Worship: Come Together Right Now
John 4:23&24
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
There is much talk today about being relevant in worship. There is much emphasis on externals, such as having a particular musical instrument, not using a particular instrument, dressing one way or another, etc.. Is this really going to improve and unite our worship? It is basketball season again and we are once again preparing to cheer for our favorite teams. There is a lesson to be learned from cheering on our favorite basketball teams. It is often suggested that the lesson to be learned is from the excitement we get when we go to a ball game, and the question is left, Why can we not get that excited about Worshipping God? I do not fully buy into that argument, because there is a distinct difference between the attitude we are to have when going to a sports bar and going to a king's banquet. However, there is another important lesson. As you watch fans pile into arena pay attention to how they dress and what age they are and how they get along. They are all different ages, they are all different races many times, they usually all bear the mark, logo, or color of their team but they are dressed differently. The elderly fans will often dress up in nice sweaters or even a tie, the young fans will dress with their faces painted and yet they have one purpose when entering the arena and join together to make sure to cheer on their team. Sure, the older fans may not like the baggy shorts on the players, and the younger fans may wish the uniforms were more flamboyant, but this is of little matter at the point when they enter the arena. How does this relate to worship? Some may want this music or that music, or whatever the issue may be, but the focus of worship is God. This is what brings us together. The externals should be non-issues for either party when we begin to worship God.
posted by Pastor Andy @ 10:32 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
even though a basketball team realizes the main attraction is the actual game, no professional team asks the fans to come simply because of the game. while the most devout fans might come if there were no other "enhancements" to the game, most fans come because there is a good "show"(music, contests, cheerleaders, etc.) that goes with the game. how does this play into your analogy, or does it stretch it too far?
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Dave, I believe you raise many good issues, but they go in line with what I have said. If people go to games simply because of the Cheerleaders, the Mascot, the Beer, the Music, then are they truly fans of basketball. The NBA is becoming more and more about entertainment and less about basketball. What is being worshipped in the NBA, the game of basketball? The hoopla? The individuals? It is hard to tell. So it is in many churches. What is being worshipped, God? The hoopla? The individuals? If there is a desire to worship in Spirit and Truth, then the attraction is God.
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