We have special church services many times a year. Can I suggest a new one? Can we have a service where there are no directions?
These days, it feels like we never go more than a couple of minutes without being told to do something. Come to the altar. Raise your hands. Shout. Dance. Jump. Clap. Say amen. Pray for someone. Tell someone your deepest problem. Reach across the aisle, and pick your neighbor’s nose. On and on and on. All the time. Every service.
And there’s this looming fear that we should do it because the person with the microphone is saying it under the unction of the Holy Ghost, but it’s so frequent these days that it’s no longer special. It just feels like spiritual calisthenics and time stretching.
There’s power in letting conviction take root. There’s power in letting it be awkward. There’s power when someone steps out and walks down to the altar without being asked. I’ve been that guy many times, and it changes your life. With all of the constant instructions, there’s very little room for steeping in the worship and the preaching, and being obvious about changing your direction any more.
Just once a year, can we have a service where we aren’t asked to do anything? Nothing. Sing or don’t sing. Say amen or don’t. Just let it ride. I just want to have an “organic” service for a change. I just want to sing the songs, listen to a sermon, and let everything else happen as the Spirit leads. All I ask for is altar music and enough volume so that I can pray without people hearing what I’m confessing over in the next section. Is it just me?