Worship

There were 3500 women at the conference and it was held in a large arena.  We got their early enough on Friday night to find seats and talk for a little bit.  When it was time to start, the house lights went down and the stage lights came on.   The room was full of colors and movement....and worship felt like a show.  I didn't like it.

Even when the worship leader, Travis, started talking and told us how the people on stage weren't here to entertain us, but to bring us into the presence of God, I rejected his words, and thought, "Then why are you putting on such a performance?" Really, I think the problem was with me and not them.

I got all high and mighty, and tried my best not to be distracted, and not get so bogged down in this "American" way of doing things.  And then it hit me.  This is the American way of doing things.  In Africa and in Argentina and in America, we each have our own way of celebrating our God and bringing praise to Him.  Who am I to think that our high-tech, structured way of worshipping was any less valuable or enjoyable to God than the rustic, spontaneous worship of another culture? Or the energetic, boisterous way of yet another culture?  Any form of worship is good worship, as long as our hearts are in the right place.  Once I realized that, I had no problem focusing on God instead of the lights.  It was amazing.

We sang a variety of songs - from modern songs I sing with the youth group to hymns, and everything in between.  What a treat that was!  I don't normally pick lines out of songs, but one in particular really got to me:

"We are the church, and we stand as one"

I've heard and sung these words before, standing in my church, surrounded by people I do church with every week.  This time I was singing it among a group of 3500, of whom I knew exactly 4.  It was odd for me to think of all of the ladies in that room as "the church," of which I am a part.  "The church" that is to be united, is to stand as one.  I felt compelled to stop singing and start introducing myself to the people around me.  If I was "the church" with them, I wanted to know them!

I didn't stop singing, and I didn't meet anyone new, and I am a little upset about that.  I was there to learn about God, but I was there for myself and, honestly, didn't care what the women around me were getting from the conference.  It's got me thinking about how the church can stand as one.  Not just the people at the church I attend, the church of all of God's people around the world.