Over the years my coffee drinking habits have changed. I used to favour the cappuccino, with about an inch of froth and foam before you got to the real coffee. Now I prefer my coffee black and strong. In a completely trivial and inappropriate way, I’m now going to use this as a picture for how the way I relate to God has changed as well. What I’m about to share is my own personal experience, it is not meant to cast negative reflections on anybody else’s. I’m also largely referring to things from my own church tradition and I suspect this may be more common in the more charismatic type of church, but I also suspect that other traditions probably have their own forms of froth.
What it all comes down to is a desire for greater reality in my walk with God, in my experience of God. The real coffee, if you will, of spirituality. And I’m increasingly getting put off by the froth – the unreality of certain aspects of church. Sometimes it seems that people are trying to hype things up and to whip things up in worship. Whereas once I might have really got into that and it would have helped me to meet God, nowadays I’m finding it more of a distraction. Its froth that used to taste good to me, but is now just hollow and artificial. I’m finding the volume and repetition of the person at the front telling me to push into God doesn’t actually help me to push into God. Instead its more of a distraction and I find myself standing there thinking “Will you just shut up, get out of the way, and let me focus on God!”
OK, there are some truths I need to balance this with. Firstly – it doesn’t really matter what guys up the front are doing, there’s no excuse for not worshipping because God is always worthy to receive our worship and he’s always there. Also, I’m not saying that I’m any better than others – for them it might be a real and helpful way of encountering God – I’m not prepared to pass judgment on that. Like the coffee in the cappuccino, I’m sure God is in it somewhere.
I guess the interesting question here is can you hype God up? After all he is infinitely more in all possible ways than the hype would suggest. But sometimes I feel that by an “artificial” exaggeration of what we see happening, we maybe miss the bigger picture of who He is and what He’s really doing.
Here’s what I know for certain – that God is there, that He is immensely more good and loving and powerful and involved and compassionate (and I could keep going here) than I possibly could imagine.
I also know that he’s with me all the time, although most of the time I’m just not aware of that and I want to know him with me much more. Not just in lovely, cosy times of worship – actually the times I’ve felt closest to God haven’t always been that cosy, like Aslan – he’s good, but he’s not necessarily safe and being close to him can be literally awe-inspring. But even just mean the wow-moments, I mean a greater awareness of him in the day-to-day, a greater sense of his hand in my life and in the world around, a greater ability to see the divine at work in creation in the little thing he does every moment. Most of all I need a greater awareness of him to lift me out of my self-centred existence and the breakdown the hardness that has grown in my heart. To get there I need a reality in my walk with him, which moves past the froth and to the heart of the matter.
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8 comments:
Good post tony. Like the coffee analogy. perhaps if we prayed as often as we drunk coffee we might be in a good place ...!
Talking about thursday night by any chance? Or at least, was that partly in your sights?
I do agree with much of what you are saying. Interestingly, though i found the beginning of thursday difficult (it did feel a bit whipped up), but then i managed to get past those thoughts, and actually really enjoyed it, and managed to sense God's presence.
I think Thursday was an example of what I mean, not that I totally hated it - I liked what he had to say about lovely times of worship and laments, but did struggle to get past the "Shut up and let me focus on God reaction", which is more my issue than his.
yes i agree about lovely times of worship and laments ... those were good points.
It isn't always easy to get past the froth to get to the good stuff?!
Exactly - and it maybe depends on what mood I go into the meeting in how difficult it becomes.
I like the coffee analogy. That makes good sense to me. I worshipped in a charismatic church for a couple of years but I often didnt feel I was actually participating in worship because the emphasis was about whipping up a spiritual fervour which I never really experienced. I just wanted to know God more and for him to say something to me. Guess I'm a cerebral non-emotional type, but it was a relief when I found a church where the emphasis was on listening to God's Word and letting him speak through that rather than trying to reach worship nirvana through singing emotionally charged songs at God ad inf ad nauseam.
Anonymous,
Thanks for your comment. I think the distiniction I was trying to make was between different ways of leading worship within the charismatic tradition - some of which are definitely frothier than others. There are times when I have a really powerful sense of connection with God through what would be labelled "charismatic" worship, but also appreciate that thats not the best way of relating to God for everybody.
Its great that you've found a church where you can connect and feel is right for you. May God continue to bless you in it.
I enjoyed reading your post, and agree with a lot of what you are saying, although I certainly don't think the spiritual "froth" is confined to the charismatic movement. I think it is interesting to remember that when Saul was in a cave, God spoke to him in a still, small voice of calm, rather than a whirlwind or a great fire.
Thanks for your comment and you make a good point. I'm certain this is not just a charismatic issue, but that's the part of the church which I'm part of and so know best.
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