we’re picky because we’re hungry

From this week’s 850 Words of RELEVANT:

I believe our tendency is to come to the worship service spiritually starved. It would be ludicrous to imagine going one week without eating, and yet many of us go a whole week without reading the Bible and praying daily. When we fail to eat healthy spiritually speaking, no wonder it is easy to become edgy, irritable and critical when we finally get our hands on some spiritual food in a once-a-week worship service. Likewise, in this state of mind it’s much easier to slip into the framework of worshipping our worship, rather than worshipping God. (Kary Oberbrunner)

Wow. We’re critical because we’re consumers. My friend David has suggested that early-church services were more a matter of contributing things that people had learned throughout the week from personal study and prayer and experience (see 1 Cor 14:26). But we now run church like it’s the exclusive source of spiritual nourishment. Yes, I’m endorsing the much-criticized “quiet time” concept, which, while taken to legalistic extremes in some movements, is nonetheless essential to the Christian life. If this personal discipline is neglected, church becomes a feeding frenzy where we all push and throw elbows to get our way - music just right to get us in a “worshipful” mindset; sermon not too long but not too shallow, either; not too many announcements; good refreshments afterward, etc. Enough. Let’s go to church to give to others, to BE the church, not take. The “service” isn’t intended to be a service to us, after all.

I finished Spirit of the Disciplines. Great book; I’d go so far as to call it a must-read, and if you like it, go on to Willard’s sort-of-sequel The Divine Conspiracy.