Yesterday, I left from Little Rock to start my journey to college. I started thinking to myself "There's probably a lot of stuff here that I could throw out or put away." And I started thinking about our religion, and what we could throw out or put away.
Traditions, everywhere. They're terrible. Somehow, over the course of the last 2,000 years, we have watered down the gospel, and concentrated on our evil, worldly, traditionalistic worship services. We go to church every Sunday, dragging our feet through the door, trying to keep our eyes open long enough to hear this long prayer, or keep my straying heart attentive to the preachers sermon. Oh, the joy that floods my souls when they announce dismissal. I couldn't possibly run any faster out of the door, and God forbid anyone want to visit with me or wants to fellowship. While that's bad, and I have more than a mouthful to say about these lazy pew-sitters, they aren't the full problem. The problem is that if you're in a position of leadership, you've allowed Jesus and His church to become boring. Yes, I said it. Jesus was never a boring guy, so why make a boring worship service? I hear you singing, and sometimes, I would rather hear the sounds of an animal shelter. People sing, they groan and mumble the words in the most silent voice they can, and they stand there as stiff as a rock with a nosferatu look on their faces. How in the world is that worshiping God any? The definition of worship is "the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity". How can you feel reverence or adoration through mumbles? I'll tell you what worship looks like in the church today. It looks like a whole bunch of dead people singing dead songs, with a dead sermon, that leads to a dead invitation. Let me ask you a question. If it's so dead, why don't you go and bury it?
So if you're asking what you can throw out to make the church the way Jesus actually wanted it to be, first throw out your zombie worship services. Next, get over yourselves. Class doesn't have to start at 9:30 on the dot. Worship doesn't have to begin at 10:30 on the dot. I've heard numerous people tell me "Well, the church needs structure and that's what structure looks like." That is a lie straight from the pits of hell. Jesus has never told us anything about meeting at a certain time of the day, and he sure as heck didn't authorize any structure apart from the structure he put down. I consider this adding to the scriptures. This is sinful, and we must veer away from that. I don't hate the church, please don't think so, but believe that we are going down a very bad road, and we need to get off of this road before it's too late. Do we really think that we have to worship in the same place every week? I guarantee if my brother is in need on a Sunday, I'm gonna go help him, and I'll conduct a service at his house. This is what the church is called to do.
Instead, we get so caught up on times, and location, that we get cynical; we get bitter. I pray constantly that my heart and your hearts aren't turned bitter in any way. I ask that you pray for God to show you how to wake up the dead in your church, and that you realize it isn't about you, it's all about God. God bless you.
No comments:
Post a Comment