Gilbert's Diagnostic Questions

Below is a portion of Greg Gilbert's follow up to his article on music that I linked to a few days ago. Find the whole article here.

Greg says, "My hope is that these questions, and the
thoughts they provoke in you, will help you to be on guard against your
spiritual life becoming unhealthily dependent on anything it should not be
dependent on. I hope they're helpful to you:

- Do you get bored when someone reads a longish
passage of Scripture in your church? Do you start wishing they’d get on
with the music?

- Do you need music playing in the background for the
reading of Scripture to affect your emotions?

- Does a prayer seem too “plain” or “stark” to you if
it doesn’t have music playing behind it?

- Do you feel depressed a few weeks after a worship
conference because you haven’t felt close to God in a long time?

- Do you desperately look forward to the next
conference you’re going to attend because you know that, finally, you’ll be
able to feel close to God again?

- If you’re in a big church with great music, are you
able to worship when you visit your parents’ small rural church?

- Do you ever feel worshipful in the middle of the
week, at work, at school, etc. just because of thinking about God and his
grace? Or does that only happen when the music’s playing?

- Do you tend to feel closer to God when you’re alone
with your iPOD than you do when you’re gathered with God’s people in your
church?

- Do you feel like you just can’t connect with other
believers who haven’t had the same “worship experiences” that you have?
Can you only connect with other believers who “know what it feels like to really
worship?”

- Is your sense of spiritual well-being based more on feeling close to God, or knowing that you are close to God because of Jesus Christ?"

Great questions, Mr. Gilbert.

Powered by ScribeFire.