So I made sure I went to bed early last night so i would be awake and ready to go to church this morning. I went to a church that is fairly close to my house and I got there a few minutes late (I actually planned that). The pastor was praying and all the people had their hands raised and directed towards the huge white curtain behind the pastor. You may ask how I know that their hands are directed at the curtain and not just at the pastor. Well, later, the pastor told the people to raise their hands toward the curtain. He kept speaking as if behind the curtain was the sanctuary of God. Yeah, sounds like the Old Testement to me... Well, at least the pastor really stressed the importance of the Bible. We read through Psalm 20. And he kept asking the congregation, do you believe this is the word of God, do you beleive it is true, etc. I wanted to say yes and agree with him but he used the peoples agreement that it was the word of God, I think out of context. Psalm 20 talks about how the Lord hears us in our times of conflict and he will save us. Well, the pastor kept stressing that when we have faith, or in español fe, God will rescue us from all our troubles. He went on to say that the Lord will rescue us from health problems, from money problems, from family problems, etc. Well, no. I don´t think that is how the Lord rescues us. He does not take us out of the world, and he does not just remove us from the effects of sin, buthe gives us the a gift that is greater- the promise of eternal life. We will stil get sick, we will still have money problems, we will still have conflicts with the people around us. So then, the pastor asked the congregation, do you want the Holy Spirit. And once again, I could not answer the affirmative, because the way he was asking was connotating that I don´t already HAVE the Holy Spirit. He went on to invite the churhc to come on Wednesday to experience the Holy Spirit. Nope. I´m sorry, but the Holy Spirit is already in me adn I have Him to experience Him everyday of the week.
In short, I think this church is stuck in the Old Covenent. Why can´t a church, a group of believers just rest in the fact that Jesus has paid the price for our lives and all we must do now is enjoy Him forever (thanks Westminster catechism and John Piper)?
On a good note however, it was really cool to be in church and understand what was being said. Of course there were times I wasn´t sure what the pastor had said, but basically I could understand the most of it. The past few days have been wierd, I am learnign spanish so quickly and understanding it pretty well. Iam not sure what changed, but it is like I passed over a threshold. It all started after the night of the BBQ.
In short, I think this church is stuck in the Old Covenent. Why can´t a church, a group of believers just rest in the fact that Jesus has paid the price for our lives and all we must do now is enjoy Him forever (thanks Westminster catechism and John Piper)?
On a good note however, it was really cool to be in church and understand what was being said. Of course there were times I wasn´t sure what the pastor had said, but basically I could understand the most of it. The past few days have been wierd, I am learnign spanish so quickly and understanding it pretty well. Iam not sure what changed, but it is like I passed over a threshold. It all started after the night of the BBQ.
Comments
Your insights are right on! The flesh prefers to be religious and do something, that's what you were observing and hearing in church. Most charismatic churches that I have been to are mired in the OT. Grace is a scary truth for most believers. We want to help God in the salvation-holiness business when in reality God has told us He has done it all for us in Christ. He has already made us holy in Jesus because we are ingrafted into Him (see 1 Co 1:30) so now we are to live that way! Be what you are! That's what the book of Romans is all about.
Cheers, Carolyne