Is This Church?

Friday, May 9, 2014

I looked and saw a Lamb standing there before the twenty-four Elders, in front of the throne and the Living Beings, and on the Lamb were wounds that once had caused his death.  He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God, sent out into every part of the world.  He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting upon the throne.  And as he took the scroll, the twenty-four Elders fell down before the Lamb, each with a harp and golden vials filled with incense—the prayers of God’s people!  They were singing him a new song with these words:  “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it; for you were slain, and your blood has bought people from every nation as gifts for God.  And you have gathered them into a kingdom and made them priests of our God; they shall reign upon the earth.”  Then in my vision I heard the singing of millions of angels surrounding the throne and the Living Beings and the Elders:  “The Lamb is worthy (loudly they sang it!), the Lamb who was slain.  He is worthy to receive the power, and the riches, and the wisdom, and the strength, and the honor, and the glory, and the blessing.”  And then I heard everyone in heaven and earth, and from the dead beneath the earth and in the sea, exclaiming, “The blessing and the honor and the glory and the power belong to the one sitting on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever.”  And the four Living Beings kept saying, “Amen!”  And the twenty-four Elders fell down and worshiped him.     Revelation 5:6 - 14 (TLB)

I’ve heard it.  I’ve even thought it at times.  Church can be boring.

But our boredom has to do with us and our lack of focus; Jesus was anything but boring.  Just ask the people who saw him heal the sick, cast out demons and raise a little girl back from the dead.  I bet that little girl’s father and mother were never bored to see Jesus in town.

The problem with those of us who find worship boring might fall in about three classifications:

1.    We don’t get it

Sadly, there are people, even church members who have never had a relationship with the risen Lord Jesus.  And when you don’t know Christ, going to church can be like going back to the movie theatre week after week to watch the same movie.  Boring!

2.    We forgot it

For those to whom their relationship with God was based upon an emotional response to a really well-orchestrated, technologically-breathtaking “worship” leader, there is often a let-down that is like “losing the high” after the drugs wear-off.  It was all about emotions and expectations of more “high”.  We forgot Jesus; we want to feel good.  Church services that don’t produce that energy are boring.  Boring!

3.    We settle for religion

For those without an ongoing life of worship which takes place 7 days a week, Sundays are perfunctory and boring if some outside stimulus doesn’t cross our pathway.  We settle for singing the hymns (or not), writing the check, bowing as someone else says the words, trying to stay awake during the “sermon,” and, in short, enduring worship.

Must it be this way?

If you check out the worship scenes in Revelation, you’ll find no boredom.  There is nothing but vibrant, overwhelming praise and adoration laid at the foot of the throne.  

Why?  It is because the worshippers live in an ongoing, genuine recognition of the majesty, splendor and worth of Jesus the king….even when it’s NOT Sunday!

And that is the key to ending the “boredom” of worship – whether in a quiet service that hardly has words, or in an ear-splitting media show that attempts to blow you away with the “best show in town”.  It’s all about Jesus – not the new multimedia glitz!

If you want the real thing – it’s all about Jesus.  Did I mention it’s all about Jesus?

Today…for you

Today, will it be all about Jesus?  If so, it will never be boring again.