worship or following the crowd?

Last night at church, we were given a time where we can stand up and give God our worship and praise. We were told we could do what ever crazy things we wanted to do to show God our love for him. When it was time to jump and shout, I honestly didn't feel like I wanted to. I felt if I did, I would be doing it because everyone else is doing it, not because I felt led to do it.

I am not writing this to step on anybody's toes, but I think it's an important issue to address. It's kind of like school. I graduated from a public school (beavercreek for any curious folks) and then attended a private college upon graduation. Was that ever a shocker! I went from no rules to a very strict environment. Instead of following the rules like I signed I would do, I decided it would be fun to break them. Yeah, so I lasted 1 quarter at that school (no, I wasn't kicked out), went to 2 other area schools (Wright State and Sinclair) and then went to the biggest party campus in Ohio, Ohio State University. After seeing my actions at the private school, one would think I would make some not-so-smart decisions at OSU. On the contrary, the opposite happened. I felt as if I was the light in the dark. I was the miss goody two shoes (where did that phrase come from anyway??). Knowing this might be the only chance my fellow peers might see Christ in someone, I knew it was my duty as a christian to not partake in the festivities. Actually, it was a very easy task since my desire to partake in the "fun" was slim. After a quarter at OSU, I went back to the first private college I initially attended and graduated. Did I go back to being rebelious? Maybe...but that's not the point.

The point is when you have to tell someone how to do something, ie, worship, you are taking the personality out of it. God gave each one of us different personalities and he loves each and every one of them. Some of us worship with our hands in the air while some have their hands in their pockets. Some belt at the top of their lungs in song while some just listen to others doing it and meditate on what is being sang. Some might do a dance in their pew while others stay seated. And, not everyone might be in the mood to scream as loud as they can but they lift up their praises in their mind.

I have to ask, was everyone really praising our Lord last night? Were all those people lifting songs to God at the top of their lungs out of worship? I'm sure a lot of them were. I'm also sure some of them were doing it because others were doing it. Why then do we have to ask people to worship this way? If it is genuine, it should eminate from our pores naturally. People should be shouting all of the time without an instruction to do so. Understanding we are all different and do things differently is the key to the body of Christ. If we were all the same, things wouldn't get done.

I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the screaming and the yelling. It's awesome to see Christ being lifted up in that way. Someone asked me why I stayed in my seat. Perhaps it was because I'd be following the crowd or I was being rebelious and not doing what I was told. I think it was because I was worshiping my own way...and that's the way God likes it. And besides, I had a throbbing headache.