SECOND-HAND WORSHIP

I grew up in a house with two parents who smoked - heavily.  It was the late 50's and 60's and back then, everyone - even doctors on TV - smoked.  It was just the thing to do...

So, I was one of the millions who experienced what came to be known as "second hand smoke." My clothes, books, toys - everything - smelled like cigarette smoke. That was my reality.

I didn't smoke - but I smelled like I did.  It was almost as if I was a smoker - because of my proximity to that activity. 

There is another second-hand activity taking place in a lot of churches today - second-hand worship! This is where people show up, find a seat, read the bulletin, say hello friends, and then - WATCH - as those on the platform (the professional worshipers) DO the worship FOR them.  But unlike me being mistaken for a smoker due to the proximity of the cigarettes in my life, these second-hand worshipers never actually reap the benefits of true worship and, often time, for example in the church parking lot right after the service, it's hard to tell the difference between them and all those other "non-Christians" driving around... In other words - they really have not dived in and encountered the life-changing transformation of true worship of God.  

The question to ask is WHY... Why do we have churches filled with second-hand worshipers?  The easy answer - and the one that most church leaders leap to - is to blame the people in the pews.  If they were more serious about their faith... or if they cared move about God and less about sports... or if they spent more time reading their Bible and praying... why, THEN things would be different.  But I don't think that's the best jumping off point for blame.

I actually think the primary reason we have second-hand worshipers is the fault of the church leaders - the pastors, the staff, the elders, the worship leaders and others in leadership both in our church and out in the world of "church leadership" in general - web and tv pastors, worship celebrities, Christian music stations, etc.  

We have, over time, trained the people in the pews to OBSERVE rather than engage... to WATCH rather than participate.  Many of our churches simply don't offer a gathering that lovingly encourages a deeper encounter with the Holy Spirit.  We create well-timed, 60-minute services that are well-performed, well-themed, well-rehearsed - - to the point of totally missing an actual connection with God.  Most of what we offer is not designed to draw in the pew sitter - songs are pitched in keys most people cannot sing... the tech and media take over and create a show to watch... what we offer in most churches today is something to go and see... and, friends, that is NOT worship.  

I'm thankful that I never took up smoking.  If I had, I would have reaped the damaging effects of that activity on my body. (My abuse of food has done it's own damage - why make it worse with smoking!)  

But flipping this around, second-hand worship has nowhere near the eternal benefits that true worship has.  So, if you are a second-hand worshiper, I encourage you to take up the habit of true worship to the fullest and let God transform you from the inside out!