Paul and Barnabas

I had an interesting conversation with a Christian friend at work yesterday. My friend is studying to be a pastor and he likes to throw out these ideas in front of our un-churched coworkers so that they can experience the debate. We often discuss some deep and meaningful things in front of them. This get’s them thinking and some times they engage in the conversation, which is what we’re really after in the first place. So we have these Paul and Barnabas talks while doing mundane things at work. Here’s how this one started.

Barnabas, “I sometimes worry that heaven is going to be boring...”

Paul, “What do you mean?”

Barnabas, “The idea that we will spend all eternity worshiping God, that’s going to get old after a while. Don’t you think?”

Paul, “If you believe worship is boring, then you’re not doing it right.”

I get it. His perspective is based on his experience in church. Worship is supposed to be a reflection of the heavenly host, BUT in many cases it is (as my friend pointed out) kind of boring. And it shouldn’t be!

Honestly if you have participated in a worship experience where you felt a true move of the Holy Spirit then there is no way you would ever believe that spending eternity worshiping God could ever get boring. The sense of joy and the elation of being in God’s presence is completely overwhelming.

There is nothing that compares to it.

As a worship leader it’s my responsibility to invite the Holy Spirit into our presence and then encourage God’s people to seek Him with all their hearts. You have to develop anticipation in the mind of your congregation that God is going to move in a mighty way. What goes on in that hour is based largely on the expectation they bring to the moment.

Jesus said in John 4:24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Worship is a spiritual experience and we have to be honest about our desire to connect with God. Finding yourself in the presence of the Holy Spirit is never boring. It is compelling and winsome.

I think it’s important to remember. We are NOT physical creatures having a temporary spiritual experience. It’s the other way around. We are spiritual creatures having a temporary physical experience. This perspective makes a monumental difference when it comes to our thoughts about worship.