We are at the beginning of our Spring Break Service Project and we have yet to reach our destination of Joplin, Missouri. Today, we attended a megachurch in the St. Louis area.
Our greeting was friendly, and well done. So, I must admit, I became expectant as the service began. The first set of worship music was fine, though the lyrics were repetitive. My struggle to worship began immediately, not because of the music, but because of two particular musicians.
First, the lead electric guitar was wandering back and forth the full length of the stage, and then moving forward anytime he had a solo. He was a fine musician, and I have no trouble with a musician presenting his/her playing as an act of worship. His continual moving on stage, however, came across to me as "look at me."
The second was one of the worship leaders on stage. While the rest of the team were active in their leading of worship with appropriate gestures and such, one particular woman kept drawing attention to herself. She was swinging her hips and bouncing her shapeliness in a way that was hard to ignore. I tried. Honest!
As the first set came to an end, I confess I had not yet formed one worshipful thought. My sensory inputs were flooded and I was on overload. I wanted to worship, but I felt so distracted by all this unneeded (and perhaps, inappropriate) activity.
The second set of worship music was more familiar to me and the musicians seemed to settle down and I was less distracted. I felt as if I was turning a corner, and my mind and heart began to engage the Lord in worship. It was, however, about to get worse.
As the music concluded, the campus pastor gave an invitation to the audience to become a Christian. It seemed out of place or creative. I could not decide which one. How he made the invitation, though, is what got to me. He said that to become a Christian was simple. Just pray a prayer and receive the "punch ticket" to heaven.
Did I hear that right? A "punch ticket"?
Anything about sin or repentance? Anything about trusting Jesus as Savior and Lord?
He led us all in the prayer and announced that if we prayed that prayer, we were now a Christian.
My heart groaned, and my chest heaved out a spontaneous audible sigh. For me the distinction was clear. The emphasis was such that the faith to save was in saying the prayer. No attention was given on what it means to be a Christian, much less the cost involved.
As I understood it, the theme of the service (and the church?) was to celebrate all that we can obtain from God because of how passionate He is for us. The message compared Him to a daddy that gives us whatever we want.
Thankfully, God is much wiser than to give in to my childish wants, no matter how much I may want them. Instead, He invites me to wisdom. And here is the blessing: I can ask for wisdom anytime, and He is more than glad to give it. Now that is the God I can respect and worship.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
As I understood it, the theme of the service (and the church?) was to celebrate all that we can obtain from God because of how passionate He is for us. The message compared Him to a daddy that gives us whatever we want.
Thankfully, God is much wiser than to give in to my childish wants, no matter how much I may want them. Instead, He invites me to wisdom. And here is the blessing: I can ask for wisdom anytime, and He is more than glad to give it. Now that is the God I can respect and worship.
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
John 4.24, NIV
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