God's not up there...

I didn’t stop attending one style of worship service and start attending another style of service because I was tired of hymns, orthodox liturgy, a sufficiently reverent praising of God, monotonous reading exercises*  and prudently non-controversial sermon topics.  I started attending another style of worship because I was tired of only hymns, orthodox liturgy, a sufficiently reverent praising of God, monotonous reading exercises and prudently non-controversial sermon topics.

Ever heard the saying that you’ll become just like your parents?  I think that sentiment is true for the contemporary “children” of traditional services as well.   There’s nothing wrong with being like your parents, but I’ll bet my parents had grander hopes than leaving and EXACT copy of themselves.   I KNOW and PRAY that my kids don’t settle for my weaknesses, much less erect alters to them.

* Ok, I admit to being tired of monotonous responsive reading.  But that’s another post for another day.

The next time we find ourselves proud of our spiritual superiority…the next time we find ourselves scorning someone on the “wrong path”….the next time we throwing verbal heresy-bombs at someone…here’s a few things for me to keep in mind:    Nebuchadnezzar was a faithful servant of the Lord (Jer 25:9).  Judas Iscariot shall sit (along with the other 11 disciples) on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Mat 19:28).  The disciples themselves were hand-picked by Christ, lived with Him, and saw everything He did yet had poor understanding of His message (Luke 18:34)…so what makes us so confident?  Those same disciples break bread with a man that they spend years of their life following (literally)…a man they saw crucified and buried…and they don’t all believe or grasp the significance.  And yet we are able to crow loudly about this Biblical interpretation and throw stones at that theology?

To quote a song by Casting Crowns:

People aren’t confused by the gospel
They’re confused by us
Jesus is the only way to god
But we are not the only way to Jesus

I’ll be Frank…I don’t come to Church to actually worship.  I come to church to remind me of the need to worship.  To learn how to tune up my worship engine…or find the strength and support to begin a spiritual overhaul. I come to church to learn how my faith can be stronger…to challenge unproductive beliefs…and reinforce the positive ones. I come to Church to be reminded that the sum of all my words, actions, loves, hates, passions, joys, and inactions during the last week was my worship (past tense).  I want to come to Church, to worship honestly…to laugh and cry and console and celebrate with regard to that worship…to be accountable and contemplative about that worship.  I come to Church be reminded that I have another opportunity to (future tense) worship following the benediction and that I (me, not God) needs me to take advantage of it.
No, I don’t come to  Church every Sunday to worship the Divine.  I don’t come to Church to avoid hell or get into heaven.  I don’t come to Church to learn to love God…I come to learn to love.   I come to learn how to change this life, our life, this week, now, for the better. The next life is really not worthy of my thought. The next life is frankly a distraction. I’ll work to “be still” and trust the voice inside inviting me to live in the Divine flow today, for the sake of those with me today, and simply have faith in where that flow takes me tomorrow. Whether that tomorrow is, literally, tomorrow…or an eternity of tomorrows.