To speak or not to speak.. that is the question...

Today I heard a study about Christians witnessing to unbelievers. They did a poll of people claiming to be born again believers across different denominations and asked them what the number one reason was that they did not share their faith with others. The person who wrote this poll said that he expected the top 3 answers to be:

1. They felt that they did not know what to say or had never been taught how.

2. That they didn’t come into contact with many unbelievers and therefore didn’t need to witness

3. That it would not be politically correct in the circles where they were in.

After conducting the study though, the number one answer, by an overwhelming margin was: That the lifestyle that they were leading was not in line with what a Christians should be, and therefore they would be embarrassed if their unbelieving friends found out that they considered themselves a Christian.

This was very surprising to me. I remember as a child my grandmother had a framed poster on her wall that read: Preach the gospel at all times, if necessary use words. At one point I asked my mom what that meant, and she told me that the way that we as Christians choose to live our lives should be so apparent to people around us that we shouldn’t even have to tell them we are Christians they should be able to tell without asking. I believe that we as Christians should be able to ‘Preach the gospel at all times’ With or without opening our mouths. My mom says that there should be an example of this in here, and I suppose the only one that I can think of right now is when I first started working at my current job. At that time there was only one other believer there, and when I first met her, I could tell, not just from the things that she said, but from the things that she didn't say as well. I had put up some bible verses on my computer and after the first day she came up to me and said "Are you a Christian? So am I!" And gave me a great big hug. Even now I'm very grateful on the days she works, it's not that she says or does anything preachy, it's just that you can tell by the things that she does, how she tries to help others, how she avoids certain conversations or just doesn't allow the things that are going on around her to cause her to get stressed. I think that these things alone have made her stand out to the other people that we work with, and they all know that she is a great Christian as well, without her having to bring up God, although she does with out being afraid!

Ephesians 6:14

¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,

Romans 2:13

¹³ For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.

Romans 6:12-14 

¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Worship

Worship: Obsequious or submissive respect; extravagant admiration; adoration. The act of paying divine honors to The Supreme Being; religious reverence and homage; adoration, or acts of reverence, paid to God.

In order to properly worship God, I think that it requires us to first enter into worship with reverence and with awe! God is not asking us to repeat some montra or song, in fact true worship does not require music or song at all.

But music and worship do go hand in hand. Worship involves the WHOLE person, and music helps lift a person’s thoughts and emotions to God. Through music we can reflect upon our needs and shortcomings as well as celebrate God’s greatness. To truly worship God the way that He asks us to, we have to be willing to forget about ourselves, not worry about the people around us and what they think and focus only on God and His great power. Interestingly though a recent study done at a large church in New York stated that when they did a poll on their congregation about worship, 20% stated that what brought them in to true worship was the music lyrics and message, 15% said that it was the musicians skill and ability, and an overwhelming 65% said that it was the worship leaders, and other members of the congregation entering into worship that in fact was able to draw them into worship as well. So when you get ready to go to church on Sunday, be prepared… perhaps you entering into worship will allow the person next to you to have such a wonderful experience… but also realize that maybe you NOT entering into worship is holding that same person back.

PSALM 81:1-5 

¹ Sing aloud to God our strength;  shout for joy to the God of Jacob! ²Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
   the sweet lyre with the harp.³Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. ⁴For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob. ⁵He made it  a decree in Joseph
   when he went out over the land of Egypt. I hear a language I had not known:

John 4:23-24

²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."

Romans 12:1

 ¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship

Hebrews 12:28-29

²⁸Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our God is a consuming fire.