The Dirt of Distraction

There are certain things which distract me on Sunday morning.

People, of course, are always going to distract me. Sometimes it’s the earrings of the woman in front of me. Sometimes it’s somebody’s tag sticking out of their shirt. On occasion, I am completely thrown off by the lighting, the clothes on the people on stage or the baby crying in the back.

But nothing distracts me more than spiritual unrest. When I am restless spiritually, I am really discombobulated. When others around me are spiritually restless, I can barely focus long enough to get through the entire hour. Being spiritually in tune makes me a bit more perceptive to the unrest which surrounds me.

There are always going to be things which distract us from worship, communion, the message, even giving. There are many things happening in church while church is “in session”. Behind the scenes, there are people working hard to make sure your worship experience is what you need it to be. Unfortunately, there are also people who are disruptive, whether they realize it or not. They allow politics and issues within a church body (because there are people) to supersede the worship experience.

It is so unacceptable to me.

I feel during the worship hour, regardless of the situation, we are to be a family. We should be a body of believers, all gathering to worship The Creator of the Universe. (That is so huge.) We are all gathered up for the same reason, and during this time, we should be focusing on worship, singing, praising and being our soulful selves. Instead, sometimes we act like a kid who dropped his ice cream.

We like to think our issue, our situation, our motives are all the most important thing happening in a room. We like to focus on our hurts, our losses, and our selves, instead of focusing on The One who brought us together in the first place. We push the Holy Spirit aside and do what we want to do because we can’t see past our own emotions and people-driven nonsense.

It makes a person tired when the baggage of others is repeatedly thrown in the aisle to trip us all up. It is the fissure and cracks that the great deceiver looks for, then he pounces. He wants to make sure division grows, takes over and destroys. He delights in the madness which ensues when we stop turning to Jesus and turn inward to lean on ourselves. He laughs and laughs.

He’s laughing at us. He is laughing because he knows he can impact everything we have worked so hard to build. He brings doubt where there was no doubt before. He brings dissension where dissension doesn’t belong. He relishes in destroying lives. He relishes in causing defeat.

We cannot let him win.

He doesn’t like it when we resolve to find victory.

So we must persevere.

There is nothing worth trading the precious family of God for.

There is no fight, no argument, no amount of pride, no amount of time which can replace the wondrous love Jesus has for The Church. There is nothing which can separate us from the Father unless we allow it. There is nothing biblical about being proud, loud and divisive.

There is only Jesus.

If we are having trouble focusing on worship, we need to decide first to pray then to rise above the distractions. Go to the front and sit. Come in early and go to your seat. Be a positive role model to others, smiling and hugging and worshipping the best way you know how. Show your church family what unconditional love looks like. Show your leadership what respect looks like. Show the younger generations coming up what worshipping as a body of believers looks like. Show the great deceiver what defeat looks like. Show the community your church is the place to be.

Galatians 5:13-26

13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.