PREFERENCE VS. PRESENCE

Pick a style, any style...

Let's be honest - no matter how well we craft our church's vision statement or the "about" portion of our website... in the end, in almost every single case, the way we design our church comes down to a particular style... be it music, decor, lighting, banners, sermon length, flow of the service, etc.  We just live in an age where HOW we "do" church takes the primary role. It's as if we have create a jukebox-type mentality when it comes to our worship gatherings.  Search church websites and you will see this played out over and over and over again in almost every instance. 

Almost. 

I say "almost" because, thank God, there ARE churches out there who seem to have grasped the importance of SUBSTANCE over SHOW.  Or, what I am calling in this blog post, PRESENCE over PREFERENCE.

Along the way on our eons long journey of creating these gatherings that we call "church services" (even though, "church" is simply ALL of us - the collective Christ-following community of believers), we have landed on making our decisions to attend a particular church based on our own preferences - those things that we like; those things we enjoy; those things we feel good aligning ourselves with.  You know, the way one might select a particular health club to join. 

Will I like the music? Do I like the pastor? Is the service time acceptable to me? Is the location suitable? Do they use the latest technology? Do they have a cool website? Do they embrace the arts? Are they too big, too small, too stuffy, too loose, too conservative, too liberal...……………..

Does anyone ever ask... Do they create an environment or atmosphere that will help me draw closer to God, through authentic worship of Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit?

Or is that too "old school" these days?

"Preference" is a great way to choose a car, or a hair stylist, or a health food store... you want to find a place or service that meets your needs, and that is wise.  But - - GOD is not a "thing" we select by preference.  And, when we do, we turn God into a commodity - a "thing" that WE pick according to the parameters WE have set up that fit OUR needs.  Narcissism 101. 

Here is the hard truth - - God will ALWAYS fill your needs, when you honestly seek Him first, regardless of the particular setting or "flavor" of the gathering.  His ability to work miracles in your life has nothing to do with HOW a particular churches DOES "their thing..." Likewise, God does not work MORE effectively in a church setting that DOES fit your particular list of wants and wishes.  In fact, I would argue that He works less - or, more correctly - is limited in His ability to work in your life because you are far too focused on some personal agenda that you define as "church." And that simply gets in the way.  Always.  

I once worked with a youth director who said to me on more than one occasion that he could not worship God with the pipe organ.  My answer was, "then you cannot worship God."  I am not saying that you need a pipe organ to worship!  I am saying that his inability to worship God had nothing to do with a pipe organ - and everything to do with his attitude.  

The most important aspect of worship is encountering God's presence.  That's not just my opinion. Flip through the pages of scripture and you will see this truth lived out.  The people in the Bible who worshiped God - both Old and New Testament - did not rely on preferences - but on the presence - of God - through Jesus - in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Now, we can pretend that's not true, or we can pretend that it was only true for "those people way back in the Bible days" - but that only keeps us from truly stepping into the overwhelming, life-transforming presence of God in a way that alters us. 

The thing about "God's presence" (vs. preference) is that when you find it; when you fall into it; when you are immersed in it - there is just no mistaking it for anything other than the presence of God.  And, when that happens, you want nothing else because nothing else will satisfy, fulfill and truly transform you.  I know.  Been there, done that.  Once you encounter the powerful presence of God during an assembly of His people, no amount of slick, highly skilled, well-performed, perfectly timed music, media and tech will ever fully satisfy.  And, here's the rub - you will STILL find something WRONG with the presentation!  (Again, been there, done that...) 

Let me be clear about something - a well-rehearsed and expertly performed "worship set" is not automatically "the presence of God."  "Great Music" does not equal "Great Worship."  Please move away from that shallow thinking!  Listen, if you walk away from a worship gathering commenting on how GREAT the music was - you did NOT worship God.  You worshiped - the music.  If, however, you walk away from a worship gathering and you cannot even remember what songs were sung, or who led that morning, or how long you sang, or if there was a drummer today, etc. but, instead, comment on how you were moved to tears, or how you felt convicted of sin, or realized something about God's never-ending love for you, or something along those lines then I would say - you DID worship God!  Praise Him!  Yes, I realize it is not always so black and white - - but, sadly, the grey areas are growing greyer and greyer each passing year when it comes to our worship gatherings.

So - where do we go from here?  It's all about shifting our focus.  As we enter our places of worship, we all need to remember to focus FIRST on the PRESENCE - - and leave preference to the people at Home Depot trying to figure out what color to paint their Livingroom...