I attended a local church service this past sunday morning. These are my reflections from during the service:
It just seems that this imported Western style of worship doesn’t fit with the culture. Why have hard wooden pews when people generally sit on the floor or on cushions? As they sing loudly I can tell the people want to be expressive and praise God. They know they have some reason to, although I think most aren’t completely sure of what that reason is. Who came up with this hard and fast model of Sunday morning Christianity that has not only plagued the west but been exported all over the world?
Stand up. Sit down. Pray together from a book. Read a Scripture. Stand up. Sit down. Is this how church was created to be? Is this the “perfect model” of worship? What happened to contextualization? How did we confuse spreading culture with spreading the gospel? Do Christians world over need to wear jeans?
What is the real purpose of the church? The purpose of the church is to love God with everything that it has. The church, as in the people who believe in faith through Christ, are to be the Bride of Christ when He returns. We must prepare to be the Bride. We must be a house of prayer (Isaiah 56:7), we must equip the saints. We must be a light to the world (Matt 5:16) so that all my come to hear the truth of the gospel.
This is my question for any church, in any country, are we doing those things or are we doing “Sunday morning?” Are we living as followers of the Way, the Truth and the Light, or are we living as followers of tradition? Do we know God? Do we aspire to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength?
If the church is not doing its job, what then is it doing? If the church is not a place where we come together and encounter Jesus, then why do we come at all? If the church is not a house of prayer, then what is it a house of?
God in his manifest presence is not here, yet He longs to be. Our purpose in gathering should be to cry out for it. To cry out for God to make Himself known in our midsts. To ask Him to have mercy on the land, to heal us and our neighbors. Call a sacred assembly. Gather the elders and all who live in the land. The need is DIRE. The situation is urgent, for behold the day of the Lord is coming. It is at hand. A day of darkness and gloom. And we are not ready. How can we be the church and the Bride that we are called to be?
But this Sunday morning there is no alarm. No sounding the trumpet. Jesus is coming. We are not ready. We are not expecting it. We sit in our uncomfortable, impractical pews and pretend to pay attention. Yet the Word is not pentrating our hearts and minds. It is not washing us and making us new. It is not changing us. Every week we come. We go. We remain the same.
We keep coming because we must. I mean, we are Christians. Christians go to church on Sunday morning. They stand up. They sing a hymn or two. They sit down. They listen to a message from a man in his white robes. Bibles closed. Eyes fighting to stay open. Week after week. Month after month. Year after year. And life goes by. Same. Same. Same. Different shoes for Easter. A new suit for Christmas. But the heart remains the same.
Is this the fruit of the Haystack meeting? Of the Northfield 100? They would sit up in their graves and jump out if they saw us now. I have no idea why the church is full. But wait, I take that back. People are hungry for God. They want to know Him, but no one is telling them how. They think this is it, but something deep inside is saying there must be more than this.
After the service they ask me, “What did you think of our worship?” Kaisa laga hai? I think worship is not songs or Sunday morning. It’s a lifestyle. It is bowing down in reverence in submission to God. I use the pretend I didn’t understand the question card. “What did you think of our service?” they ask again as if it was a show. I have all this blog written in my notebook, but now is not yet the time to share with new friends. “Kab bijli chali gai, mai samaj aie. Lekin, kab bijli a gai, microphone kharab hai aur mai nahib samaj aie.” (When the electricity went out, I could understand. But when the electricity was on, the microphone was bad and I didn’t understand.) I try to avoid the questions by saying I had a language problem. This is something which needs much more prayer. My Korean friend knows how I feel and tries to help me avoid the question, as she already knows the answer.
I pause as my audience waits expectantly to hear more about the opinions of their guest. I am not one who thinks rating services is a good thing. The others start remarking that in America the style is not that different. “Bench hai, aur music bhi hai.” (There are pews and music). I think to myself, as if pews and music make the church. Finally I say, “America mai, mera church building nahin hai. Bench nahin hai. Kiomki church log hai. Church building nahin hai. Kabhi kabhi, ham ghar pe mile. Church log hai.” (In America, my church doesn’t have a building. We don’t have pews. Because the church is the people. The church is not a building. Sometimes, we meet at people’s houses. The church is the people.)
I want to say more, but I’m at a loss for words and I feel as if this is enough for one Sunday morning. The elder of the group smiles in agreement. “Ji, I like this idea. Church building nahin hai. You are right. Accha xayal hai. Church log hai.” (Yes, I like this idea. The church is not a building. You are right. Good idea. The church is the people.)
Join with me in praying for the body: Oh Lord cast a vision in their hearts to know you intimately. May they know that they can be born again and made new in you. May they know that they can come before your throne in confidence. May they understand your grace and your desire to make them your children. Oh Lord let them not only be Christian in name, let them not only be Sunday morning Christians. Let them be DISCIPLES who seek after your heart as David did. May they become lovesick worshipers of You. May they be saints whose prayers will be incense rising up before your throne. And God, send us teachers. Send us preachers. Not people to be in it for their glory or their fame, but those messengers who are only doing it for the glory of your great name. Oh God, in this time of urgency, send forth laborers for the harvest here. The church in this country needs to hear and understand the message of truth just as badly as the rest of the community. They need solid food. Over a hundred years on milk will not grow a church. Oh Lord grip their hearts to give them a hunger for your Word. Let them be restless, unsatisfied, constantly seeking One Thing: God and to spread your glory.
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