3 pointers for those not on the praise team

I'm totally convinced that our district congregation is wack. Yep, I said it.

Recently we had a great P&W set. (Yes I'm tooting my horn - beep, beep!) Definitely the best of our last three, but somehow there was still some wackness going on within the congregation.

I'm not gonna even waste my brain cells trying to figure out why the audience was half dead, but here are some pointers for all of you who are not on a praise team.

• The best way to kill a service is by not participating. You don't have to be able to sing to make a joyful noise. You can lift your hands, wave your hands, sway, dance, clap, smile, etc. These are all ways to participate. There's nothing worse than looking at an audience of blank or angry faces.
• When you're excited about something, you don't sit all the way in the back. You don't have to be on the front row, but sitting on the periphery is a sign of where you are mentally and dare I say spiritually.
• Get over yourself and your issues. You are not responding to the praise team, per se. Praise and worship is your time to connect with God. Quit looking at the praise leaders as performers or as people in general who you may or may not even like. It's not about the praise team. It is about your response to God. We are mere conduits/facilitators.

There was a really popular secular song out a few years ago that had this really catchy line: "if you ain't got no money take your broke $%% home!"  Basically, don't try to kick it if you can't afford it. You'll kill everyone's good time trying to hang out when you're worried about keeping it cheap. That's kinda how I feel about P&W these days. If you didn't come to church to praise God maybe you should just stay home. (And please don't start thinking "well, sometimes people just need to hear a word or get prayer.") We need to quit coming to church to get something. This is not a welfare line.

So yeah...it's not always the praise team or the soloist or the preacher; it's you.