It used to be, you’d go to a restaurant or a business and be asked to leave feedback on your experience. Sometimes there’d be a comment card or a space provided on the receipt. To this day you can get a $1 whopper if you can stand to sit through a survey and talk to a human being for 90 seconds.

I’ll pass.

On Amazon you can find a suspiciously humongous number of reviews for some generic products like a calculator or notepad. Seriously: Am I really supposed to believe over 10,000 people all bought the same 3×5 notepad and left it 4 stars? I suppose it’s easy to drop a star rating on something and move on without providing any constructive feedback on what went right or wrong. I can’t imagine what it would be like if such a system was applied to a typical Sunday service.

But just for giggles, I’ll ask…

How would you rate your experience with us this recent Lord’s Day?

  1. Were you taught the Bible?
  2. Were you made aware of the love of God and Grace of Christ?
  3. Were you prayed for and encouraged to pray for others?
  4. Were you sung to?

If you’re inclined to answer no to any of those questions, WAIT: Ask yourself:

  1. Did you enter Bible study with an open heart? Did you come to Bible study this morning? It’s that extra time we have an hour before worship. It’s great.
  2. Did you reflect the love of Christ to those around you?
  3. Did you follow the prayer leader or did you let your mind wander, thinking on what you’d eat for dinner in a little bit?
  4. Did you sing happily to those around you and to the God above?
  5. Were you a person people wanted to be around or did you sit there like a stump just waiting for it all to end?

I won’t say we’re perfect here, but I will say we try to teach, to love, to pray for others, and to encourage with song. I say “we” because that’s most of us. There’s always someone (sometimes it’s me!) who leaves the service with nothing but gripes, grumbling that they didn’t get anything out of worship.

I wonder: What did they give?

Perhaps we should be walking out of worship with our hearts pointed to the Throne of God, asking Him: “How did I do?” Perhaps we should be walking into worship with our hearts pointed in the same direction, telling God “this is for You.” It might just change our entire perspective about why we’re here.

Love you all,

~ Matthew