Judging the Worship Style of Others

There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor? (James 4:12, Circa 45 AD)

“It is easier to cool down a fanatic that it is to warm up a corpse.”

(Dr. Brent Allen, Circa 2008 AD)

Sometimes it seems that we Christians are impossible to please. We tend to think that others are either too this or too that; but hardly ever just right. We say or think that they are too vocal or too silent; too spiritual or too worldly; too critical or too disinterested to voice an opinion, they seem to be spiritually dead, or they act like religious fanatics: And the list goes on.

Old North Church has become a virtual melting pot of people who have been raised in a variety of worship styles. Some have come from the very formal Roman Catholic worship experience, others from cold, emotionless mainline churches, some from other evangelical fellowships where an occasional “Amen” came from the pews and still others from a charismatic congregation that has taught them to express their joy in ways that seem a bit fanatical to the rest of us; they are literally aflame with the joy of the Lord. In fact there are more than a few people who come to the sanctuary occasionally, who have never been born anew, they are still dead in their sins; they’re at room temperature; they are literally spiritual corpses; thus Pastor Allen’s caveat.

That is what we all were at one time, even when we were attending church. Paul expresses the reality of that spiritual situation as follows. As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:1-5)

Instead of judging someone else for their style of worship, maybe those of us who have done that should instead be asking ourselves, “Why am I focusing on another Christian’s style of worship, when I’m supposed to be here worshiping Christ in my own preferable way?”