Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrew 10:23-25)
This weekend I’m thinking about Sunday worship, and what exactly it is that makes the experience so meaningful, so invigorating, so charged with life?
Essentially, I believe worship fulfills a fundamental human need, both as individuals and in terms of community. The urge to share spiritual experiences with other people comes from a very deep place.
I thought about this recently when I fell into conversation with someone who claims to be agnostic yet who frequently goes to great lengths to participate in shared spiritual experiences.
Having set the church aside (and probably for some very good reasons), he found a substitute activity that provided many of the benefits associated with the community of faith.
DEAD: He (and his wife) spent a couple of years literally following a rock band around the USA, concert to concert. The band (The Dead) had/have a core group of followers who camped and partied together at every concert, knew all the songs by heart, sang along, “flicked their bics,” and could hardly wait to be together at the next venue, and the next, and the next….
What they were doing was enjoying a community-based spiritual experience. It’s one I’ve seen repeated at soccer stadiums, during the singing of national songs at ball games, and during rallies or marches for common causes.
As human beings, this desire for corporate spiritual experiences is built into our DNA. And that’s not surprising, considering the fact that the Creator who values being in community with creation is the one who designed us, and who sowed purpose into the essence of who we are.
WORSHIP CONNECTS US: Worship is a shared experience, and the transaction is reciprocal across the board. Our reaching to God also facilitates God reaching to us; our connection with God has an impact on our connection to one another; and our embracing of one-another (or not) makes a difference in terms of how we then experience God.
- Our reaching to God also facilitates God reaching to us;
- Our connection with God has an impact on our connection to one another;
- Our embracing of one-another (or not) makes a difference in terms of how we then experience God.
I understand that many people have soured toward the idea of church (and the reasons for that include everything from abuse by the church to boredom to hypocrisy); but that doesn’t change the fact that it is still in the context of the faith community that we can most consistently meet God and most effectively live as disciples of Jesus.
I meet God in the context of church, and I meet God through the believers who worship there with me, who serve others through the ministries of the church, and who carry the message of the Gospel of Love into this world from day-to-day between Sundays.
So I’d like to invite you to attend a church near you this week, and – faithfully – every week. If you’re within 25 miles of Wake Forest, then please consider worshiping with us at the Wake Forest Presbyterian Church.
But whoever you are, don’t fall into the trap of substituting anything else for the real thing. Enjoy your rock concerts, enjoy your favorite team, and enjoy singing your national songs; but don’t forget that Jesus is the one, and that Jesus is the answer; it’s all about Jesus.
– DEREK