The balance of 'to' and 'about'

Can you imagine going to a party, your birthday party and being asked to sit in the corner? The party goes on and you hear people talking about you, even saying good things about you, but never once do they talk to you.

Can you imagine being invited to the birthday party of a friend and once you got there you were never invited to participate in the festivities? 

I have never been in a situation like that. In most parties, there seems to be a good balance: times of talking to and about the person we are celebrating and even times of enjoying the others in the room.

Imagine this: attending a worship service and all the songs, all the prayers, talk about God but never once do they talk to God.

In a worship service there needs to be a balance between talking about God and talking to God…’revelation and response.’

In another phase of life, one of my main responsibilities was planning worship services and I had a list of questions I would use to check this balance. A couple of those are: do we spend time talking directly to God? And are there elements that talk about God and his characteristics?

You can apply the questions to your quiet time, your personal worship time. “Did I talk, learn something about God?” “Did I talk to God?” “Did I ask for things?” “Did I offer Him praise and adoration?”

My wife and I have entered a new season in life, one where we are looking for a new home church. As I participate in the variety of these services I still find myself longing for this balance of ‘to’ and ‘about’.