Have we gotten so complacent in our Christian walk and in our churches that we have become "Christian Robots"? I visited a church recently and as I was observing the various aspects of the service, the term "Christian robots" just kept leaping into my mind. I would watch these people and they would praise on cue, raise their hands on cue, stand on cue, and even pray on cue, just like a bunch of robots. Now don't misunderstand me, I am not condemning these acts because all church services have the congregation do these things on cue, as a whole, various times throughout the service. However, when a congregation is doing these things as a group, one can look around and see the individuality of the people throughout the group, but not at this church.
I have had the privilege to minister in many churches of various denominations, so I have seen how the church services are conducted. Usually the first part of the service is a praise/musical worship time followed by a time of studying God's Word. During the musical part of the service, the congregation will be asked, of course, to stand and sing, stand and pray, or stand and read something from the bulletin, etc. However, even though this is usually done in one accord, everyone brings some individuality to it, rather it is through their accent, their vocal range, even how they pray (i.e. with raised hands, folded hands, closed eyes, etc). When I began to watch the members of this church interact in their worship service it was, for lack of a better word, monotonous. The praise team/praise leader would start to sing and then raise her hands to which the congregation would promptly raise their hands as to mimic her. They would continue this until she finished the song and lowered her hands, at which time, they did the same. It was as if we were doing VBS action songs to follow the leader. I am a firm believer in letting the Holy Spirit lead us in our praise! Just because someone is raising their hands and shouting in praise doesn't mean the Holy Spirit is leading you too! He may be leading you to be reverent and in silent prayer/praise in your seat as opposed to standing to your feet with hands raised. When has church become so passive and complacent that we just play "follow the leader", instead of "listen to the Holy Spirit"!
Now on to the sermon part of the service. Again, I have seen many preachers/ministers present the Gospel in various ways, and have seen many church members respond to their teachings in various different ways. When it became time for the preaching part of the service at this church, the "robotics" seemed to get worse. Various times throughout the sermon, the preacher would say something to which he would expect an "Amen" or possibly "Praise the Lord". When he didn't receive the appropriate response, he would begin to coax the audience to which they would "obediently" reply to whatever phrase he told them to say (i.e. "can I get an Amen or how about a Praise the Lord"). I know there are times throughout the sermon, a preacher will do something similar to make sure the audience is indeed paying attention. During those times, you will usually hear a few "Amens" and a few "Come ons", mixed with a few "Preach on brother", along with a few "Praise the Lords". Very rarely do you hear an entire congregation reply, much less reply with the same statement. Well, not only did the entire congregation reply, they all replied with the same phrase as "prompted'. Just as the Holy Spirit should lead us on how we publicly praise, I believe the same applies to our verbal agreement to the sermon! If the Lord has not lead you to "Amen", then don't do it. Some people are more outspoken in a service and that's ok, but don't get so complacent that you feel you must do the same to "fit" with your congregation.
Bottom line: God made each of us different! We WILL differ in the way we praise and pray from the others in our congregation and we SHOULD! The Lord expects us to praise Him and pray to Him in the way He leads us, not the way man thinks we should! Don't become a "Christian robot" when in your church service! Don't become so complacent that you "follow the leader" and forget to "follow the Leader"!!!
