God's Presence

"Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly." (A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God)

When was the last time your bushes were burning? Or someone said to you, "Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."

The experience of Moses on Mount Horeb is more than just the beginning of an exodus. It represents a refreshing of a relationship between God and his people. That is a saga in and of itself. What I find fascinating is this...."And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God." (Ex. 3:6) He was in the very presence of the almighty and he knew that he dare not look! What intrigues me about that is the difference between then and now. 

If that were to happen today, I suspect the first thing the person would do is try to get a look at God.  If a voice said "remove your sandals for you are standing on holy ground." I suspect the first thing out of the person's mouth would be, "Why? What's wrong with my flip flops?"

When was the last time you sensed the presence of God in such a way that you felt you dare not look, and that you must remove your "sandals"?  Which leads me to this question...

Are we dumbing-down worship?

As many of you are aware my wife and I continue to seek a local church home. So we have had many opportunities to experience a variety of different churches and "worship services".  I have also done extensive exploration on the Internet both locally, regional, and across the nation to see what's going on and I have to ask, "Are we dumbing-down worship?" By that I mean:

1. Has the focus become more on evangelism instead of growing the faith of the present believers?
2. Has the "casual" nature of worship in some churches developed such an attitude of familiarity with God, that we no longer sense the awe and wonder of God's presence in worship?
3. Have we become so performance oriented that we have lost the power of God and replaced it with the power of man to sway the emotions of other men?
4. Have we become so focused on "mega" when it comes to size that we've lost the magnificence when it comes to El Shaddai

My observation is familiarity breeds contempt, or so they say. And I believe it may be true when it comes to some forms of contemporary worship. In many instances it's no longer a Sunday morning worship. It resembles more of a Sunday afternoon barbeque.

From what I see on the Internet or talking to others, this trend is not unique to this area, in fact it may be more prevalent in other parts of the country than in this area. So, the question must be asked is it our "form" of worship that others resist that leads the church in this direction or is it the content of our faith? Do we think for one minute that if we somehow provide Lazy-Boys and Podcasts that people will believe or grow in their faith? Is it someone's contention that the un-saved will be swayed by drama, concerts, or coffee in the vestibule?  And since when did the primary worship service become a vehicle for evangelism anyway? 

No, I do not have the answers. I have some suspicions. Nevertheless,  I suspect Tozer is right, we have an "unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly."  We would rather God adjust His, to ours! Whether that is in corporate worship or individual worship.