One final note: I still think that today, we need places to worship. Places designed to take people out of this world and help them remember there is an unseen world that is easy to forget.
If you go into many new churches these days, you might never know there were God’s house. They look like theaters or auditoriums. They often lack any art or decoration with Christian themes or symbols. The chancels look more like stages, filled with microphones and music stands, than a place to focus worship. An ancient Hebrew would laugh if you told them this was place to meet God, because God seems almost intentionally left out.
We seem to be losing the sense of the sacredness of a worship space and I think that’s a greater loss than we understand.
And I know that mere surroundings don’t make worship happen. Europe is filled with majestic churches and cathedrals with empty pews, where it doesn’t feel like the Spirit of God has been present for 100 years. I have seen plenty of congregations worship their building and forget their God (Edifice Complex).
Nor does it mean we can’t embrace what is new. I remember visiting the Hanging Church in Cairo (because it sits suspended on an old Roman city wall). It is also known in Arabic as al-Muallaqah ("The Suspended"), and as Sitt Mariam or St. Mary's Church.
It was built in the 7th century, probably on the site of a 3rd or 4th century church and is an ancient and ornate Orthodox church in the distinctive Coptic style. But it is also the home for an existing congregation that still worshipped in the sanctuary and as I was looking around, what did I discover in the midst’s of the ancient icons and gold plated decorations…….A video projector hanging from the ceiling. You can mix old and new in a way that works.
I also know many people who will say “I don’t need church, I just worship God out in the mountains, or by the seashore, by myself.” Sure, you can do that. I’ve had some great times with God at a majestic viewpoint. But, let’s be honest: How many people do you know who actually do that? In all my life I’ve only met one person who regularly did that and that was probably because his job had him out in the mountains almost every day.
We can say we’ll worship God on our own, without a community to worship with and help us structure our worship. Without four walls to gather in. But almost no one really does this. It is simply a reasonable sounding dodge or excuse. We need Christian community as much as we need a place to worship.
Let me plead for a happy medium. We’re a lot more like the Israelites than we think. We’re flesh and blood people, who may worship God in Spirit, but it still helps us to have a place that lifts our spirits and draws us close to God.
PS... I was asked to post a link to the video I showed in church. You can find it here and your computer will need Apple Quicktime to play it (a free download):
http://www.glencairnmuseum.net/tabernacle/video.htm
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