Research today shows we learn only 10-20% of what we hear. This is in contrast to 30% of what we see, 50% with which we identify, and 90% of what we experience. When you consider the church, in particular worship services, what are the avenues in which we learn? So much of our services is auditory - the liturgy, the sermon, the music, the prayers. Rarely do we engage in learning in other ways... especially when it comes to God's Word.
When I think about the things in my life that have brought me closer to God, they are mostly experiential. Mission trips and conferences, camps has a youth, experiencing art either by watching or participating, sharing in fellowship with friends, receiving hospitality, and experiencing koinonia. However, there are only a few times I have experienced Scripture and the story of God in this way. I am slowly coming to realize this is why I struggle with really engaging in Scripture in a real and passionate way.
What is keeping the church in its auditory box? Why do we think that filing into our pews on Sunday morning and listening to people talk at us will fill our empty wells? How do we experience the living, breathing Word of God in a way that honors its pulse and power? I can't begin to count the number of times I've heard people say the reason children shouldn't be in worship is because they can't sit through the sermon. So, should the solution be to kick children out of worship? Or should we reconsider the ways in which we present the Word of God? I'll admit it - I'm an adult who fidgets during the sermon, whose mind trails to other thoughts, who doesn't remember the words hours after I've left. I just don't learn that way. I don't experience God that way. I want to be in a place where I touch God's Word, where I embody God's Word, where I live out God's Word. I want to discover what God's Word means for me today, what it meant for people 2,000 years before me, and what it means for the Church of tomorrow. I want to know my story, and how it fits together with the stories of my church, my community, with faithful believers for centuries.
How do we worship the Creator in a way that engages our whole beings? How will we create space to experience the Word of God in a way that transforms our lives? I would love to know your thoughts.
Photography by Keifereef
Comments