The problem that many have with God is that we are so self-obsessed that we have never learned to take our eyes off ourselves for even one minute.
We spend our lives looking after our own comfort, standing on our own two feet, demanding our rights. Never does it occur to us that someone else might have a greater right to our attention and our allegiance.
Even amongst those who claim to be christians, many have only ever responded to God by asking Jesus into their heart to either escape the fear of hell or to ensure a more prosperous life now.
Worship is something that is so difficult because it demands that we offer ourselves- body, mind,soul- to another. Worship demands that we take the focus off ourselves and look deeply into the eyes of the one who has purchased us with His own life.
Ironically all of the attempts by the church to make worship easier get in the way precisely at this point. When we invest megabucks on lighting or sound or air-conditioning or creche, or when we produce inoffensive "seeker-sensitive" services, or develop a preaching message that pretends that Jesus is our great servant, then the church is conspiring with the fleshly demands of unconverted sinners in keeping the attention firmly directed to self.
To be honest, I don't know where the line is between maximising the participation of worshippers by minimising distractions and just simply pandering to fleshly comfort.
It's probably safe to assume that true worshippers will worship God in 0 degrees or 40 degrees, in wooden pews or padded chairs, with ye olde hymns played by an 80 year old organist with cataracts or a hip young band playing Hillsong. The same true worshippers will be equally jubilant in a home group as in the big celebration. They will rejoice in economic booms and recession, in war and in peace, in sickness and in health.
When God calls you to worship, are you looking at Him or at you?
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