Why Go To Church, Part 2

Building on the previous post – Why Do You Go To Church? – I offer more reasons given to me. (Bear with me I emphasize negatives to illustrate positives in future posts).

3. For Worship. A lot of baggage has been added to the word Worship. Many definitions, therefore, abound. Understandably, even a lot of scripture is used to support Worship positions. For the New Testament Believer, Christ narrowed Worship down. He stated, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John4:23-24). Expand these verses to see full context. Christ is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. She is being witnessed to by Christ. The woman, convicted, does what all convicted unsaved people (and many saved too) do – raise a tangential spiritual question. She was asking, in a manner of speaking, is the church I go to wrong? (Don’t take the bait, stay on topic). Christ did not take the bait, he did not give a diatribe on why Jerusalem was better than Mount Gerazim or vice versa. He instead quoted the already stated verses. What did he mean?

First. That to worship God, God must be with you. One cannot truly worship Christ without having Christ.

Second. Christ says, “…the hour cometh, and now is…” He is not defending past Jewish, religious practices. He is instead, abolishing them. A Christian no longer must follow the Festival cycle, which required all Jews to pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Christians do not need to attend the Temple for sacrifice, repentance, redemption, or worship. Christ broke down the middle wall, the partition and rent the veil in twain. He made our bodies His temple according to I Corinthians 6:19. Therefore, Old Testament Scripture cannot be used to support New Testament “church” as defined by the Temple/Tabernacle. (A little history shows that the Temple, was destroyed by Emperor Vespasian’s son, and future Emperor Titus in AD 70). Christ prophesied that the Temple would be destroyed, but that His Body would prevail. True believers are that Body of Christ, the Church – not the place. I Corinthians 6:20 further tells the true believer to glorify God in our bodies and our spirits which are God’s.

Third. With all of point 2 in mind, how does God command to worship in spirit and in truth? One word suffices - obedience. Obedience to what? Christ’s commands. Christ commanded His followers to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. He, knowing how ignorant man is, stated this command often and in many ways. He used parables as well as direct statements. True worship will be evidenced by our actively doing His will, which is not some nebulous concept we spend our lives seeking. God’s will is that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). He is glorified by sinful men coming to repentance, and the Christian is the chosen vessel to spread this truth. Worship is not a time of inaction. This life has no time for inaction. Christ said work while it is yet day, for the night cometh when no man can work (John 9:4). He is the light of the world, and that light is in the true believer according to I John 2. We must therefore work. This work is true worship, this side of eternity. Notice that when the disciples wanted to religiously worship Christ, He would have none of it. On the Mount of Transfiguration, Christ appeared with Moses and Elijah. Peter, James, and John, in dumfounded awe, wanted to build three “booths” (tabernacles based on the Old Testament Feast of the Tabernacles). Christ would not allow this, nor did He want any mention of the occurrence to spread until after His ascension. He knew such devotion to a place or occurrence would keep men from doing what he commanded, that is spread the word! In the spiritual sense, “Be fruitful and multiply.” (The Tower of Babel is an amazing picture of how not to “do church.” God wanted mankind to spread out and occupy the earth. God still wants the church to do the same – cf. Acts 1:8. Those who don’t are guilty of the same sin at Babel).

Fourth. Worship is not a sensationalistic, emotional feeling. Feelings are fleeting, and can distort truth. Christ wants worship to be done in truth, which is always Bible based. Any addition or subtraction therefrom is not worship. Thy Word Is Truth! (John 17:17). Many seek worship as an exalted state, a high. Certainly this cannot be glorifying God, as such worship is for self. “I don’t like that church, it makes me feel bad.” “Come to our church, we will make you ‘feel good.’” “I just don’t get that feeling there…” No scripture can be found to support feeling oriented “seeker-sensitive” methodology. Truth, contrary to feelings, can and in many cases will hurt. Again, God is honored by lost men coming to the Truth, Christ. Pitifully, most “witnessers” will cut out the most crucial portion of the message. They jump straight into the good part, but don’t illustrate the truth of sin. Try telling a rich, lost man that he is unhappy, and needs to “add God” to his life. He has no need, in his mind, of God. All is well. But if the truth of his sin be revealed, then there will be a great need. Don’t cut that truth just to make someone feel good, or to “try God.” Such false-witnessing sends many to hell. Therefore, that lack of truth is false-worship, even if it’s done in Jesus’ name (cf. Matt. 7:21-23).

Fifth. One last point for worship. Christ says that the hour now is. That means, presently it is time to worship. Christ made worship immediate, not future, or every now and then. Going to church for worship, means that one can only worship for three hours Sunday Morning, an hour and a half Sunday Night, two hours Wednesday Night, and two hours on Thursday Visitation, by such logic. Since the true believer is now the Temple, and the Spirit, which guides into all truth, is within us, then we are to be constantly worshiping.  Paul further stated to Timothy that the man of God (not just pastors, but all saved) is to be instant in season and out of season. We may have our set aside times to witness, or meet around God’s Word, which is good, but this does not limit our worship. Now is the only time to work. Night will soon come, and no man will work. God’s just judgment will come, men will be cast into hell, and the true believer will then spend eternity worshiping in awe. Please, do not be unprepared by serving yourself now, in exchange for torment later. Vanity now is not worth sacrificing eternity.