While endeavoring to acquaint Churches of Christ with our mission efforts, Louis and I visit one or two different congregations each Lord’s Day. Thus, we have opportunities to see firsthand how the Lord’s church worships throughout this country and abroad. One of the things I have noticed is the lack of interest in worship among some of those in attendance.
The old adage “actions speak louder than words” certainly is evident during our worship to God. When we pass notes, send text messages, talk, fail to sing and habitually sleep during the assembly, we portray an attitude of disinterest in worshipping our Lord. This behavior exhibits “going through the motions,” rather than a desire to worship our Heavenly Father.
John 4:24 states, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The word worship means “to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore)” (Strong’s). When we properly worship God, we show reverence, respect and adoration to our Creator! The word “spirit” means “mental disposition” (Strong’s). We may worship in truth, but if our attitude is not correct, our worship is unacceptable to God. What are our actions during worship showing? Are they showing an attitude of indifference, I really do not want to be here, I am bored, or can those who observe us see we that we are worshipping God “in spirit and in truth”?
It is disturbing to watch adults exhibit such a lack of interest in worshipping our Lord. However, the children’s behavior is more unsettling than the adult actions. As the mother of three children, the worship service was often a stressful time when the children were young and energetic. Just trying to keep them quiet and not disturbing others was a challenge. However, at some time in the life of a young child, parents need to be less concerned with the quietness of the child only and more concerned about the child learning to worship God properly during the assembly. Listed below are a few suggestions for teaching our children to worship God.
- Encourage them to hold the songbook and sing each song during the assembly. Most children love to sing, and even toddlers can learn to sing during worship.
- Instruct the child to fold his or her hands, close his eyes and bow his head during prayers. This also should be taught at an early age. We teach our children to pray for our meals and should expect the same behavior during the prayers at the worship assembly.
- Encourage your child to contribute during the collection. Children should be taught from a young age that all our blessings come from God, and we need to return some of our blessings to God during the collection part of our worship. Young children can be given two equal amounts – one for God and one for them. If a child receives an allowance, earns money for odd jobs, receives money for birthdays or other special occasions and any receipt of money, he should be encouraged to contribute a portion during the Lord’s Day worship.
- Have young children follow along in the Bible during the Scripture reading. As the child matures, help him find the verses in his own Bible and follow along.
- Older children (those of school age) can take notes during the lesson. This will help them keep their minds focused on the lesson. Note taking can be as simple as marking on a piece of paper how many times keywords are used. As the child matures, he can write down the Scripture references, and then with more maturity, more details can be recorded. Most preachers are happy to give a few keywords that will be used during the lesson if you explain what you are doing.
- Until children have learned to worship God properly, they should sit with their parents so they can be taught. Allowing other children to sit with them is often a distraction and should only be allowed if they understand they must follow the same rules during worship. When our children are permitted to sit with others, they should sit in front of us with the understanding that if they are not participating in the worship service, you will make them return to your seat and sit with you.
- Leaving the assembly should only be for emergencies and to correct misbehavior.
- Sit where children will not be distracted by others. Sitting in the front of the auditorium and making our children face forward eliminates the observance of others misbehaving.
- We must teach our children not only how to behave during the assembly, but also why we worship God!
Yes, young children need quiet toys, books or paper and pencil to keep them quiet during the assembly. However, these items should be used only during the aspects of worship in which the child cannot actively participate. We often satisfy ourselves that as long as children are quiet and not disturbing others all is well. This is comforting, but when will the child learn to worship God? Perhaps one of the reasons adults are inattentive during worship is that they have not learned how to nor do they understand the importance of worship.
We must worship God “in spirit and in truth.” This can only be accomplished when we understand why and how God wants worshipped.
Works Cited
Biblesoft’s New Exhaustive Strong’s Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. CD-ROM. Seattle: Biblesoft and International Bible Translators, 2006.
