I want to begin by asking a very simple question; why do you go to church?
Do you go to church to get fed spiritually? Do you go to church to experience some incredible music? Do you go for the coffee? Do you go for the fellowship? Do you go for a combination of all these things? At first glance, many of us would say, yeah that about sums up why I go to church on a Sunday morning.
While being challenged by the Bible, experiencing incredible music, coffee, and friends are all good things, it seems that we are coming to church to do one thing: “to take”.
We take in the Word that is preached. We take in the powerful worship. We take in the delicious coffee and snacks. We take in friendships. All these things that we take are gifts from God that we should appreciate but in this process of taking, I am convinced we have lost the point of what worshipping is all about.
Someone recently reminded me of what worship looked like in the Old Testament. They reminded me that the Israelites didn’t come to take but to give. They didn’t go to the tabernacle or temple to take a dove, goat, or cow home with them. They came to sacrifice their own doves, goats, and cows. They came to give their offerings to God. Worshipping God in the Old Testament cost them something. Worship is about giving not taking.
What if we changed our mentality on worship? Currently our question is “what can I get from this church service?” What if instead we asked, “what can I give God today at this service?” Can you imagine the difference a change in our mentality would have?
An attitude shift in our philosophy of worship will also change our thoughts on missing worship. Right now, how many people skip worship on a regular basis due to sleep, sports, recreation, or cottages? If church is about taking, skipping worship isn’t a problem. Skipping is fine because you just won’t take in this Sunday. NBD.
However, if worship is about giving, skipping worship is a big deal. We are deliberately saying, “God you aren’t worthy of me giving to you this week.”
My goal of this blog wasn’t to make you feel bad but it is to wake us up to a dangerous thought process we have fallen into. Considering this blog post, first, let’s all be in worship consistently because God alone is worthy of our praise. And secondly, for all of us who are at worship, let’s not be there to take, but to give.
Greg Salmon
Youth Director
