Dreaming Beneath the Spires

Anita Mathias's Blog on Faith and Art

Has Church Attendance become an Idol for Christians? (A Guest Post by Kelly Youngblood)

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I was fascinated by an early version of this piece on Kelly’s blog last year. It’s something I’ve often privately thought, but rarely seen expressed so clearly. So happy to host Kelly Youngblood here to day.

worship

(photo credit: khrawlings)

 Often, the Sunday morning worship service is the Christian’s high point of the week.  It’s considered the most important part of the Christian life.  Church attendance is taken, because denominational headquarters like to see numbers.  A chapter in a book I recently read was about the Sunday morning worship service, as was an an article I also read recently.  This chapter and this article both had a similar feel to it–that the Sunday morning worship service is extremely important in the Christian life and most other events should not interfere with it.  One time, I even heard a sermon about how there is really no excuse for not going to church on Sunday mornings.

Here is a quotation from the book I mentioned.  I’m not listing the title/author because I think it is a good book, and don’t want anyone to think too negatively of it.  If you’d like to know the title, please contact me.   The author writes: “Though the form of worship is not the main focus, this does not mean form is unimportant.  Form matters.  There are basic elements of Christian worship that have been found useful in the development of our relationship with God and others.  Though not all Christian groups engage in all of these elements of worship, many groups use use some or all of these practices consistently in their gatherings.  We will look at each of these briefly in order to explain how they form us spiritually.  I will write the following as if I were writing to my son to explain why worship is worth it.” He then goes on to list and explain these different parts of a worship service:  Greeting; Confession and Forgiveness; Creeds, commandments and the Lord’s Prayer; Scripture and Sermon; Communion or the Lord’s Supper; Singing; Silence; Offering Gifts; Benediction or Sending Forth.

It seems somewhat hollow to me to put so much emphasis and importance on our typical Sunday morning church service, especially when I think of the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.  20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”  21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.  24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”  —John 4:19-24 
 
The Samaritan woman points out that two different groups of people have two ideas of the proper location for worship.  Jesus basically tells her it doesn’t really matter where people worship, because worship is not about location, but about those who will worship “in spirit and in truth”.

I am not sure why we call our Sunday morning meeting a “worship service”.  It’s redundant, really.  In Hebrew, the word that we translate as worship is avodah which also means “service”, as in, say, avodah zara, service to idols, or as we would put it, idol worship.  In Greek, the word for service is proskuneo which means worship; fall down and worship, kneel, bow low, fall at another’s feet.  How often do we actually fall down, or kneel, or bow low in a church service?  The last time I ever remember kneeling is when I grew up going to Catholic church.  Now, I am not saying we should necessarily rush to do these things, because to incorporate them for everyone would be to miss the point of Jesus’ message.

 
We should feel freedom in worship, and we should feel free to worship, to serve, as the Holy Spirit guides us.  It may be in a typical worship service.   It may be as you’re on a long drive.  It may be when you are helping out at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter or as you are bandaging a child’s scraped knee or wiping away her tears.  To only think of meeting in a particular place at a particular time with other particular people as worship is to miss Jesus’ point–and perhaps has become avodah zara, idolatry, itself.  Our entire lives should be worship.  And, quite honestly, that’s a lot harder than going to a service once a week.

And really, in a “worship service”, it often feels to me that we are not exactly serving God.  We are often serving ourselves.  The sermon is for us to hear, the songs are for us to sing and to make us feel good, even as we are singing them to God.  And while they should affect us as in how we serve God, sometimes, I think that gets a little bit lost.  We often feel unfulfilled if we don’t like the music or the sermon isn’t good–and the person sitting next to us could think and feel exactly the opposite.  Worship is not the same experience for each and every person.  And so, even though at times I feel a little guilty if I don’t attend church and get perfect attendance (first child perfectionist issue, probably), I really don’t mind missing it.  Sometimes, “church service” happens when we least expect it.

I’m not entirely sure what the answer is, because meeting together is important.  But we live in a flawed world and are flawed people, and so any attempt we make to “do church” the “right” way will end up being flawed, too.  And so, I’m going to continue looking for church and worship in the unusual places, because the Spirit is not bound by our rules.

Kelly Youngblood

Kelly Youngblood

Bio:  Kelly J. Youngblood is a writer who blogs regularly (except when she doesn’t) at Renewing Your Mind.  She likes to write about faith, life, doubt, and the Bible.  When she isn’t writing, she’s a stay-at-home mom of her two sons, ages 6 and 3, who are very rambunctious and wear her out on a daily basis.  In her spare time (ha!), she’s decided to start writing a novel in order to have an outlet for a more creative type of writing.  She has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of New Mexico and has worked in the restaurant industry, the legal field, in churches, and for non-profits.

Over to you: Thoughts? Do you agree with Kelly?

