In my annual battle with asthma and bronchitis, I found myself having to contact our worship arts minister on Saturday to tell him I wouldn’t be able to be there on Sunday morning. Considering I am the preacher, this created a flurry of last minute activity to replan our corporate worship service. But that didn’t bother me near as much as the simple fact that I missed worshiping with the body of Christ.
Of course preachers are supposed to say that, right?
I suppose that’s true. But I don’t think that’s the point. The question isn’t whether preachers should feel a void when the miss corporate worship. The question is why all Christians don’t.
I suspect the answer boils down to two problems. First, many who call themselves Christians (especially in southern California) have in fact accepted the surrounding culture’s priorities with regard to worship. They have bought into the myth that corporate worship doesn’t require the church (the people, not the building); when in fact “corporate” refers specifically to the church. They have also bought the myth that periodic involvement (worship isn’t “attendance” as though it is a show, it is an activity) is “good enough”, and they shouldn’t miss other activities like the beach, breakfast out, sports for the kids, etc. The fact is that corporate worship is and always has been central to the life of the Christian.
The second problem is the almost universal belief that we should be getting something out of corporate worship. In fact, since the whole point of the worship service is in fact worship, unless we believe we are the ones being worshiped, why would we believe we are supposed to get something out of it? Christians don’t get something out of worship—they give something. If that encourages and uplifts us, it feels great. But our feelings are not the point of worship.
Perhaps it is time for a simple shift of focus from ourselves to God as we approach him in worship. And ironically, it is when we shift our focus from “getting” to “giving” in worship that we do “get the most” out of it. Worship is about God. Not us.
