Our spirit needs to engage with His Spirit. He needs to break through our theology, our limitations and emotions, and permeate the deepness of our being. If He doesn't, then do we really belong to Him? Is He really our Lord and Savior? If He hasn't saved all of us, have we experienced His presence in any of us? Deep, but true.
I love being a part of the Evangelical church, and, specifically, the Pentecostal community. As I have already stated in a previous post, there is something about this particular expression of Christianity that innately understands and attempts to encourage spirit-worship. We intentionally create atmospheres of intimacy with God, speak of God in very personal and individual analogies and teachings, and we praise and highlight 'heroes of the faith' who have notably connected with the Spirit in a very deep and existential way. (Just go to your local Christian bookstore and note all the Christian books. They are about individuals with passionate, all encompassing engagements with God.) It's all good, but only to a point....
I can't seem to worship at my local church. The worship team is great. The atmosphere is relevant and engaging. The song selections are good, and where I find it lacking they always make up for it in their creative use of 'space.' But, ultimately, I'm just stuck standing there and maybe singing to myself. Why is this? Is it because I have a bad attitude? Perhaps (and this is what my wife thinks). Is it because no matter how hard I try, I still find myself in every church service thinking..."this is what I would do..." Again, perhaps. But, even when I eventually get over myself and look to engage, I find myself with no one to engage with.
"Engage with God" you might say. But is that really the only point? A vertical relationship between He and I. If that's the case, then why even go to church? I can just slam on a Praise and Worship CD and do that in my own time...which I already do. But "nothing beats live worship." Really. Again, that's what really saying/expressing? Why do we go to church and sing in corporate worship?
The answer should be (I believe) because we are One, and we affirm our faith and experience as One. And this is why I struggle in my local church, because I don't feel at one with the congregation. The church is a great church, but it's just like every other church in the USA. It's a group of individuals getting together for an hour a week to listen to someone preach to them and affirm their presuppositions. It is almost entirely vertically arranged: music - He and I, sermon - He and I, church - He and I. I get it, because this is how the church has been doing church since the Enlightenment, but that doesn't make it right or adequate...especially since most of the other elements of Christianity that existed in the past are no longer present today.
Today, we are a more individualistic and 'cut off' from community than at any other point in history. Few families eat a meal together, and the ones that do are joined with TVs and iPhones. Schools are babysitters, not places where local families gather for the education of their children. Kids are dropped off and that's that. America's favorite pastime currently is Facebook and YouTube...individual efforts in a psuedo-community. I could go on, but I bet you get my point. The present church is an individual experience, and so is its worship, which isn't good enough no matter how good our theology.
I long to worship God in both the vertical and the horizontal...during the sermon, after the weekly meeting, and, especially, in corporate worship. I want to affirm my faith and understanding with those who are physically able, and present, to accommodate, aid, correct and enhance my understanding and experience with God. Does this mean that I want to go 'old school' and do away with choruses, intimate lighting, and 'free expression.' Not at all. I don't think that ANYTHING needs to GO AWAY from what is currently being offered. Instead, I am merely suggesting that we ADD to our worship a horizontal dimension. We need to engage with the Christ and Spirit who is in US (plural, collective). And this requires a complete rewrite of how we understand and do church in America.
If we really want a living Christian church that is more than a building or social construct, then we need to embrace the presence and ministry of God in both the vertical and horizontal relationships. Yes, the church will be more social, but not socialist. Yes, the church will experience more of the miraculous, but more will come through the tangible. Yes, church services may become more frequent, but they will also become more meaningful and essential. And Yes, worship will become more dynamic and Spirit-ual, as both the fullness of the person's being and community are engaged in the influence of the Spirit.
Beautiful observation. The only times I have experienced & engaged the horizontal is 1) when I go forward for prayer; 2) when the pastor instructed the congregation to form small groups right there in the Sanctuary (very rare) and 3) when I voluntarily moved to someone (or someone came to me in the pew) who needed prayer during. Those were the meaningful moments of worship. Those were the moments that the full connection was made. Think trinity: me, others & God: all as one. :)
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