I was pretty upset at church this past Sunday. Let's face it, for most Christ-followers, it's pretty easy to find something at church to get upset about. Our churches are institutions run by imperfect people, so they will inevitably be rife with imperfections themselves. If I'm going to attend church and have it be a positive experience, then I have to intentionally make it about God, and not me or other people. God never changes, and I am able to -- and should -- worship Him anywhere. With that perspective, going to church is not only easier, but far more enjoyable and fulfilling. But I digress...
I was upset this Sunday. As we took our seats (3rd row from the front, just off center, in a sanctuary designed to seat about 500) about 10 minutes before the service was set to start, the folks sitting right behind us were chatting away enthusiastically. In fact the entire sanctuary was full of the gentle murmur of friendly conversation, sprinkled with a laugh or a squealing child here and there. Of course this all died down and then went completely silent as the worship leader greeted everyone and then invited the congregation to join him in an opening prayer. At least it would have been completely silent, if only the folks behind us had stopped their conversation, but they didn't. They kept chatting away as everyone around them bowed their heads and closed their eyes in prayer.
The prayer finished, and the first worship song began. It was a powerful, Spirit-filled time of praising our God. At least I assume it was for others that were not trying to tune out the conversation that was STILL going on behind them! There wasn't even an attempt to whisper, and it was extremely distracting and aggravating. I came very close to turning around and asking them in a less-than-Christ-like manner to please take their conversation out to the foyer. In hindsight I realize that this would have only helped a little, since the doors between the sanctuary and the foyer were still wide open, and the noise of the milling crowd could be clearly heard over both the worship music and the chatting group behind me. *Sigh*
Some of you by now are thinking, "Lee, you really need to calm down/lighten up. Was it that big of a deal? You shouldn't be so critical of your brothers and sisters." Or something like that. Certainly I did need to calm down, and the Holy Spirit was there to help with that. As I prepared to turn around, the Holy Spirit reminded me of John 4:24: "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Instead of turning around and potentially losing my cool with the folks behind me, I instead offered up a quick prayer to the Holy Spirit, asking that He would help me worship the Father through Him, and not in my own flesh. I asked that He would help me tune out all distractions and focus exclusively on my God, and the lifting of His name. My prayer was answered! I was able to refocus and enter in to a blessed time of communion through song. My ire melted away.
Alas, that ire and frustration returned not long after the service was over and I reflected on the overall experience. You see I don't think I was overreacting. On the surface, someone chatting away in church may seem like a small deal, but I believe it is indicative of something much more serious -- a BIG DEAL -- that needs to be addressed. I continue to be saddened by the loss of reverence in the modern, Western Church. Many of you have read my previous blog posts, discussing the complete and intentional absence of liturgy and ritual as a contributing factor, but I do not believe this to be the only factor. I think another reason we are losing our reverence in worship is because many of us are no longer going to Church for God. Rather we are going to church for people, both ourselves and others. I have to believe that if we really thought we were going to church for God, we'd be more respectful. I would like to think that if we were there for the Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings who gave His only Son to die so that we might once again have a relationship with Him, then we would take care not to chat away through prayers and times of worship.
I know there are many, many Believers that DO go to Chruch for God, to meet Him, encounter Him, respond to Him, and learn more of Him. Unfortunately there are many, I believe, that do not. They go for friends, family, and (dare I say it?) "community." They go to church to socialize. That was certainly the priority for the folks behind me, and for the folks out in the foyer who opted to be late for worship so they could chat more. But at least the people in the foyer were considerate enough to remain there and not bring the chat into the sanctuary to disrupt other worshipers. The very term "sanctuary" has less and less meaning in many modern churches, as that space is not treated as the sacred, holy refuge that the term implies.
It's not just church-goers who are to blame for all of this. The Church herself is contributing to the problem. We speak ad nauseam about "community" and "relationships," exhorting members to join "lifegroups" more than we exhort them to be in prayer and God's Word. The call to action is to "get plugged in." Serve. Join a small group. Build relationships with other people, and maybe God will rub off.
