Is it a nice place to go? Is it comfortable, a little smart and witty with clever observations from the preacher, a great, tight band covering cool newish worship music, and all run to clockwork?
Would you feel OK sat there on a nice fat chesterfield leather sofa with a glass of wine in your hand, happily watching proceedings as they ran as smoothly as a TV show?
Would you feel GOOD in there?
How would you feel if it was a bit awkward, the band wasn't very loud and so you had to sing as well, as part of the worship? Would gaps and pauses make you feel embarrassed or self-conscious, even worse if someone near you prayed aloud, read a scripture or - horrors - thought God was saying something? And how about if the person preaching threw their notes away because they felt that wasn't what God wanted you to hear, and instead you got something a bit rambly but like God was talking to you?
How about if, instead of nodding assent to well-rounded prayers, you found yourself face-down on the floor?
Something in me likes the former, but something in me loathes it even more and loves the latter. I struggle to get up early and spend time with God, but when I do, it's often face-down on the floor, because that's where I need to be. I don't want the stifling, life-removing, slick production values of a TV show in church, but rather the need to get face-down, so that when I leave I can be face-upward and know I've met God in a way I can't do just alone in my livingroom.
I think I agree with you, generally for sure. For me anyway.
ReplyDeleteI like when we pray together in church. We do that here. We actually take time to pray for people and I like that.
And actually I like that we take time to eat together simply each Sunday. People can stay and we go downstairs and connect and eat and share life together. There is no other place in my week for that on such a scale. It's not about the food, but about the connection, the community.
I can hear good preaching on the radio, and worship singing can be fun and moving. But the prayers together and the sharing life together have become so important to my own development.
Thats a good question Toni.