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             The old-time preachers were often known for using some blunt force trauma in their sermons. George A. Lofton was a popular Baptist preacher of the late 1800s who had a unique talent for illustrating his sermons on a blackboard with amazing drawings. In 1898 the interesting book Character Sketches was published containing his artwork along with some of his sermons. In one sermon Mr. Lofton depicted the behavior of people during religious assemblies of the time. I will not mention the title of his sermon, lest some should take offense, but will say that he chastised what he called “asinine” behavior in the assembly. In a milder tone he called such people “church disturbers.” Depending on your age you no doubt have witnessed many, if not all, of these activities during any given worship assembly. He portrayed people, in donkey caricatures, engaged in the following: Looking back over the pews, passing notes, scribbling in hymn books and defacing pews, “gabblers” laughing and talking back and forth, “a courting couple in sweet converse – ‘billing and cooing’ during the sermon, and cannot wait one hour for a better opportunity,” a “dude” and a “dudine” walking in late, people coming in and going out during services, the tobacco chewer leaving spots on pews and spitting on the floor, carpeted or not, and the timeless favorite of “pulling out your watch and snapping it, throwing back you head, and yawning in the face of the preacher and his audience.”
            Young folks today will not believe what is stated above even though these were common practices of the time. Many of these behaviors have been sustained, in a more or less dignified fashion, with the passing of years. If George Lofton were alive today, he would no doubt have to revise his portrayal of disconnected people in the assembly by adding the person seated in calm repose staring down at a cell phone in his or her lap, instead of their Bible. But of course that’s how many people read their Bibles these days. We have reached the time in our culture where the announcement to turn off or silence your cell phone is now routine. But that does not keep some from replacing some parts of the worship with something more urgent or interesting on the cell phone. They are not disturbing anybody (except by their influence), but neither are they connected with the activities of the worship. Is the electronic game or text message something that cannot wait one hour? Maybe they are drawing nearer to God in reverent obeisance while they silently work the keys on their cell phone (Jn. 4:24). Perhaps they are doing for themselves what the preacher cannot accomplish as he labors hard in preaching the gospel of Christ (1 Cor. 9:16).
            Reverence for God should be the cure for distracting behavior in the worship assembly as well as for the disconnection some feel as we worship God. A heart full of reverence trembles before the God worthy to be worshipped (Heb. 12:28). No one can praise God who does not bow before him in adoring awe because his name is “holy and reverend” (Psa. 111:9).