In biblical times, one did not simply walk into the inner parts of the temple. A place
of worship demands a certain posture of every person who crosses the threshold. If someone
wanted to be business-minded or otherwise disengaged, that was what the outer court was for.
But if you entered the inner court, a spirit of reverence and worship was expected.
Meeting God and having access to him is no small thing. When the Lord touched the
face of Mt. Sinai with a spectacle of cloud and thunder, the warning was clearly given:
anyone other than Moses who touched even the foot of the mountain would die (Exodus
19:12).
The mere thought of a mortal entering the presence of the triune God ought to fill us
with wonder and fear. But today, we have been given access to him like never before; eternal
gratitude is due for the promise that not only will God be with us, but he will also make his
dwelling in us for those who follow him (and I do mean follow him, not just pay lip service).
Only by the grace and mercy of our Lord is this possible. And yet, whenever students gather
for a time of worship in chapel, we often seem to think there are better ways to spend our
time.
When given an opportunity and space to meet with God, to celebrate the gift of such a
privilege and to give that time our all, we would rather surf the web, text a friend or make a
meme out of that day’s chapel. If that is what we want to do, it would be better for us to leave
than to stay in a space set apart for the Lord. Just ask the people who were whipped out of the
temple by God himself. He wants true worshipers, even if only one person shows up.
It shouldn’t matter whether you like the speaker for the day. It shouldn’t matter
whether you like gospel music, the pipe organ or Hillsong. Communion with God has less to
do with those things than with how engaged you are with him. Don’t say that God is silent
when you have your headphones in. Don’t say that the service isn’t meaningful when you are
busy criticizing the music style or the speaker’s delivery. Don’t say that you can’t sense his
presence when you are not even present yourself. Don’t say that it is difficult to experience
God in chapel when you don’t even want to.
It really doesn’t matter whether chapel is required or not. Making it compulsory gets
you to show up. But it doesn’t control how you show up. This goes further than the things
that get you a one-third absence. You may abide by the policies and yet be spiritually and
mentally absent. You may be in your seat while your heart uses one of your chapel skips. To
be honest, I don’t think a warning like the one given to the Israelites would be necessary
today, because I doubt many of us would be found near the foot of the mountain in the first
place.
The purpose of gathering three times a week as a campus is not to enjoy good music
nor to hear a nice speech. It is to come before the Lord in a time set apart for him and to
engage in just one aspect of a worshipful lifestyle together with our brothers and sisters. This
requires us to be engaged and receptive, wrestling in our souls with what God wants to tell
us.
Does a heart of worship ask a lot from us? Yes, it does. But so does God, and I think
he asks a lot more from us than we like to admit.