7 years ago
Jun 9, 2007
Every Friday there is a young adults bible study at the church I go to when I'm in NM. I was really disturbed by the study last night. There have been a lot of changes since I left. Which is good, except when change is bad. It's good to have a relaxed Bible study, but it is God's Word after all. And I feel that there is a blasé atmosphere among most. There are a couple into it, but it just feels like no one expects anything to happen. And this is not even what disturbed me.
What bothered me was something that is all over the church, but I just noticed it last night. There are certain phrases people use that sound great but have no real weight in their life. Last night we talked about worship a little bit. If a discussion comes up on worship I can predict exactly what people will say. First they will talk about it not being just a song like most people think (but everybody says that so obviously nobody thinks it's just a song). Then they will bring up different catch phrases to describe worship "as a lifestyle". "For me worship is pointing to Christ in everything, praising Him in everything, etc" You get the point.
Alright that's great. But so what? Did anyone leave the study last night thinking about how they are going to do that? Phrases like that have a certain dissociating quality to them. It's a way of connecting spiritual truths to one's life without letting it change anything.
Why aren't there answers like these?
"For me worship is giving the homeless guy who asked for spare change my last 20 bucks because Jesus said, give to those who ask."
"For me worship is sitting across the street of an abortion clinic offering to help the moms who have no option."
"For me worship is celibacy."
"For me worship is having a huge BBQ every Saturday for any homeless people who want a lunch."
"For me worship is seeing that prostitute as a mom and asking her how I can help."
"For me worship is going to gay bars and talking to guys about Jesus."
"For me worship was skipping church last Sunday because I saw a teenager who obviously slept on the street. So I took him out to breakfast instead."
"For me worship is building the church a decent website and keeping it current."
"For me worship is dropping every tenth cigarette in the offering plate."
"For me worship is protesting war."
"For me worship is turning my iPod off and listening to the wind."
You get the point. Comments like these would get people thinking about worship in a way that would change how they live. But how is the worship-is-pointing-to-God-in-everything attitude going to draw anyone closer to God? It won't change any actions. And it's what we do as well as what we believe that will build this love relationship.
For me... worship is...
What bothered me was something that is all over the church, but I just noticed it last night. There are certain phrases people use that sound great but have no real weight in their life. Last night we talked about worship a little bit. If a discussion comes up on worship I can predict exactly what people will say. First they will talk about it not being just a song like most people think (but everybody says that so obviously nobody thinks it's just a song). Then they will bring up different catch phrases to describe worship "as a lifestyle". "For me worship is pointing to Christ in everything, praising Him in everything, etc" You get the point.
Alright that's great. But so what? Did anyone leave the study last night thinking about how they are going to do that? Phrases like that have a certain dissociating quality to them. It's a way of connecting spiritual truths to one's life without letting it change anything.
Why aren't there answers like these?
"For me worship is giving the homeless guy who asked for spare change my last 20 bucks because Jesus said, give to those who ask."
"For me worship is sitting across the street of an abortion clinic offering to help the moms who have no option."
"For me worship is celibacy."
"For me worship is having a huge BBQ every Saturday for any homeless people who want a lunch."
"For me worship is seeing that prostitute as a mom and asking her how I can help."
"For me worship is going to gay bars and talking to guys about Jesus."
"For me worship was skipping church last Sunday because I saw a teenager who obviously slept on the street. So I took him out to breakfast instead."
"For me worship is building the church a decent website and keeping it current."
"For me worship is dropping every tenth cigarette in the offering plate."
"For me worship is protesting war."
"For me worship is turning my iPod off and listening to the wind."
You get the point. Comments like these would get people thinking about worship in a way that would change how they live. But how is the worship-is-pointing-to-God-in-everything attitude going to draw anyone closer to God? It won't change any actions. And it's what we do as well as what we believe that will build this love relationship.
For me... worship is...
