One of the stories I remember hearing my dad tell on many occasions is about a family who went to church one Sunday morning. After the worship service was over, while the family was going to their favorite restaurant, the mother and father began critiquing the worship service.

The Father started it off by saying, “Didn’t you think the Bible class teacher this morning was shallow? I’d bet he didn’t spend more than 30 minutes in preparation for his class.” The Mother, not to be outdone, said, “Well if you thought he was bad, what about the preacher? Was that not the worst sermon you’ve ever heard?” The Father replied, “Oh, and why do we need a song-leader anyway? It sure must not be to keep tempo, because the singing was sooo slow! And the prayer…” and before he could comment on the prayer, the Mother interrupted and said, “I know…12 minutes and 34 seconds long!” Listening to all this from the back seat, their little boy wanting to be a part of the conversation chimed in and said, “I didn’t think it was all that bad of a show for a dollar donation.”

Friends, while this is intended as a caricature, I’m afraid that it closely mirrors what actually takes place in our cars after we leave worship.  Have we forgotten that we are not the audience, but the participants in worship? Cornelius had it right when he said to Peter, “we are all present before God” (Acts 10:33). In other words, Cornelius recognized that God is the spectator and we are the participants.

Next time you go to worship, make sure that’s what you do…worship, and leave the critiquing to God. Give it some thought.

by Steve Higginbotham