Blog
“Don't Clang”
Don’t Clang
Wade Webster
For several weeks we have been discussing some things that we have learned or can learn about worship from the gym. I am convinced that in just a short time, we will all be in better shape spiritually. In the first lesson, we noticed that we usually feel better after we go to the gym/worship. In the second lesson, we noticed that going to the gym/worship helps us to make better choices. In the third lesson, we noticed that going to the gym/worship needs to be about growth and not about comparison. In the fourth lesson, we noticed that the gym/worship meets several needs. In this fifth lesson, we will notice the need to avoid clanging.
There is this guy at the gym who clangs. Every repetition is followed by a clang. There is a clang about every three seconds. One, two, three, Clang! One, two, three, Clang! One, two, three, Clang! I could kind of understand the clanging if he was lifting the equivalent of a small car. Some do, but he isn’t. In fact, he is lifting about what I lift, which isn’t much. It is certainly nothing to clang about. Yet, he does. I try to ignore the clanging. I really do. However, it is really hard to ignore. It breaks my focus. Maybe, I am the only one that notices. Maybe, I am the only one that it bothers. However, I don’t think so. Maybe, he doesn’t know that he clangs. Surely, he would stop if he did. Maybe, he thinks that everyone clangs. This must be what he thinks. However, they don’t! In fact, most people put forth great effort not to clang. Maybe, he knows that he clangs and just doesn’t care what others think. I suppose this could be true, but I don’t think so. I think that he is oblivious to the fact that he is clanging when those around him are not.
You may recall that Paul spoke of clanging in First Corinthians. He wrote, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1). Did you catch that? A clanging cymbal! Without love, even the great Apostle Paul would have been a clanger. Obviously, Paul was only using himself as an example. Few, if any, had more love for God or man than Paul did. In the second epistle to these same Corinthians, he would write, “And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved” (2 Cor. 12:15). Although Paul was no clanging cymbal, some of the Corinthians were. Instead of coveting love, the best gift, they were coveting lesser gifts - spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:31). Instead of choosing the eternal (love- 1 Cor. 13:13), they were choosing the temporary (spiritual gifts - 1 Cor. 13:8-10). They seem to have especially been drawn to the gift of tongues. However, had they been able to speak with the tongues of men and of angels, they would have still been clangers without love. Of course, the same is true of us. Without genuine love for God and for one another, we will clang loudly (Mat. 22:37-39; 1 John 4:20-21). Likely, without love, we will make it hard for others to focus in worship. Imagine what they hear as they are trying to worship. One, two, three, Clang! One, two, three, Clang! One, two, three, Clang! Of course, worst of all, this is what God hears when our hearts are not filled with love for Him, for His word, and for His children.
As we get ready to worship this week, let’s make sure that our hearts are filled with love. Without love, we will clang in our worship and distract others.
