The megachurches of today is not just institutionalised. Mind you, the difference is not just in form, but it is in substance too. More importantly, it is not institutionalized (or localised), which runs the risk of it being idealized and idolized.Īnd although Jesus was the only one who can claim the right to start a "megachurch" of some permanence, with hierarchical order and the accumulation of wealth, influence and power (note the Catholic Church since the Edict of Milan), he neither told Pilate that his kingdom is of this world nor left instructions in the Great Commission that reminded his disciples to start "megachurches". When Jesus fed the five thousands, that's another so-called megachurch there.īut the crucial difference is that there is no permanence to it. With regards to the day of Pentecost where thousands congregated, that's a megachurch of sorts. You have asked a good question, the same one I too have been asking myself.Īctually, I've written about it in my previous posts here. Have a blessed time searching, worshipping. It is not about what the heart of the worshipper shares or says every Sunday, but it is about the heart of worship between two, you and Him. Like the song says, let all be stripped away, and then come back to the heart of worship. Leave that catchy beat, that alluring tempo and that fancy presentation behind.
To take a long walk and leave the noise behind. It is just an appeal to search our hearts, me included. Of course not, make a difference wherever you are. No, this is not a call to leave the church.
Then, what about the church then? What do I do with the church of tens of thousands that I am currently worshipping in? Don't let anything or anyone get in the way of the heart of worship between you and Jesus. The success of Jesus' message is already in the message of the Cross, and it is not in how glib or charming the tongue of man is. Neither is the heart of worship in how appealing the message is.
The success of the kingdom is not the same as the success of this world. The heart of worship is not a place, however big it is. You don't need to wait for that emotionally charged up music in order to reach a deeper level with the lover of your soul. You don't need to sit there and wait to be fed. I am however appealing to the heart of the worshippers. My point is not to implicate the heart of the megachurch pastor. Jesus kept it at twelve because that is where the core of his influence would make the greatest impact and difference in the lives of those he touched. The numbers do count, because, as EP says, you can't have a relationship with tens of thousands. Alas, the numbers do add up, and the heart of worship at some point becomes just a crowd of worshippers. But I don't think it mentioned when 15,000 or 30,000 or 45,000 are gathered in my name, there am I with them. Of course it did say that, the scripture that is. Where have we been then? Where are we coming back from? Why are we coming back to the heart of worship when we have been attending without fail a church with overflowing crowd, stunning in all her ways, and worshipping as one united voice? Haven't we always been in the heart of worship? Didn't the scripture say that "for w hen two or three are gather in my name"? That is why the song says we are coming back to the heart of worship, and it's all about you, Jesus. It is a bond of intimacy between you and the lover of your soul. It is an exclusive relationship of two, and two only - you and Jesus. But it is not the heart of worship.Ĭome on, the heart of worship is relational. Right or wrong, inspiring or otherwise, it is what his or her heart is sharing. That's what the heart of a worshipper is telling us. I know he or she is going to tell you about Jesus, the Cross and the love that bled that day, but that is obviously not the heart of worship. Yet, can we honestly tell ourselves that in a church of tens of thousands, where the attention is unavoidably directed to the one standing before the tens of thousands?
You'd recall that the lyrics that goes like this: Postscript: As I was writing the above post, the Heart of Worship kept invading my mind, my heart. Becomes an issue of concern when we start finessing that Karl Barth's quote aboveĬan wait as we lose ourselves indulging in the good life, which is promisedįrom the pulpits of some celebrity pastors.
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