A Worship Thought...

One of my favorite quotes that turn my attention back to why we do what we do in worship is by a Danish Philosopher named Soren Kierkegaard. Check out his quote...

"No, no, we Christians have it wrong. If the ministers have the leading roles, if the choir and organist are the supporting cast, if the parishioners are the audience, then what role does God play when we worship? The problem with thinking of ourselves as the audience is that it leaves God out of the picture, and out of our worship. So Kierkeggard proposed a different model. He said, what would it be like if we understood worship like this: we parishioners are the primary actors and actresses; we have the leading roles. The clergy, the organist, the choir and the ushers--they form the supporting cast. And God is the audience. All that we do in worship is directed toward God. The way we say the prayers, the way we sing the hymns, the attentiveness we give to Scripture and sermon, the money we offer: all of that contributes to our worship performance before God."

In reading this quote it always invokes many different thoughts, but particularly how easy it is for us to get it all mixed up. So often I put too much attention on those sitting in the seats & way too little attention towards who is the true audience. I love the imagery of God sitting back in His seat, looking at those who walk throught the doors & wondering in anticipation..."I wonder what they are going to bring to me today." I don't ever want to bring Him anything less than what He is worthy of. What about you?

Do you have any additional thoughts? How does this view effect our goal to reach seekers in our services? What are the differences between having people in the audience & God? Does that effect quality in any way? Interesting...give me your thoughts.