Why Worship?

 

Worship is just singing in church right, a way to pass time at church before the pastor comes out?

I’ve been following this guy Sean Feucht from California who has started setting up his worship team in large cities. He’s from a church in Redding called Bethel. (Yes, I had to look it up).  I’m not sure if he advertises these events or just goes on TV to get the word out. (Most of what I’ve seen are reposts from friends on Facebook). He has some kind of schedule because I know he started in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd. I think it’s time to really support this as followers of Christ. Even if the music isn’t your particular brand or if you’re put off by emotional displays. A friend of mine once called it ‘feeling the music’ as in “That ain’t one them churches where people feel the music is it?”

 Now is not the time to nitpick. I’m not comfortable seeing cities get burned and looted while the media pretends it’s a legitimate civil rights event. I don’t see anyone else confronting the darkness gripping our cities and shining a light of truth. That’s not to dump on organizations helping the homeless and providing shelter. They do great work. But those are defensive measures in the spiritual war, a way of cleaning up the wreckage and providing hope. Few are willing to go on offense, stand on a stage and invite people to acknowledge the Savior.

So why worship? Because it’s an act of humility and on a big scale it’s unifying. Political change must begin with an understanding that we (Americans) need divine inspiration. Without that humility all the brilliant ideas are just bluster. Without surrender there is no improvement. Without a spiritual fight there is no victory.   

Sean’s focus on Portland and Los Angeles for his first couple of events show how committed he is to opening a front in the difficult areas. I read something he posted about not escaping to the suburbs anymore, where the applause is easier (my words not his). It felt like an admission that the hostile climates are where the real war is. It’s a challenge to himself and others to take our faith into unfriendly zones and worship. We’ve ignored cities for too long and now the sewers are backing up and flooding the landscape.

Whatever sins we’ve made as a country this isn’t a time to assign blame. That doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty to go around, but worship allows us chance to step into something larger than ourselves and surrender.

The lawlessness and cruelty are out of control. We can identify the problems pretty well. They start by removing God and end with societal collapse. The solutions are more problematic. It’s tough to get people to agree in normal political times, much more in a heated political season. But our problems aren’t really political in the sense that we just need to listen to each other. If that was the case Sean Feucht would be doing national dialogues. I think worship is what we’re left with because everything else has failed. Maybe we should have tried it first. Some of our cities and states, whole regions actually, are beyond the discussion phase. Violence and rebellion are the order of the day.  

Worship says “I can’t do this, but I know Who can”. Collectively it says “We can’t do this, but we know Who can”.  

 

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Ephesians 6:12