going to church with a clear conscience

Have you ever had to sit in a room with someone who has dirt on you? Or had to speak to a group that someone in the room knows something about you? How about as a kid or teenager coming home to your parents and feeling guilt because you have done something wrong they won't approve of. Odds are all of us have done atleast 2 of these and know what it feels like to be in that situation.
I remember coming home as a kid from somewhere I was not supposed to go. It seemed like everyone could tell, my mom and dad asked questions about school, my day, sports and so on. But, the guilt made me feel like I was under interrogation, the pounding in my chest the feeling was too much for me to deal with. I'm sure you know the feeling, you can't focus on anything but the guilt.
Think about worshipping under that type of stress. Sitting in a room full of believers singing praises and worshipping God, but over there on the other end of the pew is someone who knows some deep dark thing, or there's someone who you have offended at some point. What is that feeling? It starts to feel as if that is all that is going on in the room, and everyone else seems to know it(even though everyone else is clueless).
That is much of what the Holy Spirit does, He pushes us and drives us toward purity and godliness. Any time there are things in our lives that are not pure or godly the Holy Spirit kicks our conscience into overdrive. SO when you offend, clean it up, come to grips with it and fix it before you go trying to worship again.
Matthew 5:23-24 says, "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift."
Jesus is saying before you even step foot in a worship atmosphere fix it. If you start heading off to church and you realize someone has a grudge or something against you fix it, go straight to them or call them and fix it. Then and only then can you worship God in the fullness that He wants from us.
We need clear minds, and clean hearts to worship God in fullness. Without these two things we will be distracted, and a distracted worshipper is no worshipper at all.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!