Breaking Free of a Habit

Usually, whenever I write a note/blog post, it’s because I had just recently been influenced, encouraged, or inspired by something. (With the exception of those ABC surveys, whenever I’m just bored.) So now, I’m writing this because I’ve been influenced, I’ve been encouraged, I’ve been inspired.

All my life I’ve grown up in the church (specifically Church of Christ). My beliefs weren’t forced or thrust upon me, but for some reason I have always had this feeling that I’m only supposed to listen to only what the churches I have attended teach, that I’m supposed to dress up every Sunday morning to “go to church”, to go on Sunday nights, and sometimes even on Wednesday nights. I didn’t hate it or anything, but I felt like “church” was just becoming a habit. A routine. A norm. Just something involuntarily done because I don’t put much thought into it anymore. I’m not saying that is the case for everybody; that is just the general feeling that I get.

Then I visited a congregation that I had just heard about earlier this summer. I had heard some good things about it, so I decided to check it out. This church was different from all the others I’ve been to. They used instruments during the worship, women read Scriptures and some told their stories in front, and shorts and sandals were “acceptable”. Of course, my first reaction would be to think, “OK, this is somewhat weird”. Later I understood that it wasn’t weird; it was just different. In fact, by the end of the service, I actually felt refreshed, because all around me I could feel the passion for God emanating from every person in the room. Everyone was singing aloud, some lifting their hands, some closing their eyes, no one caring what the other person next to them was probably thinking. They were all focused on God and rejoicing in all the great things He has done. I realized that they were truly taking advantage of the small amount of time they had to meet together (they only met Sunday evenings), and that “church” for them is more than just a routine or habit.

How would I define a habit regarding church service? When I can list off immediately at the top of my head the schedule for Sunday morning services. A welcome, prayer, two songs, another prayer, three or four more songs (depending on the lengths of each song), the Lord’s Supper, one more song, a 25-30 minute sermon, an invitation song, an elder’s prayer, another song, and then a closing prayer. And heaven forbid that we mess up that schedule <– little sarcasm there. Remembering the schedule, I’d be able to guess about how much time was left for the service, and I’d end up getting nothing out of worship service. What was the point if I wasn’t going to try to actually accomplish something from attending? This “different” church doesn’t exactly have a specific schedule to follow.

Some people argue against using instrumental accompaniment based off of Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 (that’s all I’ve heard supporting their position so far). Yes, I get that we’re supposed to sing, but to only sing? There are instruments mentioned and used in the OT, especially in the Psalms. I read somewhere that someone once said, “using instruments in worship would be like including fish during the Lord’s Supper”. Ok, that’s just silly. First off, they’re not including fish in the Supper, so why bother bringing that up? Secondly, if we’re not to “add” anything to worship, why do we use power-points, or songbooks, or microphones, or comfortable pews, or fancy “church” buildings with kitchens in them? Why do we have a song leader up front waving his hand to conduct the tempo of the song? I don’t recall reading anything about those things in Scripture…

To those non-instrumental churches, do you feel lifted up whenever the congregation sings? Do you sometimes refrain from singing because you’re worried about what the person next to you thinks? I know I’ve felt that way, and because of that I didn’t feel lifted up or encouraged. But the singing at this new church was just incredible. I hadn’t seen or heard that much devotion and vigor in so long. It was no longer a habit; it was true devotion. What would make me sick more than anything else would be to hear someone criticize this church and calling their worship invalid because of their use of instruments.

This church had a mission (hopefully I won’t get sued for copyright infringement or anything) – “Lives being restored to their original purpose and intended beauty” (I used quotation marks; note that). Let me just say, that church is doing a good job so far. They get involved in outside ministries, joining other churches to do dental or health work for those who need it, to serve food, and so on. God created us so that we could worship him, have a relationship with him, rejoice in him, and to have communion with our fellow believers. That church is breaking free of a habit. Every day is a new day, and we should have constant thirst for God, and it is going to take more than just a Sunday morning routine to quench that thirst.

Psalm 150 – “Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.”

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