Performer

This week, I've been thinking a lot about the music that I listen to. When I look at my playlists, I see pop, rock, gospel, rap, hip-hop, country, worship, and many others. I have a very wide appreciation of music and that's rare for some people. I joke that I may not like some type of music, but in reality, I do like it. I feel weird liking all genres of music.

But, this post isn't for me to talk about my taste in music. I really want to talk about Christian music and the way that we, as Christians, listen to and interpret it.

First, though, let's talk about two words that we don't usually see together: pure and love. Those two words are rarely used together because they don't go with each other. As humans, we don't have such a thing as pure love. We are flawed beings. We can rarely love without tainted motives. Usually, when we "love" someone, we want something from them and when others "love" us, they want something from us.

In this life, we (most of the time) feel that we have to earn somebody's love by giving them what they want or require from us. This type of love is not pure at all. It doesn't even reflect God's true heart. However, we are so used to performing that way and trying to impress others, that we begin acting that way towards God. He run around in circles trying to impress Him and trying to gain His love. We don't ever stop to consider that God's love really is pure; it has no deceptive or selfish motive. He doesn't want anything from us except for us.

I was trying to find scripture that could help me illustrate this point when I came across a story that is one of my favorites. It's the story of Martha, Mary and Jesus (found in Luke 10). Maybe you remember the story? Jesus came to visit the home of sisters, Martha and Mary. Martha spent her time trying to prepare for the Lord's visit. She was distracted by trying to make Him happy. But, her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord's feet and listened to His word.

Whether she realized it or not, Martha was trying he hardest to please Jesus and to earn His love. She believed that the only way to do this was to clean and prepare and entertain. She thought that Jesus would be happy with warm food, a clean home, and a comfortable visit. The only thing was that Jesus was happy with just spending time with her and her sister.

Martha thought Jesus' love was impure, so in return, her love to Him was also impure. She was only performing for Jesus. Mary, however, understood His deep and pure love. Thus, she sat at His feet and listened to what He had to say in response to her understanding.

Let's go back to the idea of worship. I am a worshipper. I love to worship the Lord with all my heart. It's an exchange of pure love between Him and me. I receive His love and cannot help but return it.

However, I know that I have viewed worship in the same way Martha viewed her housework. I will worship God because I'm trying to impress Him (as well as others). And I know that it is so easy to fall into the trap that says the only way God will meet with us is when we worship just perfectly.

There are some real risks to worshipping this way, though. It begins to become "formula". By formula, I mean that these songs that we sing can become idolized and we end up focusing on what we are singing and how it sounds. This is all without a real, true heart connection.

Please, don't get me wrong. I absolutely love worship songs. I have my favorites and my not-so-favorites. I just want to make sure that I really do mean the things that I'm singing and that my worship is not just a formulaic effort to try and win over His love.

In the book of John, Jesus tells us, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks." (John 4:23)

That verse tells me that God wants our love and worship towards him to be real and pure.

I'm not so sure about you, but when I begin to strive to impress others and make them love me, well, that really isn't love at all. That, my friends, is performance and it is not exactly what I would call pure.

Our Father wants honesty and truth; our honesty and truth. He wants our spirits and our hearts to be completely connected to what our mouths are saying and singing to Him. He wants out pure worship.

But, you see, the only way for our worship to truly be pure is for us to receive Him pure love for us. We have to realize that no matter what happens, He loves us. His love is unconditional; it is completely pure. He doesn't love us because He wants something from us; He doesn't want us to do Him any service. He simply loves us for being us and He just wants us to know Him and to experience that love from Him.

We can't earn His love! He's already given it to us! That is so amazing! It just makes me want to worship Him more and to give Him all of my love!

When we spend our time focusing on how good He is and on every little thing He has done for us, then we can focus on spending time with Him (like Mary did) rather than "doing things" for Him. We can hear Him, listen to Him, and experience His affection for us. Only then, can we respond in worship. Only then, can we exalt in who He is over every other name and every other circumstance. Only then, can we give Him our pure love as we receive His.

Gossip

Ah, yes. Gossip. This is probably the biggest issue in our society today. Especially for teens and college students. But, let's be honest here for a minute:

We are social creatures in this time and day. We live in a social society where we share in each other's lives. Why else would Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et cetera exist? We are curious. We desire to be "in the know". I'll admit it. I'm always on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I tweet about ten times a day and have more than 1,000 pictures on Instagram. I am a social creature. I want to know what is on everybody's minds. I want to know what goes on in everybody's lives. And, I'll admit, too, that I am a gossip. I'm not as bad as I used to be, but I still do it. And I feel guilty about it. 

Why is it so hard to NOT gossip? 

Well, everybody loves a good story, right? I mean, not necessarily. How about that person that the story is about? Do they like it? Probably not. Gossiping (i.e. spreading rumors) isn't beneficial to anybody. It hurts those whom we talk about and it destroys our credibility. Nobody is going to want to trust you when they know that you are going to tell other people. 

Gossip is also seen as a way that we judge others. Judgment is and never will be our job. The only one who can judge is God. He is in charge of judgements, not us. 

Gossip really only ends up creating things such as GREED, HATE, ENVY. 

If you look at it, really look at it, gossip is a sign that we, as Christians, aren't being really active in our faith and in our lives. I mean, look at your life: the busier you are, the less time you spend wrapped around other people's lives; the less time you gossip.

Gossip is bred out of boredom. It always begins as just a simple conversation and then escalates. You may just be meeting with a friend for coffee to catch up on each other's lives. Before you know it, you both are spreading rumors/gossiping about the other "friends" and acquaintances in your lives. How twisted is that? We have so much more to do with our lives than sitting and telling lies about other people.

When looking through my Bible for verses on this topic, I was overwhelmed with the amount of scripture that has to deal with gossips. 

Leviticus 19:16 – “Do not go about spreading slander among your people. Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord.”

Proverbs 11:13 – “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.”

Romans 1:29 – “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips.”

1 Timothy 5:13 – “Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.”

Matthew 7:1 – “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.”

Proverbs 18:8 – “The words of gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.”

So, what should we do about it?

1. If you find yourself about to or in the middle of gossip, get out of it. If you don't fuel the gossip, it has nowhere to go. This (obviously) also includes those gossip magazines and television shows. It may not seem "sinful" to be reading those magazines or watching those shows, but it is. When you buy that magazine or watch that show, you are fueling the gossip. You are contributing to it. 

2. Also, when you are faced with a statement that may or may not be gossip, check out the facts. For instance, if you hear someone has an eating disorder, go to the person and talk to them about it. They may just need someone to talk to. It may not be true at all. Teenagers can be nasty people when we want to be. However, if you don’t feel comfortable talking to the person yourself, and the rumor is something serious, you may want to go to a parent, pastor, or youth leader. Getting someone to help in a serious situation is not gossip as long as the information stays with you and the person you go to for help.

3. If you want to avoid gossip, focus on creating helpful and encouraging statements. Let the gossip and end with you and remember the Golden Rule – if you don’t want people to gossip about you, then don’t participate in gossip.

Here are a few more verses dealing with this topic:

Proverbs 26:20 – “Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.”

Deuteronomy 13:14 – “Then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly.”

Matthew 7:12 – “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

Ephesians 4:29 – “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Gossip isn't necessary for our lives. We can live without it. So, try and stop it before it spreads like wildfire. Unknowingly, you could even save someone's life.