Christians gather together in churches. We call our churches “houses of worship”. We call our services “worship services”. Our preachers often begin such services with the words, “Come, let us worship”. Yet the actual, intimate blessing of spirit-to-spirit worship is an almost unwelcome visitor. Why? The answers are as varied as there are churches, but one common cause is that there just isn’t a desire on the part of ministers to assist in its occurance. A Baptist preacher knows his congregation only wants a one-hour service. And they only want it once a week. He’s got one hour to give them …”something”… that’ll make them want to return next week, hopefully with an offering check to help pay the bills & salaries.
Consider all the planning, rehearsing, cleaning & personnel involved in your last worship service. Consider the costs for air & heating, water, gas, electricity. Consider the payroll, janitorial, security, accounting, office supplies & printed materials for all ages. The more layers you peel away from the institution of a church, the more you realize how difficult it must be for a preacher to not be constantly worried about debt. The larger a church grows, the more dependant it becomes on the acquisition of money. If the money stops, the church dies.
So if the acquisition of money is the chief determinant of what a church offers, where do you suppose “worshiping God in spirit and truth” might fall on the priority scale? The Christian rock band, Youth Minister, Children’s Minister & church orchestra all request time. There’s the offering and the soloist and the choir anthem. And the Minister of Music must get his requisite 5 or 6 congregational hymns. Wedge in the sermon, and (snap!) your hour is up!
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…” (Hebrews 10:25a)
The Christian Church was created with purpose in mind; righteous, inspired purpose. Continuing in that same verse:
“…but let us encourage one another — all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
What do you suppose it means to “encourage one another”? What manner of encouragement? Why would members need encouraging?
“Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (v. 24)
And what should be our motivation for such efforts?
“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same dilligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Heb. 6:10-12)
In these passages can be found such a beautiful & excellent encapsulation of the role (function, identity) of the local church:
Individuals meeting together → Encouraging one another →Evincing love and good deeds → Proving love for God → Developing faith & patience → Inheriting God’s promise.
And what promise might that be? Well, there are so many declarations throughout scripture. Here’s a personal favorite from John’s gospel. Jesus is praying to His Father on behalf of all believers, both contemporary and future; all peoples who would accept the good news of a Savior’s love:
“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” (John 17:22-24)
What is the promise to be inherited? Complete unity. Body, soul & spirit. Not only that, we would be where He is, enjoying this oneness with Him in the un-mortalized, magestic glory of His true being. Where Jesus is, there is no hunger or thirst. Where Jesus is, there is no sickness or disease. Where Jesus is, there is no ungodly sorrow, no mill stone of guilt, no unwashable taint of sin. But joy is there! Profound, confident, inner peace is there! Power is there! And the realization of all that our miraculous design of you was created to become!
There’s just one thing that stands proudly in the way … human nature.
Human nature will always seek to melt down God’s model and re-cast it in man’s image (like the golden calf). The scenarios below illustrate three possible fates of a house of worship.
The House of Self-Satisfaction
“For the time will comewhen men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Can you think of present-day examples of churches that have replaced sound doctrine for “myths”?
• Prosperity Gospel
• “Name It And Claim It” faith heresy
• Rejection of Spiritual Gifts not easily attained
• Forsaking feasts & memorials that Christ practiced
• Intercessory saints, virgin deification, papal authority
• Obsession with fashion, comfort, entertainment
The House of Desecration
“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 11:26-30)
What contemporary examples come to mind, with regard to the offense of disrespect and apathy? How do you feel about the following:
• Proliferation of American flags on church property
• Easter egg hunts, Halloween costume parties, Super Bowl viewings, lock-ins, all on church property
• Game rooms, gyms, sports fields, aerobics classes
• Plunging necklines, rising hemlines; having to frequently adjust some part of clothing to appear sufficiently “covered”
The House of Executive Privilege
“…Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves! Should not shepherds not take care of the flock? You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when thet were scattered they bacame food for all the wild animals.” (Ezekiel 34:2b-5)
I have concluded from accumulated scriptural insights that – insofar as God’s hand is involved – wealth is not a reward; it is a test. It may be the most difficult of all earthly tests that the Lord gives. Why else would the Tempter even bring it up to Jesus (Matthew 4:8-9), unless it carried tremendous weight in the human psyche as an object of desire?
Human nature is a massive stumbling block on the path toward becoming a church after God’s own heart. One of man’s most basic drives is the desire to subdue. To govern our realm. “…fill the earth and subdue it”, God instructed his first man (Genesis 1:28). But to subdue is a form of control, and it has always been God’s will that we should control in wisdom, not reason (“wisdom”, meaning in cooperation with the mind of our Creator).
Yes, “the Sabbath was made for man..” (Mark 2:27a). Church (as an institution) is an opportunity; a gift. But it becomes all too easy for us to subdue church for our pleasure.
And “pleasure” does not cede room to “worship” without a lot of cosmetic surgery.
