Thursday, August 22, 2013

Daily Gospel Devotional 2013: Bless the noise

Matthew 19:13-15 / Mark 10:13-16 / Luke 18:15-17…

The disciples saw the children who wanted to touch Him as a distraction and wanted to stop them. But Jesus welcomed “distractions” to His kingdom, and that should make us pause. In effect, some of us act as if Jesus doesn't want to reveal Himself to children, or as if they cannot receive it. This is simply pride and unbelief on our part. The key to effective ministry to children is humility, and we must be on guard against hindering children from coming to Jesus.

This scenario also has bearing on the modern and all too often misguided desire for a “distraction free environment” in worship. The orderly worship of God is not always supposed to be a silent environment. The Bible does not advocate a disorderly and chaotic form of worship, but we shouldn’t think, for example, that Paul was arguing in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 for an entirely distraction free gathering, either.

We must be careful not to turn the worship service into an individualistic consumer event rather than an individual-in-community transforming event. It is about more than satisfying individual wants/needs, it is about transforming us into being more like Christ. Allowing the “distractions” of hurting people, extraordinary situations, special needs children, etc., is training for just that. We don’t need “a distraction free environment”; we need to learn to focus.

Otherwise, we can only “worship” when we can get quiet. And God isn’t happy with that. 

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

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