Lead Me to the Couch……wait, I meant Cross.
Warning: This is not a happy post, but rather one that (Hopefully) raises some questions/concerns. Read on intrepid reader!
In a moment of profound worship yesterday (05/12/19), two teenagers sang us a song that elicited one universal response from most of us: “Wow.”
The song? “Lead Me to the Cross.”
Here’s where I’m camping this morning – That is a bold request to make of God. Who, if taking even a small amount of time to think about it, would ask God such a thing? Western Christianity is based upon the very fact that God has lead us in a very different direction from tortured death. We have nice buildings and a government who doesn’t meddle with our freedom to worship. Many (unfortunately) churches actually base their theology on blessings: if you’re not being blessed with wealth and health, you’re not praying right/enough. God wants you to be rich and comfortable.
SIGH.
The Western Church does not have to deal with real persecution. We’re in a good place…..a comfortable place. That is why singing just such a song is so dangerous. Actively asking God to lead us somewhere like the Cross means we’re willing to actually walk in that direction. Most of the time we work very hard at NOT walking towards something so risky and potentially harmful to our comfort. I’m sure, if push came to shove, that we’d willingly serve and sacrifice if brought right up to the edge of the knife. But the truth remains, we’ve worked hard to get ourselves in a place that won’t require such drastic measures.
I’d like to put this into perspective. There is a term that churches actually use to describe multiple times we felt threatened and uncomfortable: Worship Wars. On the surface it sounds serious. In reality it is much more silly. The Worship Wars were fought over preference in style of music used in church. Seriously. One group didn’t like the songs so they fought. There was no winner. One group kept the songs they were comfortable with, the other kept their songs. Viola, two churches.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
It seems that every time a preference is threatened, new worship wars sprung up. Why do I bring this up? Because if we rise up in arms against our Christian brothers and sisters over music style what makes us think we will actually walk willingly towards sacrifice and submission and a messy end like the Cross?
I apologize for the fatalistic and rather gloomy post today. But when we get down to the brass tacks – we have to look deeply at our reality and situation.