Consumers or Worshippers

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Romans 12:1

Dear Friends in Christ,

This Lent, our parish is studying a common book across small groups, Sunday School classes and Bible Studies. ‘Liturgy of the Ordinary’ describes ways to find God in the rhythms of our daily lives, and sheds light on the practices of our worship services (and how the rhythms of our worship services help us to find God in the rhythms of our lives). The initial chapters have opened up how our daily routines form and shape who we are and how we relate to the world, to each other, and how we relate to God.

Part of the routine of American life is the near constant consumption of commerce. We are immersed in advertisements, we constantly buy and sell, and so much of our interactions reinforce a sense of ourselves primarily as consumers, always looking to acquire and consume things that please us. We learn to treat the world around us in merely functional ways that serve us (or not), ignoring the relational aspect of life. Take food, for instance. Instead of the relational experience of a family meal, we merely eat to acquire energy (and perhaps pleasure) as consumers. In so doing, we forget that we are more holistic and relational creatures, intended by God to be integrated with each other and especially with God. We forget that we thrive also in sharing and giving to others and giving ourselves to God.

This consumer attitude toward life trains how we think of the worship of the church as well. We seek a “worship experience” for ourselves so that we “get out of church” something that we might value, often one of a variety of flavors of experiences that entertain or please us in some way.

What if the “consumer” of worship is God? What if worship is about God and for God, and toward God, where we express praise and thanks, and God is the one who receives the experience? If this is the true intention of our worship services (and it is), then how do we re-train our hearts and minds toward God in our worship, and in our daily prayers?

While for some of us the more traditional worship language of Rite I feeds our own appetite for “worship experience,” Rite I does work pretty hard at putting us in a more humble and receptive frame of mind and heart, and focuses our attention more on God (if we let it). Of course, our Tik-Tok trained minds can easily wander. But with some effort to center and focus ourselves, we can re-train our hearts and minds to be attentive to God, offering ourselves to God and opening ourselves to God’s presence and guidance and grace.

How do you train yourself to truly worship God?

Yours in Christ,

-Tom