Words from WW Blog

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1)

My friend, Allan, was talking to me about the pet scan he was scheduled to have. Because of a bout with cancer a few years ago, he has the scan done when his physician considers it a precautionary step. Allan was not looking forward to NOT doing the things that are a part of his daily routine, such as a spinning class on a stationary bike at the local YMCA and taking a long walk. Those exercise activities were no-nos, as well as eating carbohydrates.

I asked him why, and he said it was because of “muscle noise.” I had never heard that term before. Muscle noise…hmmm! He explained that muscle noise can cause a false positive on the test. Muscle noise can make it appear as if there is a tumor or inflammation, leading to misinterpretation of the situation. It can also mask the situation, or, as the physician would say, “steal the tracer,” reducing the signal from smaller tumors that might be present.

Thus, as Allan explains it, he was not excited about a day of inactivity to avoid muscle noise. Probably going to turn him into “The Grouch” for a few hours, and make him a bear to live with. All to keep his muscles from being out of control and, as the younger generation would say, giving a “fake-out.”

Sometimes I wish there could be a spiritual “muscle noise” scan for followers of Jesus. You know…a tool that could signal authenticity or false praise. Who is making a lot of noise that is inaccurately interpreted as heartfelt devotion and commitment? Who is drawing attention to themselves, instead of worship of the Lord?

Shouldn’t there be times when stillness and silence define the person and the worship of the believers? Just as some worship is sedate and unconnected, there is another kind of worship that could best be defined as spastic and ingenuous. Sometimes the church needs to practice silence to hear the still, small voice of the Spirit. Sometimes the church needs to be still and know that He is the Lord.

A friend of mine, in describing his church’s worship experience, said, “We praise the Lord during the worship service and then act like the devil getting out of the parking lot.”

As Allan said, there are certain things he isn’t allowed to do before his scan, which minimize the risk of misinterpretation. That sounds like a good idea for Christ-followers, also. There should be certain things we don’t do during the hours leading up to worship, certain things that cause distance from the One we worship, instead of closeness to the Holy.

Muscle noise. Muscle silence. What an interesting thing to discover.

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This entry was posted on December 23, 2025 at 2:28 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Bible, Faith, God, Jesus, Worship

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