DAILY DEVO...worship is our witness

When I was a teenager and I would go to the mall with my friends, we would sometimes just sit on the benches in the middle of the mall and watch people as they passed by.

One time I was at the mall with my mother, I sat on the bench as I waited for her to finish shopping. When she returned to me, she asked, "what are you doing?" To which I replied, "people watching!"

We tend to watch people, don't we? And people watch us. There is a direct connection between a Believer's WORSHIP and a Believer's WITNESS ...

"They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." (Acts 2:46-47). 

The way that we worship (and what we worship) is a witness to those inside the church and outside the church as well.

When things are going great in our life: our job is going good, we are healthy, our marriage is happy...people are watching.

When things all of a sudden turn upside down: we lose our job, we get cancer or our spouse leaves us; guess what...people are still watching.

It is in this time of struggle, strife and stress that people are watching to see if our worship matches our witness. Is the God who we praise for our riches also the God who we praise in our time of need?

People not only are watching WHO we praise but WHAT we praise. Our neighbors and friends see us going to church every Sunday, but they also see us coming in from the clubs on Friday night. People are watching from afar the things that come out of your mouth, what you spend your money on, what you do in private.

If we are a Christian and we have to look over our shoulder to see if someone is watching...they probably are. If we have to mute a song we are listening to or turn the channel quickly because we don't want someone to hear what we are listening to or watching...they saw, they heard.

In order to have the Acts 2 kind of witness that will build His Church, we must first look at our worship...our worship IS our witness. And people are watching us to see if what we say lines up with how we live.

People watchers...they are everywhere, even when we aren't looking.