Are You in the Audience, or the Congregation?

Audience

1. The group of spectators at a public event; listeners or viewers collectively, as in attendance at a theater or concert: The audience was respectful of the speaker's opinion.

Congregation

1. An organization formed for the purpose of providing for worship of God, for religious education, and for other church activities; a local church society.

As we begin to conclude another day in the Lord, I pray your worship service was edifying and joyous. I further pray, the songs sung and the words spoken did much to give you the Godly direction you seek, and drew you closer to the Lord than you were before. And for you, my friends, who have no church affiliation, or serve another god, I pray you come to the full knowledge of the God I serve, or, at the very least, find the direction you too seek for your life.

As I awoke this morning, the words above entered my spirit. They caused me, even in my semi-slumbered mind to ask this poignant question: Are we in the audience or the congregation when we go to church? Think about it…

When we are in church, we sit in pews or on the bench and we listen to the choir or the praise team sing praises to God. We wait in anticipation for the word of God to be preached from the pulpit. We even listen to the weekly announcements as they are offered. But, I ask again, are we in the audience or the congregation?

If you look at the definitions listed, you will see a definitive difference between the two, one denotes active participation, while the other is regarding being entertained. One is for show and the other for show thyself. Which are you when you are in church?

Allow me to elaborate –

When you are seeing a movie or a play, you are in THE AUDIENCE.

When you are in the presence of God in worship amongst believers and non-believers alike, you are in THE CONGREGATION.

When you are at a concert, you are IN THE AUDIENCE.

When you are in a church, seeking God’s spirit. YOU ARE IN THE CONGREGATION.

“Praise God in the great congregation; praise the LORD in the assembly of Israel.” (Psalm 68:26)

Nowhere in this passage of scripture does it say, “Be entertained”, or, “enjoy the show”. No. It says, “Praise God IN THE CONGREGATION.” So why do you think the two words can be interwoven or exchanged when they clearly cannot. SO STOP TRYING TO MAKE THEM FIT.

God has called us to assemble in His tabernacle, His house of worship. And we need to start treating it as such. We don’t go to church to be entertained. We go there to give praises to God. Regardless of how fantastic the choir sounded, or how eloquent the messenger was, you did not “attend a show” you went there to worship – to show God what he is worth to you – and nothing else.

GOD IS NOT IN THE ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS.

Do you feel as if you’ve been missing some blessings? Are you stumbling your way through life even though you go to church every week and even attend Sunday school and Bible study? You tithe and you tithe, and often give to other ministries and charitable organizations, but still you don’t feel “connected”? Could it be you are “in the audience” and not “in the congregation”? If this is the case, I highly advise that you switch seats and join in the worship.

Remember, you want to be in the audience when you watch the Bears game or Tyler Perry’s latest production, but you want to be in the congregation to get your next blessing. Be blessed!