I've been wrestling with this (again). The church I attend is certainly not a "mega church"...In the 16 years since I've been attending it has certainly changed from the hymn-singing, Lord's Prayer-saying, come-in-your-Sunday-best "traditional" church to a "come-as-you-are""worship experience" as they like to advertise. I'm NOT saying this is a bad thing. Souls are saved every week, the Bible is preached, tough issues are addressed, outreach is done, opportunities for growth and fellowship are provided and strongly encouraged...
A few years ago I started wrestling with the "theatrics" my church provides=lights, props, auditorium-style worship with a stage...calling the "Praise Team" "the band", the congregation "the audience"...Granted, I grew up w/ the choir processionals, altars, vestments, Gloria Patri and Apostles Creed. My pastor and his wife listened respectfully as I assured them I wasn't being critical, or at least, that wasn't my intent--I just wanted to understand why there needed to be a smoke machine, rolling stages with set scenes, videos, etc. Why couldn't Jesus be enough? Where was the reverence?
They gave me a few answers I could swallow at the time...God used rainbows, lightning and thunder, miracles, etc. Why couldn't we use lights? Drums? Props can help remind someone of a message or concept...The idea wasn't to take away from God or the message itself, just to enhance it.
Back to my pastoral minister, who is Orthodox. I remember him telling me that if Jesus came back today and went to the neighborhood church, He probably wouldn't recognize what was going on--that it wasn't how He and the disciples worshipped God back in the day. The Orthodox church is different--they continue the worship services in the same manner as they did two thousand years ago...I attended a Greek Orthodox service just to see. It was different for sure and most of it was in Greek. What I remember most was that the communion bread was huge--we usually get a little pellet or small pre-cut square but here you got a huge chunk that took you several bites to finish! I was later informed that the reason for this is because most Orthodox fast prior to coming to church on Sunday so the bread is their first meal to break the fast. Oh.
I started to read through Revelation to see how worship in heaven will be...It seems like there will be a lot of falling down before the Lord going on...like in the top picture. I also recently heard a radio sermon that affirmed the same thing. Are we going to be jumping up and down, clapping, raising our hands? Or "will we be able to speak at all? I can only imagine..."
Last week in church I took note of the different parts of the service and my role in them...How I stood when everyone else stood, watched the video clips, clapped when others clapped...Was it rote? What would happen if, instead of standing during the prescribed 4 songs, I sat in my chair with my head bowed or even got on my knees? I have seen others do this from time to time and admired their humility and boldness to worship as they see fit, not because everyone else is doing the same thing. What are my heart, soul, and spirit prompting me to do in order to worship God? Does God recognize my worship?
This post isn't meant to be a criticism of "progressive" churches...and I realize that one can worship and find reverence in any church just as they can in their back yard, their car, Starbucks, etc. But I wrestle with wanting to find more humility in my worship, to make my time with the Lord more reverent...To lay myself down and worship Him at His throne...
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