is to set ourselves up as narcissistic idolaters - people who love to worship themselves.

So, I guess we have an education problem at Erin. I guess we have to re-educate ourselves about re-honoring God in the one place, at the one time where our focus is supposed to be on Him. Anything less is idolatry. Anything other is hypocrisy.

Prayer: Lord God, for too long we've taken You for granted and sought to serve ourselves in our churches. Instead of caring about what You want, we've made sure that we get what we want. Forgive us for being foolish and help us to return to You the worship, praise and honor You truly deserve. In Jesus' Name, we humbly pray. Amen.