¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2, NIV).

Dictionary.com defines decorum as dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc. It is synonymous to the words politeness, manners, dignity, and etiquette. It is called in plain words as “good manners and right conduct.”

In my high school days, we had a subject called GMRC (Good Manners and Right Conduct) where our class was taught about respect and conduct in dealing with people. We were graded not only according to the theoretical accepted social standards but also according to the practical applications of what were taught to us. Many of my classmates got high marks in theories but failed miserably in applications. It was because they could not resist peer pressures prevailing during that time. There was even a case where one of my classmates who was academically intelligent and who looked very unassuming, kind, and soft-spoken that was summarily given a failed “0” mark because our principal caught him in possession of pornographic drawings. He ended up quitting school and from then until we graduated, we did not hear about him anymore.

When we go to church and participate in worship, what is our purpose? Is our primary purpose drawing blessings from the church through the sermons? Or do we attend worship because we consider ourselves as parts of the whole body of Christ that must strengthen each other for Christ’s sake? Do we attend worship because we just want to hear only pleasant things in sermons and do not want to be rebuked for errors we do? Or, do we go to worship service to note down what the preacher says against our preferences and emotions and use them to rally attendees sharing the same preferences and inclinations we have? Or, do we go the church worship with premeditated intention to convert the worship service as a town-hall meeting ignoring the proper decorum called for by the sanctity of true worship?

Every genuine Bible-believing Christian whose Lord is Christ will agree to the proper decorum mentioned by Paul in Romans 1:1-2. Worshipers must offer their bodies as living sacrifice, holy, and pleasing to God. This is done by being humble, not hypocritical, and not conforming to the pattern of this world. In other words, politeness, decency, and manners must be present in every worshiper in his/her act of worshiping God. Anyone who comes to worship the true God without these characteristics is not a worshiper but a heckler who does not know who God is.

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