Christians today must endure a barrage of offensives from the secular world. The Bible and truths it stands upon are condemned and regularly criticized; life as a “true-blooded” Christian is anything but simple. The saddest and most debilitating aspect of this, however, is that the struggle does not stop outside the church. No, sadly Christians bring the fight into the sanctuary. They deface a building symbolic of the unity under Christ with their petty arguments on how to “do church.” Everyone has an “opinion,” though it is clear each individual considers it more than that.
But what if we reconsidered what it means to “go to church”? Why does it need to be done a certain way? Quite simply, it does not need to be done in a particular manner. While some aspects are absolutely biblical and should be practiced in every church (these including the preaching of the Gospel, prayer, and so on), there are many things part of tradition considered “fact,” when these elements are nothing more than preferences certain people have become used to and comfortable practicing.
I have always been told that worship “is our mind’s attention and heart’s affection focused completely on God.” How powerful would it be to gather believers into a unified body – no, a unified organism – and worship God with that definition in mind? If a church service was conducted with the continual reminder in the hearts of believers to be focused on God and worship him, as it says in John 4:24, in “spirit and in truth,” Christians would learn to discern the difference between their preference and their need to conduct themselves biblically!
Do not get me wrong, I am completely aware that people have a particular type of song style or preaching style they might be more comfortable with while participating in worship. However, deviations from one’s particular liking should not give anyone reason to start a fight. A church of hymns and “old-school preaching” can have an equally God-honoring time of worship as an upbeat church might practice.
One day soon, all Christians will be gathered before God. We will all be together, bowing before his thrown, laying down our crowns before Him. Together we will join with the angels and praise God for all eternity; would we be petty enough to debate the style of song we use? Of course not, we will be too occupied with honoring God with our entire being!
What I am getting at is this: if we will be able to join with Christians together before the throne of God and worship Him in “spirit and in truth,” with our minds’ attention and hearts’ affection completely and utterly focused on and consumed by Him, what is there to gain from bickering over grievances like worship styles? Preferences make us unique and reflect the creativity of God, but they should bring us together in a glorious union of believers, not divide us and tarnish the name of Christ.