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Comments

  1. First of all, attendance on Sunday is not about us all the time. Sometimes when I’m really not feelin’ the magic about Sunday morning, I go anyway and I discover that I’m actually there for someone else. One time, I went when I didn’t feel like going (forced myself to go) and there was a middle-aged man outside looking pretty lost and other folks were just busy in their own thoughts and walking right by. He’d just lost his wife to cancer and was looking for someplace to be that morning to not be alone. I brought him in and sat next to him and we worshipped there together. At coffee hour, I introduced him around including another parishioner I knew in a similar situation. He still hugs me every time he sees me in church. If I had listened to that nagging “oh, don’t go today” voice, maybe nobody would have noticed him lurking outside the church and he’d have stayed lost. Church that day had nothing to do with me but my attendance was necessary to God’s Plan.

    I firmly believe that regular church attendance is a habit that reaps many benefits, but that a good fit is essential.

    • Sure, I agree it shouldn’t be about us, and that is a great example you gave. But too often, it does become about us–I’ve had more conversations than I can count that start with “what did you think about the sermon?” or “I liked–or didn’t like–the music today”.
      And sometimes, that “nagging voice” telling us to stay home may have a reason for staying home, too. The point is that we’re often so legalistic about attendance on Sunday morning that we can miss out on the myriad of ways God can be experienced elsewhere.

      • I guess I don’t see anything wrong with those conversations. Those aspects of church are for us, not God. They should engage and enhance our worship and if the discussion turns towards not liking the music or the sermon not speaking to you…always…then maybe it is time to find something that better speaks to you or whoever is saying that. And those conversations are a perfectly natural thing (especially for people who have to process on the outside of our heads). Luckily, there are many different avenues to Christ, and the music, worship style, sermon all should enhance, not detract from that. Discussing that openly is not wrong, it’s how some of us process that information.

    • I agree with you, LA, sometimes we need to go for other people. But, sometimes in our frenzied lives, Sunday is the one unscheduled sleep-in day.

      Of course, if one is living in such a way that one is too tired for church on Sunday–and sadly that is often the case with me–something needs to change.

      However, we are commanded to rest on Sunday, not necessarily get up, clean up and get to church on time.

      I often find being alone, and walking alone more refreshing than church.

      Which might mean that my current church (evangelical, but not charismatic) is not a good fit for me. Which it isn’t. But I am too tired to change!

      • Not saying the occasional “hookey” isn’t good sometimes, but as you know…it’s easy to keep saying that enough times and pretty soon months have gone by and no church. Coming from the 3rd most unchurched state where attendance on Sunday is, frankly, abysmal, I can honestly say it IS hard for us to attend. Soccer and other sports are scheduled on Sunday mornings. Competitions, speech, debate clubs, etc…all Sunday morning. If one has kids here involved in anything extracurricular, it’ll be on Sunday mornings. The draw of the world is great here and finding a good church and becoming habitual about going is as much a gift to God as it is about oneself.
        Also, I don’t understand what is so wrong about discussing the merits of the sermon after leaving church. The sermon is for us, not God. Good, bad, on topic, sublime, ridiculous, many of us process on the outside and need to “talk to think”…that isn’t evil, just the way God made us.

        • For a long time I had to work on Sunday mornings. But, I also went to a Bible study group on Tuesday evenings. It was great, and I learned and grew through that much more than I would have during “real” church on Sunday morning. That’s what I am trying to say–the day/time/location doesn’t really matter and we’ve made that Sunday morning experience into the most important one, when there are other things that can actually work better.

          • Excellent point, Kelly – it’s not really the “Sunday” thing, but something…habitually (like Steven Covey says, habit breeds success, whether it is in business or spiritual life)…feeds our souls.

  3. YES. it is so nice to hear another voice saying this. and saying it so lucidly.

    as a former pastor’s wife (been out of the ministry for 4 years), i can say that i have definitely participated in and witnessed this, Kelly. i don’t think it is the case in EVERY situation (i didn’t hear you saying that, either), but it can be an easy way to feel alright about one’s walk with God without having to do the hard internal work of letting Him in. and letting Him win.

    since leaving a dysfunctional church and moving to another state last year, my husband and i have been shocked anew at how much of a “club” mentality there is in local churches. sermons are more about “look what we’ve done” and “don’t you want to join our club” rather than directing people to connect with God in the myriad of ways He is already pursuing them outside of the church walls.

    thank you for this thought-provoking post. and Anita – thank you for hosting!

    • As a pastor’s wife, you’ve definitely seen it all, then!

      You’re right; it’s not the case in every situation. And at times, I think we just need a break from the Sunday routine; I think that’s good for us. I rarely miss a Sunday (and it can start to feel too mundane and routine), but due to lots of traveling in June and July, I’ve hardly been, and I do find myself missing it.

      I am thankful that the church I attend doesn’t stress that Sunday morning is the most important. In fact, on multiple occasions it’s been mentioned that when we “scatter” after the service and go through our week, that is of the most importance.