Church Etiquette 7

This blog post ends the presentations of the 7 church etiquette guidelines: DO NOT: disregard, disrespect, disrupt, distort, distract, distress, or DISTURB. Since for most of us the words disrupt, distract, and disturb are synonyms, 2 remarks are fitting: (1) Because etiquette isn’t taught or talked about much these days, repetition is a good thing. So if one sees these three things as one then just know that it is THAT important, and is worth repeating (2) Because it is the most common area of violation re: church etiquette, reviewing and reexamining it will help keep it in front of us and will help guide us in the way we should go. Most view the differences between these words as generally just a matter of degrees… ‘To Disrupt’ is to cause/create disorder or chaos (tumult); ‘To Distract’ is to divert or prevent another’s full attention; ‘To Disturb’ is to bother, annoy, or interrupt. An example might help… if you are trying to listen to something on the radio and a jackhammer begins working on the street outside but is loud enough to nearly drown out your radio broadcast, that is a disturbance; if your boss comes into the room and begins to bark out orders over the top of the broadcast and the jackhammer, that is a distraction; but if he yanks the radio cord out of the wall causing the radio to go silent, that is a disruption!

Many people place a ‘do not disturb’ sign over their ears, heart, mind, not wanting God to “mess” with their lives. That is NOT a good thing. While we do not want you to do that, the gist of this article is to understand that “do not disturb” (when it is referencing not being an annoyance or a bother or an interruption to the work and worship of God) is a good thing. It is important not to be or ever become an impediment, an interference, or an interruption to the progress God is trying to achieve in your or anyone else’s life. Progress (onward)! Elevate (upward)!

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