We’ve been lied to.
Our number one goal in Sunday morning worship should be to praise and worship God.
That’s right, church is about God.
Now it’s great if we can walk away having learned something or having experienced the comforting presence of God, but if we don’t we shouldn’t complain that we didn’t get anything out of it.
We live in an individualistic society. We’re taught to put ourselves before anyone else. People drive recklessly so they can get places faster, with no regard for the safety of others on the road. Parents don’t vaccinated their children because they are more worried about the slim chance of negative side effects than the much higher chance of infecting people who medically cannot be vaccinated. And our individualism has inevitably spilled over into our religion.
Well guess what, Christianity is not an individualistic religion.
It is about us offering our very lives to God. It is about us listening to what God wants from us rather than chasing our own desires. It is about rearranging our priorities so we can place ourselves last and the most needy first. It is about us asking “How can I give?” instead of “What can I get?” It is about praising God for the great gift of salvation we are given through Jesus Christ.
God placed himself last so we could know him. Would you put yourself above God? When we are looking to “get something” out of church, we guarantee we will get nothing in the end.
Luke 9: 23-25 says “Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?’”
When we think of church as something that is about us, we lose God. Church is a time to study God’s word and discern God’s will. Church is a community that serves God. Church is a time to worship God. Church is for God, from God, by God, to God, in the presence of God.
Church is not about us. It’s about God.