“The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” – Colossians 3:16.
I want to talk about the evidence of life in church. You see, I witnessed a baptism recently and I’m not sure that anyone got wet! And I listened to a sermon where I’m not sure that anyone was inspired.
I understand that baptism is symbolic, and that sermons are not delivered so that people can feel entertained. But I want to see the water and feel the fire. I want splash, sparks, overflow or at least significant dripping. I want tears and laughter. I want to see the immediacy of the Spirit. I want to know that something important is happening, something that feeds my soul and infuses me with life.
Church may not be a place to be entertained, but people must know they have been in the presence of God. It’s not that the Holy has to be loud so much as palpable. I would like to think that people could come to church and feel in a sense that they have been baptized again, every time. That people could witness such irrepressible life in the preacher that there’s a splash zone for that too.
Church is where the love gets all over you, where the leaders are so filled up with Jesus that just the light of God in their eyes is enough to make you want to listen, where even the children sit on the edges of their seats sometimes and pay attention, where taking communion makes your eyes well up with tears because the truth of it is so evident in the community, where you look forward to your class or your small group because your heart is filled and your mind is challenged, where you invite your friends to join you because you know so truly that God is there. Where deep calls to deep.
Let’s not forget the kind of dynamic life Jesus has invited us into.
