Day 074: Let God Live in You

"He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living.  You are therefore greatly mistaken."  Mark 12:27

This is an admonishment that Jesus tells us every day.

It seems to be the answer to many people's questions about declining church attendance.  We have let God become the God of those who have died way in the past, people we don't even know personally.  We allow ourselves to be absorbed in motions and customs that we don't even believe in.  Why do we do this?

Perhaps we do this because of the fact that we are afraid of God: not with a godly fear, one that brings us closer to God, but a phobia, one that just forces us to run away from God.  We're afraid to explore our relationship with God, so we let those who have dared to draw closer to God guide us with their mere words.  However, I don't think that that's what those saints before us would have wanted.

What happens to you when you see something amazing?  When you go to a breathtaking beach for the first time, or climb up the top of the Great Wall of China?  You take pictures, you make your personal mark, and you tell every single person around you.  In the same way, those who have experienced God in so many ways have given us their postcards, their accounts, their videos, their selfies.  When we show off our pictures and talk about our experiences, we almost always conclude with the same recommendation, "you have to go do this."  And that's what the saints of the past are telling us, living in their words and their histories.

Sometimes, though, when we walk into church, pick up a prayer book, mouth the songs, or watch the priest do her thing, we are just there.  Imagine going to a foreign country for the first time and just walking around everywhere without taking a moment to breathe the new air, look at the new sights, or even taste the food.  You just wasted a trip.  In the same way, by not engaging in church, you're just wasting your time.  You are allowing God to be the God of the dead.

It will definitely take some effort, but a long line of saints will tell you that the results are worth the effort.  Raise your hands, think about the prayers, sing your best, just do something when you are in a spiritual space.  Allow for the Holy Spirit to enter you.  The only way you will truly reach God is by reaching out towards God, just as God is reaching out to you.

This Lent, take a moment to think about the different prayers you say in church, or think about your favorite hymn/worship song.  Think about how all the words can become part of your everyday life.

Day 058: Edification

"How is it then, brethren?  Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation.  Let all things be done for edification."  1 Corinthians 14:26

Recently, I have been thinking a lot about how I personally like to worship.  In sum, my preferred style is traditional but not impractical.

However, when I talk to other people around me, even those closest to me, we all have different preferences.  Some love the organ while others loathe it.  Some love modern language and others find it sacrilegious.  I have friends of different denominations: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopalian, and even non-denominational.  And, yet, each person has her own preference for her worship.

As I've been reading 1 Corinthians more carefully, I've been thinking a lot more about how we need to be aware that everybody will worship a little differently, and that's okay.  The root of the message, though, is that all worship should be to edify those who are participating - those who are involved should feel closer to each other as they observe their worship.

But then I'll see other people bash on different practices.  I guess since I'm a musician I've seen most of the bashing occur around the idea of what music is best or the most appropriate.  The only answer I can bring to the question is this: whatever works.  Not everybody is going to respond to the same kind of music in the same way.  Look back on history, how things have changed so much.  The earliest Byzantine chants must have resembled their Jewish counterparts.  Many hymns that were written throughout the second millennium were based on popular songs of the day.  Of course, now we probably wouldn't recognize the songs as such anymore, especially since they've become elevated under the cover of hymnals.  Contemporary Christian music, which is a blanket term for a great variety of music today, usually draws on different musical traditions, pointing them to God.

And that's the point.  We are called to direct our lives to God.  If an organ and hymnals brings you there, do it.  If a five piece band with projected lyrics and unison singing get you there, do it.  However, through the different styles of worship, we all report to one God.  So, be sure to respect how someone's traditions bring her closer to God.  In reality, your preferred traditions were probably considered wild and sacrilegious in their early days.