Worship
Worship is like meatloaf?
Have you ever heard, or perhaps you might have said, something about worship on Sunday morning that could be mistaken for a critique of a restaurant?
When we are hungry we have any number of food options at our disposal and it really does not matter which restaurant we go to because they all ultimately serve the same thing - calories - just in different styles.
"Well, that was good."
"I really liked it today."
"I will be back next week."
All of these comments, and others like them, are built upon the idea that Sunday worship is very much like a dish that is served up for our consumption. And just like after a meal at a restaurant, we have a number of comments that "evaluate" what we just experienced.
"The service was slow."
"After that, I feel full."
"I am not sure I would go back."
"I could not read the menu."
Worship "evaluation" is built on the idea that it is just another thing we consume. If we do not like the "head chef" then we will not go back to that restaurant. If we had a good experience we might attend again, but we really would tell someone about our dislike of the music (selection or volume).
When we are hungry we have any number of food options at our disposal and it really does not matter which restaurant we go to because they all ultimately serve the same thing - calories - just in different styles.
Worship is consumed like meatloaf.
Worship is not something to consume. We do not attend worship in order to, like a meal, "get something out of it". We are not looking for a "nugget" that we can "chew on" for later this week. We are not attempting to "fill ourselves up" with an experience with the Holy or Mystery.
Worship is not something we just consume, but something we participate in.
It is the difference in going to a restaurant and ordering the meatloaf so that someone else makes it and serves it to you or going to a kitchen and learning to prepare meatloaf in a class.
It is the difference in going to a restaurant and ordering the meatloaf so that someone else makes it and serves it to you or going to a kitchen and learning to prepare meatloaf in a class.
Christians can never worship in isolation
Thinking a bit more about worship lately and came into a conversation with someone who shared that she disagreed with my definition of worship. For her, worship is not limited to a corporate experience and that she can worship by herself in the beauty of nature.
I stated that while that I beautiful I would not call that Christian worship. Devotion? Sure. Worship, no.
Worship is never done in isolation. It is not something that is a part of the Christian experience. Even Jesus worshiped in the community and never alone.
What became apparent to me in my conversation with this woman I respect was that for many people "corporate" or "community" means having people around. So when going into a closet and shutting the door means one is not in a corporate setting - that person is alone.
Here is the kicker, in Christian thought we trust we are not alone. We have the Advocate (Holy Spirit) we are surrounded by the "great cloud of witnesses" we are in communion with God in Christ.
Every time we are alone and we are in a worshipful spirit, we are never alone. Our worship is a constant celebration with a community that is fully present. Christian worship is never done in isolation.
With that in mind, there are times in our lives when we are truly alone. When we are abandoned by all, but these times are not worshipful. Abandonment is something that Peter Rollins takes on full force in his book Insurrection - which I hope to post about soon.
I stated that while that I beautiful I would not call that Christian worship. Devotion? Sure. Worship, no.
What became apparent to me in my conversation with this woman I respect was that for many people "corporate" or "community" means having people around. So when going into a closet and shutting the door means one is not in a corporate setting - that person is alone.
Here is the kicker, in Christian thought we trust we are not alone. We have the Advocate (Holy Spirit) we are surrounded by the "great cloud of witnesses" we are in communion with God in Christ.
Every time we are alone and we are in a worshipful spirit, we are never alone. Our worship is a constant celebration with a community that is fully present. Christian worship is never done in isolation.
With that in mind, there are times in our lives when we are truly alone. When we are abandoned by all, but these times are not worshipful. Abandonment is something that Peter Rollins takes on full force in his book Insurrection - which I hope to post about soon.
What time does worship begin?
Because no matter what local church you are at, no matter what time is noted above the "attempt at humor but often highly inappropriate and offensive" sign outside your church building (can we get rid of this please!), worship does not begin at 11am.
Worship began eons ago and we just happen to join in that ongoing worship at 11am on Sunday.
If we were to meet at the river at 11am and jump in for a swim, our actions did not "start" the flow of the river. Rather the river has been there long before and will be there long after our actions.
We just join into the flow of it for a time.