We all have worship preferences. I’ve been to churches that have big worship teams leading music. I’ve been to churches where one person led music with prerecorded music. I’ve even been in churches that had no music at all.
When we come into worship it is to gather with others to honor God in unity. Some of us may sing better than others, but together we make a joyful noise. We are joining with family and like minded people, where we should feel safe and open. The corporate nature of worship is very important, so much so that it is given focus in Scriptures of both the Old and New Testament. Paul spends chapters addressing corporate worship when writing the Corinthians.
I wonder sometimes how far from the original biblical understanding of worship as a corporate element we have grown in our me oriented world. In many churches today we’ve dropped the lights and retreated into the darkness. Many say this is so people can have privacy to worship. New comers may feel more comfortable if they don’t stand out. We’ve brightened the stage so those in the front really can’t see who is attending, and the focus is solely on those on stage. How far from everyone gathering together with one another to lift up one another and connect to one another have most churches become?
We are not gathering so often to worship corporately so much as we are gathering to worship separately in unison together. We want to hide. We want to remain anonymous. We don’t want others in our business and we don’t want to truly open up to be concerned about their business. So, we retreat within ourselves. We retreat to the darkness, as we come together to sing and preach about the “Light of the World.”
I know Scripture doesn’t give us direction on some matters, like the temperature of the building, the color of the carpet, or how bright a church should be. I just find it an interesting phenomena that while we preach being open, we preach coming together, and we sing and say we are proclaiming light into the darkness the modern and postmodern church has retreated to darkened rooms in which to gather to praise God.
We who of protestant background who proclaim Sola Scriptura, the Word Alone are created places where those not carrying their Bible on their phone are left only with whatever is put on a screen because they couldn’t read their Bibles in the darkness.
I’m not here to proclaim what way is right or to say one form of worship is better than others. As I’ve said, I’ve worshipped in a variety of places and that incudes regularly in places where the lights are low. I personally don’t mind dimming a bit, since bright lights give me a headache. Don’t leave here thinking I’m condemning anyone for their choices. I just sit back from time to time to ponder why we do things we do, and even the comical ways we create strange paradoxes in our lives and the communities we are a part of. I ponder how things change, come back, and change again. Then I wonder if any of us in our me driven world will be satisfied when we gather for eternal worship in the presence of the king?
Blessings on the Journey,
Dan Shipton
Deep Treks 