sincerely,

If you haven’t read my post from last week, go read it first and come back. This’ll make more sense if you do. I wrote about how I like when people get lost in worship in yielding to the Holy Spirit, like when they're moved to stop singing or add in a spontaneous song.

In addition to sensitivity & obedience to the Holy Spirit, the other necessary ingredient is: sincerity. 

Ya know what I really don’t like? What I think nobody, including God, really doesn’t like? When people are phony. Especially in worship services. 

I really like when people are genuine.

Insincerity in worship is poison. The devil is the great deceiver, and God is truth. 

Therefore, we must pursue truth and sincerity in our worship of the King (and even here, we have to be careful with our intention—our ability to be sincere is not the prize; Jesus is the prize. Emotion is not the prize. Really great music is not the prize. Jesus is always the prize.)

But God have mercy on us when we raise our hands for show. God have mercy on us when we sing about the joy of Jesus and can’t even manage a smile. God have mercy on us when we sing blessings over our church family and then gossip about them after the service. God have mercy on us when we sing on a microphone on Sundays while our Bibles collect dust. God have mercy on us when we value pride over vulnerability.

So how do we get more genuine with one another—among congregations, staff, worship leaders, youth groups?

Maybe we start with little things so that we know we can trust our church family with more (kind of like faith in Luke). Start with giving real answers to “how are you?” so that one day you can confess about your porn or alcohol addiction. 

Ask for prayer for yourself instead of only your grandmother’s sister’s neighbor’s cat who is having a hard time, so that when you get a not-so-pretty diagnosis, you can be prayed for. 

Let yourself raise one hand in worship, maybe just waist level at first, so that when you need to collapse on the altar in tears when (not if) your life falls apart, your pride doesn’t hold you back. Again.

The fourth chapter of Daniel says the Lord “is able to humble the proud." I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s been humbled by God before, and going forward I’d much rather beat him to the punch and humble myself. 

I think this is probably coming out a bit more jumbled than I hoped, but that’s probably because superficiality and inauthenticity are complicated, widespread, sinister diseases among believers (because we have an enemy who would hate to see vulnerable, intimate church families).

But, if we all take little steps toward being genuine with one another—both on Sunday mornings and throughout the week—how different would our churches be? Sure, we open ourselves up to be hurt, but we also open ourselves to stronger, richer, deeper love.