The
Sanctuary and Worship
By
Stephen Terry
“At that moment the
curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the
rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people
who had died were raised to life.” Matthew 27:51-52, NIV
Have you ever told someone that you were
spiritual but not religious? Or has someone ever said that to you about
themselves? The implication is that there is something wrong with institutional
worship that can be avoided by dropping out and seeking an individual
relationship with God instead. Just as
the curtain was torn in the temple at Jesus’ death ending the system of
sacrificial offerings, these contemporary worshippers find little relevance in church
buildings or hierarchical administrative systems for today’s worship.
Not wanting to put new wine into old wineskins,
they often seek exuberant worship styles that pour forth unrestrained from
hearts bursting with joy. Feeling becomes more important than content characterized
by songs with endless repetition of a few powerful catch phrases sung as a
mantra. Examples are “Agnus Dei” by Michael W Smith
and “Awesome God” by Rich Mullins. Worship becomes marketing as these catch
phrases compete in the marketplace of ideas. Choosing between God and Satan
becomes like choosing between Pepsi and Coke. People understand the worship
choices little better than they understand what is really in the can they are
drinking their favorite beverage from. Even though the products are often
associated with exciting lifestyle choices such as “The Pepsi Generation,”
watching the supermarket check out line will quickly reveal that most of those
buying the products are not enjoying those exciting lifestyles.
The same disconnect exists between the excited
worshippers singing their repetitive phrases in weekly informal worship
sessions. The overflowing joy they experience while the music plays does not
continue into the weekly routine of normal life. To be sure, these worshippers
would happily check the box “Christian” on any survey, but they do not feel the
need to encumber their lifestyle with anything that would restrict their
ability to freely make choices that are self-destructive, and they even advocate for those
choices. Internet social media are filled with testimonials of those who
identify themselves as “Christian” yet brag of their latest drunken party,
their sexual relationships, or who “pwnd” whom. (If you don’t know what that means, google
it.)
So why do we seek these worship styles in the
first place? It is because just like the Israelites of old, we are finding our
current worship dry, boring and uninspiring. God through Moses endowed the children
of
Therefore God provided a system to deal with
the guilt problem. The ultimate solution was Jesus, but until He was to come,
the sacrificial system would provide a means to annually cleanse the community from
the burden of guilt. Eventually that once-a-year solution would be replaced by
a way to come before God anytime to seek cleansing as Jesus continually
ministered in the heavenly sanctuary.
Sadly the sanctuary system God had provided
became dry and ritualistic as the true meaning became clouded. People brought
sacrifices and participated in the feasts because it was the expected thing to
do and not because of any real desire to seek a relationship with God. Compounding
the problem was a priesthood that evolved into gatekeepers instead of
facilitators. They emphasized the obligation of worship rather than the
opportunity. Form became more important than substance. The temple became just one
more place expecting money and resources, no different from the king or the
emperor. Instead of encouraging an attitude of worship and reverence, the
religious leaders spawned an attitude of rebellion. The religious system that should have been a
check on the avarice of those who oppressed the people, instead sought power
and influence with those oppressors.
Today the hierarchical administration of
the churches and the dry, formal worship services are also failing to provide an answer for guilt.
Many churches find people are walking
away in droves and the congregations consist of the remaining elderly sitting
in half-empty sanctuaries. In desperation some will form praise singing groups,
update their songbooks, and spend their limited resources for audio-visual
equipment, but to little avail. The problem is not
about the worship style. In fact, the new worship style quickly becomes the new
dry ritual. As the praise singers go through their paces down front with little
real enthusiasm, the parishioners dutifully sing the songs figuring they are
doing everything necessary to save their dying church. They are mystified when
people continue to leave and the changes they have made do not seem to help.
The congregants have
forgotten the purpose of the church. That purpose is no different than the
purpose of the sanctuary over two millennia ago. It is all about guilt. The
Israelites came to the sanctuary with their offerings and their guilt and left
with neither. They walked toward the sanctuary with heavy steps loaded with their
emotional burden and left with light tread, feeling a new hope for their daily
struggle with life. In other words, the sanctuary was where they found hope.
It is no different today. People come to the
church loaded with the burdens of the week. Sometimes those burdens are so
heavy that it is a wonder that they were able to make it to church at all. Beaten
down and depressed they come seeking at least enough hope to carry them through
another week. Instead, they find an excellent presentation on correct
doctrine. They may even hear a sermon on
the need to love others and be unified. The one thing they often do not find is
the Blessed Hope for their own situation. They leave vowing to try to live
doctrinally correct, vowing to love others, and promising to pray for unity,
but it is all now more burdens they must carry. Their step is heavier as they trudge
home. Eventually the load simply gets
too heavy, and they cease coming at all.
What makes the story sadder is that the Devil
knows just what they need. And he offers them hope in every way imaginable except
the only way that works. He tells them if they have more money things will get
better. A new car is just what they need. Their spouse is holding them back, and
maybe they would feel better with a new one. Maybe some new clothes would give
hope. All of these suggestions and more are advertised everywhere with promises
that things will be better if we simply choose anything, anything at all,
except Jesus.
When none of these things lift the burden of
guilt, the Devil offers his favorite solutions. Alcohol will make you forget and
feel better. And if that isn’t enough there are drugs that can help. Finally,
when everything comes up empty and the guilt has laid such a heavy burden on a
person’s heart that the only thing they know is despair, the last solution is
offered. The Devil simply says, “Well, maybe life wasn’t all that worth living
after all,” and suicide becomes the way out.
But none of that has to be. God provided the
answer for guilt, and He entrusted the church to share it with others. Guilt for
sin is the biggest problem in the world today. If God’s people were to offer
hope for the guilty, the pews would be full. Some churches have been doing that
and have seen the result, but it is not because of the music they are playing
or the style of worship and praise. It is simply because those who come to
worship leave with hope rekindled in their hearts. If they find that, it won’t
matter if the songs are centuries old hymns or highly repetitive contemporary catch
phrases, the people will come. They will
not come for the worship format. They will come for the Hope. I want to be with them. Don’t you?
This Commentary is a Service of Still
Waters Ministry
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