Ep 38: A Back Row Perspective

Speaker1: Well, good morning and a happy new Year. I'm Daniel Dorp, and this is for your Sunday morning drive. The short podcast designed to help put you in a Colossians three two mindset and prepare your mind for worship on those hectic Sunday mornings. We are brought to you in partnership with the Ministry League Network of podcasts. As always, you can look in our show notes every week to find a link to all of their great resources that can help you grow spiritually. Well, this is the first episode of the New Year, and if you're new, I want to extend a hearty welcome. And if you aren't. Well, thanks for sticking around. Let's go ahead and get into it. This is episode 38, A back row perspective. Let's go to church.

Speaker2: Are we there yet?

Speaker1: The week of Christmas, I had the good pleasure of attending Washington Avenue Church of Christ. The church I grew up in for their midweek Bible study, and my family came in and we sat in a pew near the back, a seat that's often lambasted by us preachers or Bible class teachers. And and after the experience that I'm about to detail here in a moment, I think unfairly so. Well, you know how it goes. We give a laundry list of reasons of of why we should all move forward or sit towards the front. Maybe we say, because the singing sounds better, even though I'm quite sure it sounds the same to God. Or maybe it will give our guests more room to find a seat. And while I haven't heard this one as much since Covid, maybe it's because we say we want to feel closer as a congregation and I'm not besmirching any of those. They all have valid points. But if I may for just a moment say a few short thoughts in defense of sitting in the back row. You see, it was the day after Christmas. And in terms of church attendance, that means, dear friends, brothers and Brothers and sisters in Christ that have moved away from the area are now back in town to visit, and I was blessed to be able to have that back row perspective. Because of this, I was able to see my brethren worshiping together.

Speaker1: To see all of my childhood friends now grown, married to wonderful, godly women with kids of their own, involved in ministries that are pleasing to God. All of us gathered together on a rare occasion to worship our God. And I'll be honest, it moved me. Few things in life are better than seeing your friends succeed in the eyes of God. And if I hadn't been in the back row, I would have missed it. Now, it just so happens that my family also sits in the back row at Hawesville, where I preach. It just kind of happened, you know? We walked in on the first day and sat down, and we've been there ever since, but it's been a good seat. Especially when my son was born and we needed that quick exit to the nursery. But as I sit here and I think on it, it's been a good seat for other reasons too. You see, from the back pew. I get to see how my brethren worship. I get to see all of those little interactions with grandparents and grandchildren. I get to watch my fellow parents attempt to wrangle, sometimes unsuccessfully, their children. I get to see my brothers leading, singing, serving the Lord's table, and leading prayer and just observe them joyfully laboring alongside their church family. And I get to see new mothers and fathers do that thing where they look around when their baby cries, almost as if they're afraid it's going to offend someone, only to be met by the understanding eyes of older ladies that want nothing more than for that little one to stay right where they are.

Speaker1: And on more than one occasion, I've got to witness that silent whisper of you're doing great to a mom or dad that desperately needs to hear it. And if I hadn't been in the back row, I would have missed all of it. Hebrews 1024 and 25 says, and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. You see, that's what the back row allowed me to do. To see my brethren stirring me up to love in good deeds. You know, maybe the back row isn't such a bad seat after all, because under the right conditions, it can be the best seat in the house. Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive. Now it's time to hear yours. Our discussion questions for today are what do we do to make worship a time of encouragement as well as honor God? And do we spend too much time worrying about structure and presentation rather than true worship and honest encouragement?