Asking the Right Questions to Encourage Worship Renewal Do I Have to Wear a Mask at Church? Wrong Question.

Will I be asked to wear a mask when we gather again for worship even if I don’t think it is necessary? Will I be able to sing again in a choir or even congregationally? Will I have to social distance from others even though I need to hug everyone? These and many other questions are being asked as churches begin to gather again for in-person worship. But even though these questions might be pressing, they are the wrong questions to ask first.

If “what’s in it for me” is our first question as we gather again for worship, then our focus is no longer on the worshiped, but instead the worshiper. But if we ask the right questions first, then those secondary question may have already been answered.

Here are some of those right questions:

Am I looking not only to my own interests, but also to the interests of others (Phil. 2:4)?
Am I seeking my own good, or the good of my neighbor (1 Cor. 10:24)?
Am I responding from rivalry or conceit, or in humility am I counting others more significant than myself (Phil 2:3)?
Am I bearing the burdens of others, and so fulfilling the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2)?
Am I causing quarrels and fights among us? Are my passions at war within me (James 4:1)?
Am I loving the Lord my God with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my mind and with all my strength and also loving my neighbor as I love myself (Mark 12:30-31)?
Am I presenting my body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is my spiritual worship? Am I conforming to this world, or am I being transformed by the renewal of my mind (Rom. 12:1-2)?
Am I walking in love, as Christ loved me and gave himself up for me, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:2)?
Am I acting justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God (Micah 6:8)?
Am I gathering with unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind (1 Pet. 3:8)?