During worship before Matt Chandler spoke, I stood to soak it all in. 12,000 people were singing – energetic, passionate, on fire for God. I don’t remember the song, but in that moment it didn’t matter what the lyrics were. I got goosebumps all the way through my body. As lights shined on the people in the arena, I realized what an incredible illustration we were of what it means to be unified in Christ. I bet there are 12,000 different understandings of God and theology in the room, but in that moment, we were all unified despite those differences. We were worshipping the one God – the way we see God may be different but it’s the same God. God is that BIG!!!
We all come from such different backgrounds but worship unites us together. Worship heals. In a time in which my own church is deeply divided, I wondered to myself “Why can’t we focus on worshipping God and serving those people Jesus calls us to serve instead of arguing over some moral code?” Didn’t Jesus come to free us from the moral code that none of us can live up to perfectly, no matter how hard we try?
Now I understand that morality is an important part of faith – but isn’t it more important that we share the message of grace and love than beat one another up with telling each other how wrong we are? Can’t we unite on the simple truth that Jesus came for all of us and worship together when we feel most disconnected from one another? Worship connects us, heals us, unites us.
As the chills grew, the tears formed. The words stopped coming and the silent tears of praise and adoration began flowing. God is certainly present at Catalyst this week, despite our many differences – as substantial as they might seem. I pray that we remember that as we leave this place and go back into our own communities.
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
