Monday, September 12, 2011

The Worship Myth

There is a myth that has been circulating for decades and centuries.  It doesn't involve Nessie, Big Foot, or chanting "Bloody Mary."  The myth involves an hour (for some more) on Sunday.  This pervasive myth is referred to as the Worship Myth, and at it's simplest it states that the worship service is the foundation of the church and its ministry in the world.  To start, grow, or go to church is equivalent to getting people to gather in as large a crowd as possible to sing songs about God and to listen to a gifted communicator (sometimes) talk about God (hopefully).  Ask most church planters in the United States about starting a church and they will give you a recipe about getting your launch team together, preparing your monthly preview services, and finally launching your %ss-kicking multi-media "worship experience!"  Lady Gaga ain't got s!#t on the show we put on each Sunday in the East Shore Elementary School Cafeteria.  Ask an established church pastor about church growth and he or she will probably launch into adding a new building for their "eco-friendly-accoustic-only-modern" worship service, or adding another campus, or investing in tech upgrades for their stadium-seating worship center/sanctuary.  Ask most church members about going to church and they will respond with their personal dimensions, "I go to the 10am ancient-future service on the South Campus in my v-neck T and skinny jeans."

The problem with the Worship Myth is that it ignores the teachings of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 in which Jesus commanded his disciples to do as he had done which was to make disciples.  Jesus never explicity commanded his followers to worship.  Rather he commanded his followers to baptize and teach people to obey all that he commanded.  And what did Jesus command?  To love the Lord your God with all of heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.  For Jesus the role and function of the church was to make disciples who didn't merely worship him for an hour on Sunday, but who worshipped him 24/7 as they began to look and act more like him in their homes, in their neighborhoods, in their jobs, and in their communities.

What might our homes, our communities, and our world look like if the church decided to invest as much time, energy, and money in helping people look and act more like Jesus the other 167 hours of the week?