I’ve been watching TD Jakes on Youtube in order to disrupt the silence of office work. Consistently he talks about not going to a dead church or if you are really trying to be at church there would be a “holy ghost explosion.” But I wonder if we can’t do that quietly. If I am jumping up and down and running around the church and shouting, that doesn’t necessarily mean that something is happening in my heart or in the way that I am going to be with others as I step out of the church.
I have been talking to a variety of young people who keep wanting a preacher to preach. The impetus for going to church has everything to do with an inspirational leader who gives a sermon that sounds good to one’s ear. What I read into this experience are people that see a connection with God as coming from outside inspiration rather than internal work. In truth, the priest is an unnecessary necessity. I go to church to connect with God in community with others. What matters is the congregation around me, not what is happening up at the altar.
How much more amazing would church be if we all fully participated, if we all shared in the Eucharist like it was Sunday dinner with our beloved family instead of a chore that is to ticked off a list of things to do. All this to say that an inspirational leader does not always come from the “lively” preacher, yelling and asking people to jump up and down for Jesus. To listen in the quiet spaces that is where I find God.Which is not to say that there aren’t people who find life transforming moments in the noise. I guess the point here is this: God is… how we come to know and how we express that God is… will be varied and complicated and personal and in communion with others. Whatever way you choose to know and be with God, is up to you, but I cannot think that your way is invalid and I pray that you understand and respect my way.
It would be interesting to swap one day and see what happens… I might be a little too Anglican for that though.
Pursuing Call 