You know sometimes I wouldn’t mind attending church and getting a little bit freaked out. Church is so cozy and dull. Even the Pentecostal churches I attend are so seeker-friendly that you hardly get anything happening that would give you the heebie-jeebies. I remember attending some Holiness Something Or Other church in Louisiana and there was some serious jittering and shouting. Gave me the chills. But they actually believed in what they were doing. Our services on the contrary are so sterile these days. Maybe in my old age I’m longing for liturgy. A smoking censer, candles and some droning for a change. Then at least you might feel like you’re at a place where the mysterious God might show up.
Because the truth is plain. We go to church expecting not to meet God. He ain’t there. If He was we wouldn’t breeze through the doors and snatch a bulletin on our way to the comfy pew. Instead we’d be bunched up outside the door, listening for noises and wondering what He is doing in there. And what He’s going to do if we come through that door. We’d be mumbling confessions under our breath and adjusting our attire to make sure we look our best for an encounter with the most important Person. The VIP of all VIPs.
Instead we show up late, dress like a wreck, smack gum and check our phone messages. Chit chat with those around us and then settle in to be entertained. Some pastors do not help. They chum around. They do stupid gags like driving their motorcycle through the holy house of God for a stunt. They write sloppy sermons and then try to camouflage them behind PowerPoints with waterfalls behind the text.
Next time watch when some pastor says, “Jesus promised that where two or three are gathered in his name, he is there in their midst, so he’s here right now. Amen?” Does everyone hit the floor out of reverence? Do they roar hallelujah in a collective jubilation? No. You get some half-hearted amens and now let’s get moving because I’ve got plans for the afternoon.
The satirical site Ship Of Fools has a wonderful feature called Mystery Worshiper. I laugh every time I read it. But the tragic joke is that we don’t realize that there is a Mystery Worshiped One attending every gathering. The One who created the Universe inhabits every corner of it, and hovers over places dedicated to his reverence with special affection.
Sounds like you need to read some Annie Dillard.
David, I think this would work in many of our church today. They need to be on their toes because I’ve been in too many services where they don’t really care what visitor’s think. In fact, sometimes, they don’t even care to greet visitors. A little bit of heat on all our churches would do wonders.
David, why do you think we should be “mumbling confessions under our breath and adjusting our attire to make sure we look our best for an encounter with the most important Person”? Don’t you know that as Christians we already have forgiveness and access into his presence, and that he doesn’t care about outward appearance? Until we have that confidence we can never truly worship him. He is in our church services, even the very worst ones (although I’m sure he groans at more repetitions of “Shine Jesus Shine”!), if only we will recognise him and open up our hearts to him.
i’m with mike on this one.
annie thinks we need to hand out helmets and seatbelts if we really expect to meet jesus in church.
for a more refined appraoch, avery dulles’ book models of the church might give you placid solace.
scott
Peter, you’re attacking my hyperbole with theology. Not fair!
I think my argument here is similar to the end of Hebrews 12 where beginning with the description of Mount Zion the writer is trying to encourage believers to treat a holy encounter in a holy manner, “with reverence and awe.”
(That’s something that both Redman and Kendrick agree on!)
OK, not fair. How can I respond with hyperbole? Yes, we do need holy awe in the presence of God. But that is not the same thing as smart clothes and confessing sins which are already forgiven. It is the response to the presence of God’s glory which when we feel it is so intense that we can do nothing but prostrate ourselves in his presence, compare 1 Kings 8:11. Do we have this in our Sunday services? Should we? Is this hyperbole? I’m not sure.
Very nice post. These are the kind I like (which you asked about in a previous post).
Jeff
[...] wants church to freak him out David, in an outburst of exaggeration, nonetheless has something serious to say about our (non-)expectations of [...]