Cold and boring are two words that describe unpleasant feelings. Yet many express these feelings when they go to certain churches. This is certainly not a compliment to any church. I believe, in most cases, the problem is not with the church but with the person.
If you ask a psychologist, one who is trained to help people understand their mental attitudes and emotions, this is the definition you will find. Feeling “cold” in a situation is often associated with negative emotions like loneliness, fear, sadness, or a sense of detachment; it metaphorically represents a lack of warmth, comfort, or positive connection in a social situation. In a situation where we are supposed to be engaged in worship, it should not be about us. If we feel cold, we have chosen to be disconnected. We have associated church with a place that is supposed to make us feel warm and fuzzy. We are looking for the wrong thing.
If you feel spiritually cold, it is no one’s fault but your own. God wants us to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit. If we are in Him, we will have what we are supposed to have, as Paul teaches us in Galatians 5:22-25 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” The fruit Paul mentions is given to believers when they receive Christ as their Savior. These attributes are not natural to us. The flesh wants the opposite. The flesh seeks to serve itself. All these components of the fruit have to do with how we treat others. These are the proper results of living in the Spirit, not the flesh. When we say we are cold, we probably don’t realize it, but we are indicting ourselves. We seek to get, not give worth to the one who saved us. If the word is being preached and you can read your Bible, there is no excuse other than your own flesh for you not to gain a closer walk with God. The word is powerful and quicker than a two-edged sword. It will reveal the changes we need to make if we will listen with a desire to be more like Jesus. No matter how the preacher delivers the message, if it is true to God’s word, you should be able to go away feeling “warm.” It should bring tears to your eyes as His word exposes your sin to you. You should be closer to God than you were when you came in. God’s world is powerful, but you must be willing and desiring to grow if it is to do what it is capable of doing.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The second part of this devotion is the word boring. We live in a fast-paced world where we are always entertained. We have TV programs to make us laugh, or they take our minds to realms of make-believe that force us to disengage our minds from reality. We have music that feeds the sensual side of us, it feels good, it allows us to become melancholy and it even exist in the church. I could explain the spiritual and mental side of how music affects us, but that would take 2000 more words, and many of you would not buy the scientific and spiritual truth because you like how you feel with certain music. It can evoke a broad range of emotions. It can have physical effects on the brain that release neurotransmitters and hormones that trigger emotional reactions. It can cause blood flow to the brain to increase. It can increase breathing and brain waves. Music is a powerful tool that God invented, but he intended it to lift into His presence. He desires us to see the greatness of who He is and feel gratitude for what He has done for us. Many of the songs we sing in church are more us-focused than God-focused. Instead of lifting us into His awesome presence, they put us in a melancholy state.
We focus on ourselves. Songs such as How Great Thou Are lift us high into God’s realm and remind us of who He is. The song It Is Well brings us to gratitude by allowing us to feel at one with Him. The old song Mansion Over The Hilltop focuses on the material and personal gain we will have in Heaven. It is self-serving. Many like the song called Reckless Love, but it is not theologically correct. The definition of reckless is to have no regard for the danger of others. Such as a reckless driver. Reckless does not think about the consequences of one’s actions. They act without stopping to think. God’s actions toward us have never been, nor ever will be, reckless!
God’s love in Ephesians 1:4-7 is purposeful. He chose us before the foundation of the world. He knew Adam and Eve would sin, and because of His love, He made a well-thought-out plan to redeem sinful people back to a Holy God. God is the opposite of reckless. We are the irresponsible, reckless ones.
Ephesians 1:4-7 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace”
We get bored and disinterested with the message because we seek a sensual feeling. This is what our society promotes in the media, and we are conditioned to be entertained. When a person says they are bored, they are saying, “This is not meeting my needs.” They want to be entertained. It is all about them. They are takers, not givers.
The next time you head to church, remember to check your heart and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to you. It is to bring you into the presence of a Holy God and allow you to worship the entire service, not just when they sing a song that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. God-honoring music is to help you engage in the Word that is being read and preached. The music is to prepare our hearts for the Word; it does not take the place of the Word. The Word must always be the main focus of our service. It is God’s love letter and instructions for our lives.
