I went to a Community Church this Sunday. I drive by it all the time and thought I’d check it out by going to their second service. It was okay. It is the random holiday Sundays where I need to remind myself that you can’t really judge a church by one Sunday and yet...can you?
I walked in, not greeted by anyone and asked a gentleman who looked like an usher where I could find a bulletin. There were not so many people there that it wasn’t obvious I was a visitor. I sat down in a row by myself and felt a bit like the plague because two rows in front of me and two rows behind me people had sat. There was even more people who sat on the side aisle. The senior pastor was very sweet and talked to me a bit before the service started and tried to introduce me to someone else who looked my age.
The service was basically the most patriotic service I have ever been to. It’s not as though I haven’t sung patriotic hymns but I don’t recollect them ever being the starting and cap of worship. We opened with America the Beautiful, had an awkward announcement about VBS, and went right back into a couple worship songs in keys that were not congregationally friendly (at least, in my opinion). Following the opening songs was a prayer, offering, and a video ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-0CBP0NVeo) which transitioned into a sermon by the associate pastor that was half history lesson on the birth of America and how everyone who signed the declaration of independence was Christian and half on Matthew 6:25-34. The half about Matthew I didn’t completely agree with as I don’t believe that my faith exempts me from anxiety and fear but rather allows me hope and faith that God is more interested in giving strength to handle the torments that sin has leashed into our world. The sermon was thus ended by somehow having us repeat that we are “King people”. I am not a king. I am a child of God. I am a part of God’s Kingdom. I understood the preacher's metaphor but had a difficult time embracing the language. I’m not really quite sure how everything tied together but it may have had more to do with the other scripture references from the New Testament he continued to weave together. This was all done while dressed in full military regalia (and please don’t get me wrong. I am not anti-military. I have a huge respect for those who serve and have served our country. I am all for being patriotic, in the proper setting.) and with a sound system that was way too loud for for the size of room. I found myself plugging one of my ears half way through the sermon.
The service was finished off by quickly and abruptly transitioning into communion, and closing with “Mine eyes have seen the Glory”. Nothing says God loves you after sharing communion like singing about the wrath of God barrelling through the countryside. I talked to a couple people shortly after service and left. I wasn’t really quite sure what happened but I did not feel as though I had the opportunity to be ushered into God’s presence as a community, be awed by scripture, or have the time to dwell in the peace of the spirit. Nope.
I hate being critical because one of the beautiful things of having so many churches is that it allows people to worship God in various ways that speaks more closely to their hearts. And yet, it didn’t feel like worship. It was so woven into political/historical/non-biblical propaganda that it completely turned me off.
My brief conclusion? When I go to church, I wish to worship God. I will pray for our nation, those who serve, and for other nations. I will give respect where respect is due. I do not desire to worship my country and hail it above everything else because that is an act reserved for God.
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