Are you online?
With church services and cell groups being conducted online for most of this year, one thing that had me pondering was how we could replicate the worship experience online.
I am sure many of us would probably feel that online worship has been by far the most different and in a sense, awkward as we are used to having a live music and immersing in congregational worship. I am not sure about you, but to me, the difference did not feel good and made it hard to connect with God at times. It felt like something was missing – the tangible Spirit-filled atmosphere and the feeling of worshipping with many others. But should this be the case? Should it really matter if we see the worship band live or being led by the same band being recorded or broadcasted live into our homes?
As I searched within myself and reflected - if what I felt was missing was important, I concluded that it was not but what was most important was my attitude towards worship. We should not be waiting to go to church so that we can worship together, but we should be building worship altars in our hearts so we can worship God anywhere. In the past, the Jews had to travel all the way to Jerusalem to worship as the temple was there. Are we going to be the same where we can only worship when we go to Church?
Jesus said in John 4:21-24, that the time will come where worship would not depend on the temple location (mountain or Jerusalem) but true worshippers will worship Him in spirit and in truth. 1 Corinthians 6:19 states that we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, and if a physical temple is meant for people to worship God, and our body is a temple, we should then be able to worship God wherever our body is (i.e. anywhere).
I had a shift in mindset after that realization - the medium or how the songs were played did not and should not matter, what mattered more was that I needed the heart and focus to worship God. This made me remember the time I was listening to the song “Our Father” by Bethel Music on YouTube, and as I was listening to the song and focused on exalting God, I could feel His tangible presence and I just enjoyed worshipping Him even in those few minutes.
While we should not forget the benefits of gathering together as Paul commanded us to do so, we should likewise not be handicapped when we are not able to gather together. When we look at some of the activities we do as a Christian (e.g. prayer, fasting, reading the bible, worshipping, evangelising etc.), I believe that God has called us to do each activity both individually and together as a Church.
When we read about King David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant as it was brought back to Jerusalem, I believe he would have danced with the same might and fervour even if he was alone in his own room. Even for the Psalms there are some that are more corporate in nature and others that are more intimate and individualistic.
Brothers and sisters, perhaps we have been so conditioned to worship in a physical church that we have forgotten or neglected the art of worshipping alone. It’s time for us to change our attitude towards worship and bring ourselves “online” into the Spirit so we can worship Him in spirit and in truth regardless if we are gathered together or alone.
God bless you,
Ezra Phua
Director, The Encounter