The Most Important Thing

Following a conference I attended last week, I began to think about the question, "What is the most important thing we do as a church?" Of course, most people would answer that question with, "Whatever I'm involved in." And there are lots of important things that we do: witness, teach, fellowship, minister, etc. But as I thought of all these things, I came to the conclusion that the most important thing we do as a church or as a Christian is worship. Now immediately, someone will come up with the question, "Corporate or private?" You know as well as I do that there are those amongst us who believe that they don't need the church to worship. I can do it all by myself, thank you very much. In my opinion, asking that particular question is like asking, "Which is more important: oxygen, water, or food?" Well, they say you can go without oxygen for a matter of minutes, water for a matter of days, and food for a matter of weeks, but the end result is that without them you die. The same thing is true about BOTH corporate and private worship -- without them, you die. No, you don't die physically and you don't lose your salvation. But it is a lot like this plant we bought for our back yard. It is a beautiful plant with green and yellow leaves and pink flowers. At least, it's beautiful as long as we don't forget to water it every day. Sure as we do, we walk outside and it is limp, lifeless, and ugly. But add a generous helping of water, and in a matter of minutes it stands up straight and tall and beautiful again. Without both corporate and private worship, Christians become limp, lifeless, and ugly. Without worship, we cannot witness, teach, fellowship, or minister because worship is where we connect with God and with each other. In John 15:5 Jesus said, "I am the vine and you are the branches. If any man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing." Remaining/abiding in Him is the definition of true worship.

One of Life's Biggest Problems

Today I write about a problem plaguing our churches. Sometimes I think it is a scourge set free on the world by the technology industry. At other times, I feel it is the bane of every church's existence. To what am I referring? Cell phones! Yes, cell phones. Have you been there? Right in the middle of the worship service and boom! You hear the James Bond theme or the Alabama/ Auburn fight song or some other equivalent. It happened just last night in our church while I was trying to pray. I think I know who the evil culprit is (in case you haven't figured it out by now, this is all tongue-in-cheek so whoever you are who owned the phone that went off last night don't think I am out to get you). Please understand that I am very sympathetic. It's happened to me before, and if it hasn't happened to you, it is because: a) you haven't joined the 21st century and purchased a cell phone; b)you have a cell phone but like so many others you won't turn it on; c)you are smarter than the majority of the population and turn it off when you enter the church; or d)you just haven't owned the phone long enough or you don't go to church often enough. Here is my point: given time, it will happen to you. I think that if Murphy was still writing his laws, that would be one of them. So, recently I have come up with what I think are the most innovative solutions for when it happens to you.

• Stare straight ahead and pretend that you don't hear it
• Turn to your neighbor with a horrified look on your face as if it is their phone
• Do like one lady (Tina Burton) I heard about who kicked her purse under someone else's seat
• Dig frantically for the phone and when you find it, answer it in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, and say, "Why, yes, I would be glad to share with you the plan of salvation."

Please know that all of these are not original with me, so thanks Sonya, Wayne, Peggy, Jill, Laura Ashley, Jeff, and Peggy.