Now that we’ve completed a decent chunk of our race, I’ve
got a few countries under my belt and quite a few experiences to draw
from. We get to visit a lot of churches
during our travels and they’re all so different and unique. They have different cultural norms,
traditions and ways of worshiping God. Growing up in the American church I’ve gotten used to a specific
structure for church, how it runs, what not to say, when to stand, when to zone
out, and when to head for the door. But
for a lot of the church outside America, the structure looks different. They do things in a different order, leave
things completely out, or have very little structure. But I think the biggest contrast I’ve noticed
between churches in America and churches we encounter on the race are the
physical ones. The building (if you can
call it that), the mud mounds for benches, the lack of electricity, and the
missing instruments.
have mud floors, sometimes wooden benches, maybe one drum, and a lot of people
wanting to fellowship and praise God. We
usually sing songs without words on a screen or instruments to drown out or
voices, there’s no powerpoint presentation to follow along to, and no other
media to keep us constantly entertained. What we do is clap our hands, dance a lot, and listen to the word that
God is speaking to or through us that day.
My question is this…how many people would leave your church
if you stripped away all the glitz and glamour? Would you still be attending? Do
we experience more of God when we
are fully engaged in media and have things fed
to us? Or do we lose God amongst all
the noise and commotion that is going on?
See, I feel like I’ve felt God’s presence more strongly than
ever before in some of the churches here in Malawi. I’m not saying God is absent from the
American church…no not at all. What I
don’t want this blog to be is a bash on America and the culture. It’s easy for me to get judgmental when I’m
overseas and looking back at a land of excess. What I’m wrestling with is the thought that many attendees of American
churches are coming with the intentions to be entertained….really?? Yes. Entertained! Do we come to the cross of Christ in hopes
that he’ll entertain us for a couple hours? That’s a scary thought.
I’m speaking from experience here, so don’t think I’m trying
to exempt myself from anything…We raise our hands during worship and get
emotional and feel like God is so close…We hear a message and it pulls at our
hearts and we know that our lives need to change…We see our brothers and
sisters hurting and realize we need to have compassion and do something for
them…but then nothing happens…no action takes place.
If we were encountering God I think there would be more
people on their faces before God, more people changing how they live their
lives, more people loving their neighbor as themselves. But instead nothing happens and we go back to
our busy godless lives.
So why the disconnect? Maybe it’s because we never came to church to be changed, we never came
to experience the creator of the universe, we never wanted to have someone tell
us that we are wretched and in need of a savior. We came to be entertained and get on with our
lives. Next time you’re in church look
past all the things being presented to you and see where God is truly at
work. When you seek Him out you will
find Him. And then be ready to go for a
ride…a ride that will change your life…that will call you into things that are
bigger and better than yourself. I love
adventure! And that’s exactly what
following Jesus is…the greatest adventure I’ve ever been a part of.
