Worship or Waste?

It never ceases to amaze me how diverse the Holy Spirit can be in His interaction with God's people.  Over the years, I have been exposed to a wide variety of worship opportunities among several cultures and various age groups and I find one thing in common, a general feeling that "the way we do it is the right way." From small intimate gatherings of believers singing songs of worship and adoration to God, to stadiums filled with men singing a 19th century hymn, "Holy, Holy, Holy," to an almost raucous college chapel service with students singing at the top of their lungs about "arms high and heart abandoned," I have witnessed and experienced amazing moments of worship when the presence of God was palpable in the room.  And, sadly, in almost every case there were Christian brothers or sisters standing back with a critical spirit questioning the authenticity or sincerity of what they were seeing.  "How can God be honored with that kind of music?" "All I see is emotionalism.  Where is the substance?" "Why does it have to be so loud?" Or on the other hand, "Why does it have to be so slow and dead?"
When are we going to realize that God moves and works in a myriad of different ways to minister to the hearts and to reach into the innermost part of the vast variety of people that He calls His own.We need to be careful of how we judge the worship of others, of how hastily we disregard their actions and their adoration of God.  In John 12, Mary, the sister of Lazarus, brought out a costly box of precious ointment and she poured it out upon the feet of Jesus.  Then she wiped his feet with her hair.  The house was filled with the glorious fragrance of the ointment as the impact of her costly sacrifice spread to all who were in the room.  Mary's humble act of worship honored Christ and displayed her deep love for Him and her gratitude for what Jesus had so recently accomplished by raising her brother from the dead.  You would think that everyone who witnessed it would have been touched by what they saw, but sadly that was not the case.  Judas, wondered why such a waste was made.  He said, in essence, "My way would have been so much better.  Sell the ointment and give the money to the poor. That makes so much more sense. How foolish!"
The text points out that Judas' motive behind his criticism was purely selfish.  I believe that we need to realize that most of our criticism of others' worship is also selfish.  We have our preferences and we want to believe that our preferences are God's preferences.  Rather arrogant, don't you think? 
When all is said and done,  I believe that we need to worship God in the language of our heart, offer Him the sacrifices of our lips, praise Him in love and sincerity, and let Him be the judge.  Then, regardless of what others may think, we will know that our worship is not wasted.