By Adam Faughn
To worship God as
He demands and desires takes effort. To worship "in spirit and truth"
(John 4:24) does not happen accidentally, and God will not accept it if we try
to worship half-heartedly. It takes effort, and true reverent worship is not
easy. Sometimes, we are reminded of
certain groups of people for whom worship might be especially difficult. We
might think of the person who just lost a spouse and now struggles to come to
worship alone. Or we might consider the young family with the baby that never
stops crying and how they wonder every week if they should bring that baby (the
answer is "yes!"). We obviously think of those who have physical
limitations and who struggle just to come into the building.
I want to suggest
to you, though, that there are some other people who you might not as readily
think of who can struggle to worship properly. They are present all the time,
and their hearts want to worship, but they are doing other things that cause
them to have to work extra hard at their worship.
Who are they? Here
are a few to consider.
Our security team
rarely even gets to be in the auditorium. Throughout worship services, they are
watching and checking doors and hallways, keeping up with security cameras, and
communicating with each other to be sure we are physically safe as we worship.
Those who work in
the audio/visual room have several things they are keeping an eye on. They are
making sure the PowerPoint is running properly (and changing slides while we
sing). They are running livestreams for those watching services on YouTube and
Facebook. They are keeping the sound system levels in a good place so we can
hear the service well.
Think of those who
are leading worship in a public way. They want to do well to God's glory so we
can all be encouraged. But the nerves do set in! Often, they can struggle to
worship because they are thinking about their "part." While worship
is not a performance, they still want to do well, so their mind might be on the
next song they are to lead, or the prayer they are going to lead, or the words
they will say to help us commune or even the "ready recollections" of
the sermon they are about to preach.
Consider our
elders and deacons. Often just before worship, they are given prayer requests,
news of a broken commode, an update on an upcoming event, and more. Now their
mind is spinning, but they want to worship God, and they struggle to put their
minds solely on Him.
And I would be
remiss if I didn't mention our secretary, Sheri. Many of us bring a notebook to
worship to take notes during the sermon. She, however, often has to carry a
notebook to remember all the things she has to do before and/or after worship.
And then people give her more things to add to the bulletin or ask her about
something that could easily wait until later in the day.
I am not writing
this as a way to complain or vent. Instead, I am writing this to give honor to
those who volunteer and choose to do these things so that the rest of us can
worship more easily. They are doing things behind the scenes, or they are
carrying extra news and information, in part, so that someone else can have a
clearer mind to come before the throne of God. And sadly, often, what gets
noticed is when one of those things does not go smoothly, which is rare.
Worship is hard
enough, but for those who volunteer to make it a little more difficult on
themselves so that the rest of us can have it a little easier, I give a
heartfelt "thank you."
And I pray for more who have the same type
of heart you do so that you can get some relief and be able to have more weeks
to simply come and worship with no added responsibilities.
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