Community is great. Godly fellowship is vital, and Biblically commanded (Hebrews 10:24-25). We are to sharpen one another, as Proverbs 27:17 tells us. But the One we really need to be communing with is God, Himself. It's great to foster healthy relationships with other Christians, but it's our relationship with God that should be paramount. Our other relationships and communities should be means to that end. If they are not pointing us to God and drawing us closer to him, then it's a waste of time. We might as well skip church and join the Elks Lodge.
We've removed altars and prayer rails and put in coffee shops and bookstores. We want people to come and hang out and socialize. I've been to multiple churches that have indoor play structures like the ones you see in McDonalds. This fits because many families shop for churches with the same criteria they use when shopping for a fast food restaurant: "Will my kids be safe, happy, and distracted enough for me to get this necessary activity (eating) out of the way with minimal whining?" We want those well-to-do young families to come to our church, because after all if they don't, they might not go to church at all. Or worse, they might go to the other church down the street.
Okay, sorry, I'm getting a little snarky, I realize. :) Can you tell I'm frustrated? Please know that my frustration is that of someone who has recently had a truth revealed that he knows should have been obvious all along. I feel contrite about my blindness, and I want to help others see what I've been shown. Namely this: our God is Holy, and higher than anything else. He deserves all of our praise, honor, glory. He deserves our very LIVES. At the very least he deserves not to have times and places that were previously devoted to Him taken away and misappropriated for our own edification. We are the Church, and the Church is all about Him. The Church exists for Him. The Church belongs TO Him.
I long for church leaders that will call their congregations back to lives of true worship; back to reverence. We need to be taught more of the Holiness and shear unapproachability of God, were it not for the blood of His Son. Would we approach our times of corporate worship so casually -- almost flippantly -- if we truly understood that we only have these opportunities to approach the Throne of Grace in safety because of Christ's death and resurrection? We don't grasp our position with respect to the Father, through Christ. Our services of worship should be times to respond to our God and King and all He is and all He does in our lives. Our gatherings in the sanctuary need to become sacred once again. Instead we leave the doors to the sanctuary wide open after the service starts and indulge any and all who want to wander in late, because heaven forbid anything be done to interfere with someone's comfort.
I don't think it would take much to begin injecting a little extra respect and reverence into our worship services, while simultaneously calling our congregations to accountability in this area:
- Close the sanctuary doors when service is about to begin.
- Bring back ushers to man those doors and politely explain to those arriving late that the service has begun, and in an effort to not disrupt the prayer and worship, they'll be led to a seat just as soon as the prayer/song wraps up.
- When starting the service, whether with prayer or with song, politely ask the congregation for their attention. And then wait silently until you have it. It won't take long for the chatter to die down when all other sound stops.
- If coming in late and/or talking during prayers or worship songs continues to be a disruption in your services, have a worship pastor or even lead pastor politely address it with the congregation. It's a great teaching opportunity, a chance to preach about how God is deserving of our very best, all of our attention and respect. Come to think of it, our fellow church-goers are worthy of our respect as well.
I think we'd be surprised at how many people will understand and respect -- even appreciate -- these efforts. And for those that don't, well, I'm reminded of the old adage: "Those who matter won't mind, and those who mind don't matter." Of course I don't mean to imply that anyone attending our churches does not matter. Everyone matters. I merely suggest that someone who gets upset or chooses to leave a church over something as minor as being asked to wait a minute or two before entering the service so as not to disturb others was probably not all that invested in the church in the first place.
We need to be less concerned about attracting the un-churched to our churches and more concerned about honoring God in them, and providing opportunity for those that love, follow, and revere God to gather together in sacred response to Him. I am not for a moment suggesting we neglect evangelism or outreach, only that we don't misappropriate services of worship for these purposes.
My prayer for all of us is that going forward, whenever we gather for worship, that we'd do so anticipating a sacred time of responding to a Holy God. I pray we'd respect Him and our fellow worshipers by showing up early and giving all of our attention and affection to Him, for He alone is worthy.
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