I’ve come to realize that we don’t get in the service like we use too. You know when someone would shout “I love the Lord he heard my cry” and the church would be on fire or when the deacons could have devotion so soul-stirring that it set the tone for the whole service. Even when the choir would sing “I want to go down to the river in the old-time way” and it would get deep down in your spirit and make you want to run when nobody is chasing you or when altar call would last 30 minutes because the holy spirit was ushered in. You know that type of service that delivered you from whatever had you burden down, when you came in sick but left well, came in with your heart heavy but left renewed, came in broken down and barely moving but left dancing and when you came in with pity and left with praise.
Where are those mothers that would sing a Dr. Watts or those deacons that didn’t mind getting on their knees, at the altar, to pray or the choir members who didn’t care who was watching them when they shouted in the choir stand? Why can’t we praise like we use too? Why can’t we pray like we use too? Why can’t we teach like we use too? We are so busy being focused on the number of souls coming that we are forgetting about the number of souls being saved. Now we are wearing shoes that are too little, just because they are cute that we can no longer stand for God. We got on dresses so short that when you cross your legs, everything that shouldn’t be showing is and now we can’t shout for God. We got a little money in our pockets and act like there is no reason to lift up our arms to give God praise and since everything seems to be going right, we don’t have to lift up our voice to offer thanks! But isn’t God worthy of praise no matter what the day, time, situation or circumstance? We call him at any time and expect him to show up but we pick and choose when it is convenient for us.
I don’t know about you but I want to have chuch (not church) like we use to have when you left with your hair sweated out from dancing and your clothes twisted from allowing the holy ghost to have its way! You know when it didn’t matter if you broke the heel on your shoes from dancing because God has been good to you so now you want to show it. When you didn’t go to service to show off your new clothes but the grace that God keeps giving you every day or when you didn’t go to service to show off your new haircut, but to give thanks for the blessings that God has already given you. But we don’t get in the service or the spirit like we use too. We don’t sing from our hearts anymore, we don’t pray for deliverance anymore because we just want to be heard. We don’t teach like we use too because we are too busy worried about folk. We don’t have the same Holy Ghost power that we use too. It used to be, when you saw your sister crying at the altar because she was dealing with things, you’d go to her, hug her while telling her that God can fix whatever ails her but now we stand back wondering what she is going through so that we can gossip. It used to be, when someone was going through, sick or had a death in the family, church members would cook and clean or even stop by with some kind words but now we are too busy with our own lives to even look in on somebody else. We don’t treat our brothers and sisters like the bible tells us too. We are so wrapped up in what folk think or what others are saying that we don’t get in the spirit anymore.
We’ve allowed technology to trap us into texting during worship service, spread gossip during the sermon and give us an excuse to not carry a bible. But if the bible is supposed to be our weapon against the battles that have been set by man, what good is not having it? Yea, you may have the bible app downloaded on your phone but I guarantee you won’t throw it if someone was attacking you. Yea, you may have the bible app downloaded but how many times have you actually opened it? We’ve got to get back to real worship and meaningful service. We’ve got to get back to serving God and the church in a way that is pleasing unto God’s sight. We got to get back to true worship.
When folk were having true worship experiences we didn’t have all of the trouble like we have now. We didn’t face the sickness, the back sliding, the backbiting, and the back stabbing that we face now. When you had true worship you could go to the church with your trouble without worrying about somebody spreading it around, you could go to the Pastor and not worry about being judged or the deacons without worrying about being turned down for the assistance that you needed. I want that type of worship experience. I want to be able to feel the Holy Ghost in my worship without having to be pumped and primed by the musicians or the minister. I want to have a true, meaningful worship experience. We don’t get in the service like we use too, but I’m praying that we start before it is too late.
Lakisha, the Author 