What Determines "Good" Worship?

Wow, this is a tricky question and I suspect that if you asked ten people you might get ten different answers. And all of those answers would be some combination of objective truth and subjective opinion. I'll tell you right now that I don't have an exact answer myself, but I'm willing to bet that most of us equate "good" worship with some sort of positive emotion. Can worship be good if we don't "feel" anything? I would argue that it can be, but I don't like to believe that. I love things that make me happy, that make me feel good, that inspire a smile and a warmth of heart. But if that is how I define "good" worship, am I really worshiping God or my own positive emotional state? What am I most hoping to encounter, an experience of God or a great feeling that lasts all day? Those two things aren't mutually exclusive. They can, and often do, occur as the same thing. But there are also experiences when a song, sermon, or prayer jerks me into the reality that I could do better in certain areas of my life. Those experiences don't leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling, but they can also lead to profound experiences of worship.

There is a soft spot in my heart for Waynesville, NC. Each year during our Annual Conference I stay in the same bed and breakfast in Waynesville. It's a wonderful place. It's peaceful and the innkeepers George and Andrea always give me the same room with the same beautiful mountain view. They know me by name, have learned what foods I like and dislike, and will often go out of their way to accommodate my schedule if I need an early breakfast. Every time I go there I feel great. There's a sense of "at-homeness" that I get. Likewise, there's an antique store in Waynesville that I enjoy browsing. I see things in there that I haven't seen since I was a kid. Again, it feels great and I love being reminded of toys I used to play with, friends I used to play with, and fun times from long ago. What I experience at both of these places is perhaps the strongest emotion of all of them - nostalgia. Things that are familiar, even if they are antique, bring a sense of comfort and bring back great memories.

I suspect that many of us come to worship looking for a sense of nostalgia. We like things that we know, things that make us comfortable, and elements that make us feel that even if the world seems to be spinning out of control, at least THIS is familiar and right. But that's not necessarily conducive to the purpose of being at worship. In fact, if we're not careful, that can be a type of idolatry. We're worshiping a feeling or personal tastes rather than figuring out how best to worship God.

I'm not against nostalgia. I love it. I feel it when I hear certain songs, see old TV shows, or am in a place that is thick with pleasant memories. But if I'm going to be true to the call to worship, I have to be willing to set aside my desire for nostalgia and be open to experiencing God's presence even if I don't like the music that's going on, the song that the choir is singing, or the pastor's sermon. Worship is offering what we have, even if what we have isn't very happy at the moment. If we can do that, we're getting closer to "good" worship.

P.S. The name of the bed and breakfast in Waynesville is the Andon-Reid Inn. It's a place that's good for the soul. Tell Andrea and George that Mike Stallings sent you.