We are the Church Part 1 - We are Community, not Consumers
What Is True Worship? Understanding Community Over Consumption
In our modern church culture, we often confuse worship with entertainment and community with consumption. But what does it really mean to worship God, and how should we approach the sacred moments of our faith together?
What Does It Mean to Worship?
Worship is far more than singing songs or attending a service. It's the right response of God's creatures to their Creator. True worship involves acknowledging God's supreme worth through adoration, gratitude, obedience, and self-offering.
Worship Is a Whole Life Posture
When we truly worship, we recognize that God is God and we are not. Every aspect of our lives falls under His lordship. This isn't just about raising our hands during a song - it's about surrendering our entire existence to Him.
God-Centered vs. Self-Centered Worship
True worship must always be God-centered, not focused on human entertainment or personal preferences. When worship becomes about what we like or don't like, it stops being worship and becomes consumption. We can worship whether we prefer hymns or contemporary music because it's not about our preferences - it's about who we're adoring.
What Can We Learn from the Church in Corinth?
The church in Corinth provides a powerful example of what happens when community becomes corrupted by consumption. This wealthy, culturally diverse city had a church that was gifted but fractured.
The Problem with Divided Loyalties
The Corinthians had spiritual experiences, knowledge, and gifts, but they also had divisions, lawsuits, sexual immorality, pride, and chaos. They were close to church things but far from God. They enjoyed the ritual but experienced no inner transformation.
You Can Have Church but Still Have a Divided Heart
Just because we're blessed or surrounded by blessed people doesn't mean our loyalties are in the right place. The presence of holy things doesn't guarantee a holy heart. We can have signs, songs, and sacraments and still drift away from God.
What Does the Lord's Table Teach Us About Community?
The Lord's Supper isn't just a casual snack or routine ritual. It's a covenant act where we declare, "Lord, I belong to you."
The Table Represents Unity
When we partake together, we're saying we are one body. The table represents both vertical connection with heaven and horizontal connection with our church family. We cannot eat at the Lord's table correctly while maintaining division among us.
Exclusive Loyalty Required
Christ demands exclusive loyalty. We cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons. We cannot serve two masters. The Corinthians were attending church but also participating in pagan temple worship - a divided loyalty that Christ will not accept.
How Did the Corinthians Get It Wrong?
The Corinthians turned their communion meals into displays of social class and selfishness. The wealthy ate first and got drunk, while the poor were left hungry and shamed. Their gathering created more harm than good.
When Worship Becomes Harmful
When our gatherings create more trauma than healing, more division than unity, we grieve the heart of Jesus. We can gather in His name and still cause Him grief through our actions and attitudes.
The Gospel Creates Level Ground
The cross creates a new family where the ground is level. When we exclude, shame, or ignore others, we're not just being rude - we're acting out a false gospel. We cannot proclaim Christ's sacrifice while practicing selfishness.
What Does Proper Communion Look Like?
Remembrance
Communion trains our hearts to remember that Jesus is worth remembering. We remember a Savior who was betrayed, whose body was broken for us. This remembrance kills pride because the cross reminds us we're all desperately equal in our need for salvation.
Proclamation
Every time we eat and drink, we proclaim the Lord's death until He comes again. We're announcing that His gospel is true, that the cross is enough, that Jesus is Lord, and that He's coming again.
Nourishment
The table is a place of spiritual nourishment. Eating and drinking signals our dependence - we need Christ to survive spiritually just as we need food to survive physically. No one comes to the table as better than others; we all come hungry.
How Should We Examine Ourselves?
Paul's warning about examining ourselves before communion isn't meant to scare us away from the table. It's not saying we must be sinless - if that were the case, the table would be empty.
What Self-Examination Means
When we examine ourselves, we ask:
- Do I have faith? Am I trusting Christ right now?
- Am I clinging to sin without surrender?
- Am I coming in unity and love with others?
- Am I coming hungry for Him, or just going through motions?
- Am I willing to wait for others and show patience?
What Self-Examination Doesn't Mean
Self-examination doesn't mean:
- We must be perfect to participate
- Only spiritual elites can partake
- We should stay away if we feel unworthy
- The elements themselves are magical
Life Application
This week, examine your approach to worship and community. Are you coming to church as a consumer looking for entertainment and personal preferences to be met? Or are you coming as part of a community, ready to worship God regardless of your preferences?
Challenge yourself to prioritize unity over personal comfort. When you disagree with decisions or don't like certain aspects of worship, choose to maintain unity rather than create division. Remember that worship is about God's glory, not your entertainment.
Consider these questions:
- What table am I sitting at in my spiritual life - the Lord's table of unity, or a table of division and consumption?
- Am I approaching worship with exclusive loyalty to Christ, or am I trying to serve multiple masters?
- When I participate in communion, am I truly examining my heart for faith, repentance, and unity with others?
- How can I better demonstrate that the ground is level at the foot of the cross in my interactions with fellow believers?