Ambassador or Spectator?

Have you ever awakened on a Sunday morning, and just not felt like going to church? Or, have you ever sat through church and made lists of all that you need to do for the week? Or, have you ever been to a worship service where you sat and critiqued everything that happened--the instrumentalists were too loud, they didn't sing songs that I knew, the preacher preached too long, the deacon took too long to get to the platform, there wasn't enough flow....the list goes on. I know, because I've done it!

When I was in Cuba, we worshiped every night. We were in a small town on the Eastern part of the island, and we had hundreds in worship every night. The people there made serious sacrifices to come to church. They risked everything--their food, their housing, their jobs--to worship God in a corporate environment. Coming back from that experience, I vowed never to be complacent about worship again. Yet, it's something that I honestly struggle with from time to time.

What does the Bible have to say about our role? Look at 2 Corinthians 5:18-21. It says, "All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making an appeal through us...God made Him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

He made us ambassadors...not spectators. Corporate Worship is a time when we can come together as fellow believers and share in the joy of knowing Christ. We can stand (or sit), hands raised (or folded in reverence), unified before the Throne, and experience His transforming power. What an amazing gift God has bestowed upon us. But then, it's not just something that we receive or something that's done to us, we are supposed to be "doers"--"ambassadors". We are ministers of reconciliation. We have a role to play in this world. We have a role to play in worship. It's a huge responsibility!

1 Corinthians 14:24-25 says that even an unbeliever can come into a corporate worship service and be transformed. Here are the steps it outlines: 1. They are convicted of their sin, 2. They become vulnerable and face the truth of who they are and who God is, 3. They are drawn to God, and 4. They recognize His presence. If the unbeliever can walk into a worship service and recognize God, why is it that so often we walk in and all we leave with are our likes and dislikes? So often, we remain at the surface instead of opening our eyes (Ephesians 1:18) and being enlightened with the truths He has to reveal to us.

I can remember sitting in worship in Glorieta one summer. I was not in a healthy place in my spiritual life. I was tired. I was not feeling fed. I was facing a lot of challenges in my job and in life. I went into worship, expecting to be amazed and for them to do something to me to change my circumstances. All "they" sang were hokey, old-time choruses that I didn't even know. One of them didn't even make sense theologically. So I began to focus on how frustrated I was that I was in GLORIETA, and all they could feed me was some theologically dumb 80's chorus (the text of which I later read in Daniel--quoted word for word from holy Scripture). After grousing and grumbling through the music portion of the service, Selwyn Hughes stood up to preach. I don't really know what he preached about for the first 10 minutes or so. But then, he began to share his testimony. It was simple--about a teenage boy coming to know Christ. But there was something in the simplicity of his story that opened up my ears, and I began to open my spiritual eyes, and God began to speak to my heart. He convicted me right then and there of my selfishness in worship. Amazingly enough, He was working on Dennis' heart at the exact same time. I'll never forget as the invitation began, Dennis and I grabbed each others' hands and knelt and prayed together, broken before the Lord.

Worship is a witness. Psalm 40:3 says, "He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." That day in Glorieta, He put a new song in my heart. In Cuba, He put a new song in my heart. Last Sunday, as I stood with my hands raised in corporate worship singing Days of Elijah, He put a new song in my heart. If we are open and come ready for action, His presence will confront us and His transforming power will change us in a mighty way. I love the last part of that verse: "Many will see....and put their trust in the Lord." All we have to do is be active and faithful, and "many" will come to know Him.

O Lord, help me never to be complacent about corporate worship. Even when I'm tired or worried, help me to enter corporate worship with a clear mind and an open heart. Lord, You have so much to teach me, and so many things to transform in my life. I don't want to just sit on the sidelines. Thank you for giving me a role to play. Help me to be faithful. Mold me as Your ambassador. Thank you for the responsibility you have given to me and my brothers and sisters in Christ to share in this ministry of reconciliation. I love you, Lord!