Wednesday 28 November 2012

Don't pray in public

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
      Matthew 6: 5-6 (Authorised Version) 

These are claimed to be the words of Jesus himself, just before the feeding of the 5000.

How does this fit with Christian worship? You might argue that worship inside a church is analogous to being inside a closet, but as soon as worship takes place in a public place it seems to be going against the teachings of the best authority figure available in the bible.

As for a TV broadcast of a service . . . there can be little doubt that it also falls into the category of a deadly sin!

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