Left-Brained Worship. Part 3

I am already having a hard time not wanting to Twitter or play on Facebook. This just adds to the conformation that it is something I need. Tweetdeck has become my cocaine. I have really become obsessed with my online persona...maybe sometimes more than who I actually am.

I am praying that God will move any distraction out of my way that is keeping me from worshiping Him and falling on my face in awe of who He is.

Here is some more of left-brained worship for your reading enjoyment.

Brain Drain

Our mind likes patterns. We are addicted to them.

Work schedules, school schedules, alarm clocks, planners, and watches.
I take a shower and brush my teeth the same way every day. I make my bed the same way, and even have a routine when I get on the Internet. Patterns are not bad, we would be very confused without them and some people (like me) would be freaked out all the time without them.

The problem comes when we put patterns on a God who is much bigger than we can imagine. We pencil God in our planner. When he does not show up like we wanted, we wonder what went wrong…

There are two sides to the human brain. Right and Left. Here are some characteristics of each side.

Left Brain
Uses logic
Detail oriented
Facts rule
Present and past
Order/pattern perception 

Practical
Safe

Right Brain
“big picture” ideas
Imagination
Feelings
Impetuous
Believes
Present and Future
Risk Taking


The left side of the brain is a great thing. We would not make it very far in the day without it.

But I am afraid that we have turned into left-brain worshippers.

We follow the bulletin, we know when to sit, stand, and shake hands.
There is nothing wrong with order, until we order God out of the service. The details become so consuming that we forget why we come together.
I am not at all trying to say that we should not plan; planning is extremely important.

Many times, we plan God right out of the service. We pick the songs we know will get a response. I have been there, many times. We stop taking risks, fearing someone will be upset with the change. We play it safe, and follow all these unwritten (and sometimes written) rules. It may not always be a conscious move, our left-brain wants consistency and order, but it happens.
God has called us to something much more exciting than that. We can choose be stuck there, in the land of rules and regulations. Or, we can move out into the unknown. God uses us the most when we rely on Him the most.

In the next verse in Mark, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men (Mark 7:8). They become left-brain worshippers. Traditions ruled over transformation. They were in the presence of the savior of the world, and rebuked him for not following their rules.