Doing Church

 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life , and have it to the full." John 10:10...."Jesus didn't come so we could just 'do church.' " Unknown

Most reading this will likely be attending some type of church fellowship this weekend. What do you expect when you do? Can you say, with a fair amount of certainty, that you know what the flow of the worship service will be? You may not know the songs that have been chosen to sing, or the sermon message that you'll hear, but do you have a strong sense of what will be, because, well, that's generally the way it has been each week.....and for quite a long time.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think a worship service ought to be a "anything goes" gathering. The apostle Paul spoke of doing all things in order. There has to be a certain amount of structure, but have we become so structured that there is no real room for the One who we say we're there to worship? Has the presentation taken the place of His Presence? Has polished performance taken the place of fervent adoration? Have we, consciously or not, sought to appeal more to the senses and emotions than to the spirit?

I have written down in my prayer journal, "Father, make real on earth that which is real in heaven." Mark Buchanan asks, "What would happen if the cry of the church was, "Father, show us Your glory?" Can we ask ourselves if such a hunger for His glory exists in our fellowships? Does it exist in us? If it doesn't, don't we have to admit that what we get is just a weekly effort at "doing church," instead of being the church. We're to give Him glory, behold His glory, and then in all aspects of our lives, reflect His glory.

Jesus said that He came in order that all who received Him would have His abundant life. In our fellowships, the receiving of His life should be taking place whenever we come together because it has been taking place in our day to day living. We should expect to see people saved, healed, delivered, and made whole in our gatherings. We should not expect a "show," but we should expect Him to consistently move in whatever ways He chooses. Even those ways that might, and likely will, make us uncomfortable.

In the end, it comes down to who really controls what we call worship? The Holy Spirit, or us? If it's us, than we're offering, despite our best intentions, a religious performance, one where we watch skilled people perform, show our appreciation, and then go home. Worship must be a relational experience between an Almighty, supernatural God and a surrendered people offering up not only their adoration, but themselves.

Philip Yancey says that we worry if we will sense His presence in our worship, when we should be worrying He's sensing ours. When we gather, does He sense ours? Does He sense yours? Or, are we just "doing church?"

Blessings,

Pastor O