Underwood Unplugged

"What is your church like?" "What do you like about your church?:" "My church rocks!"

Okay, so I'm guilty of it. Guilty of looking at church from the viewpoint of what it can do for me. I can't help but sing louder when I like the song or the style. I can't help but feel better or more inspired if the speaker really challenged me. I can't help but feel great when church.. um... makes me feel great?

But what about when it doesn't?

What about when they don't sing a song I like? When they ask for yet another commitment. When someone prays or says something I don't agree with. When the guy in front of me raises his hands during worship, and I wonder if he knows he's blocking my view...

I'm guilty of making church about ME. Maybe we all are. I guess it's human nature to have our own preferences, respond to certain approaches, and have a secret list of likes and dislikes about our church.

Aren't we all "consumers"? If we don't like the "product," we leave and go somewhere else. We stay and criticize. We keep score - good and bad - about church just like anything else.

Hey, if the Pastor struggles with these thoughts, I suppose all of us do. I think I've had my most passionate conversations about church with people who have a keen awareness that their local church "ain't what she should be."

What would it look like for God to join the discussion? For God himself to share the things he loves about your church? To point out his own "secret list" on how you should be doing it...

I bet God's list would look much different... His list has little to do with music styles, how well the pastor tells a story, or how friendly the ushers are.

God looks at the house - and He really doesn't care about all the externals. He looks right at the core of my heart and asks me a very pointed question... "Who owns this house?"

Strip all the externals away, and the church is about God, for God, and experiencing God.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow morning (Sunday), I hope I remember whose house it is, and give an undivided heart to Him. If I personally feel good or get a spiritual buzz from it, that's fine. But it's all about honoring God and spending time with Him in His house.