“God Showed Up”…No He Didn’t
August 11th, 2008 by 
James
I have to confess something: I have a real problem with Christian diction and terminology. Maybe it’s the purist in me, but I consider myself to be someone who doesn’t say anything unless there’s something worth saying, and even then, I consider my delivery and choose my words carefully.
And so it irritates me, greatly, when I hear people say “Wow! Service was amazing! God showed up!” or when people pray “Holy Spirit, we invite you here”.
Let’s get one thing straight: God doesn’t show up. God is everywhere, all the time. That’s a part of His infinite nature. Now, I know what people mean when they say “God showed up”. What they really mean is that they, as fallen humanity, have finally gotten past the barriers that they themselves have created, obeyed Him, and through the Holy Spirit have finally tuned in to the fact that God never disappeared and He’s been there all along. This is the big difference between being where God is present and being in God’s presence.
Likewise, who are we to “invite” the Holy Spirit in to anywhere other than our hearts? We can welcome Him, we can ask Him to move in our midst, but “inviting” our God, who is everywhere all the time, in to our little country club services smacks of exclusivity and “by invitation only” participation.
I’m the first to recognize that there is an unhealthy and insane absence of God from many churches. I will even hold my hand up and say that, early on, there were days when I kind of felt like God was absent from The Summit. But let’s be clear on this: God’s absence from our churches is only indicative of His absence from our hearts, and if God seems distant or absent, then guess who moved?
The answer is ‘us’, if you were still guessing.
In an age where so many churches, mine included, are focused on impacting the community through culture, using high impact media, socially cool elements, and culturally relevant messages, it’s so easy to program God out of our services. It’s a fine line, and it’s a dangerous line since it’s easy to slip in to the mindset of “let’s cut a couple of songs so we can play this neat video” or “let’s not do communion this week since we want to highlight our ubercool church website”. Translated, that means “let’s rob the body of Christ of the opportunity to worship together and obey Him together and instead we can look cool and sound cool and be cool”.
Harsh? Maybe. Reality? Definitely. I’m not bashing the use of the ‘cool’ factor in services; I’m all for it. But not when it detracts from what we really should be gathering for. I for one am acutely aware of this after some recent discussion with some of my team on using Igniter Tracks with our worship (which I elected not to use after applying the ‘distraction and detraction’ rule), and I’m becoming more and more focused on the pivotal, focal point of our worship. I refuse to water it down. I refuse to offer to God something that might sound great and have flashy lights and impressive visual elements but lacks motivational excellence. In short, I refuse to program God out of my worship.
Instead of expecting God to “show up”, how about we start entering in to His presence prepared and expecting to meet with Him? There’s a big difference between the two.
Thoughts?
Posted in Annoyances, Faith, Ministry, Worship | 
August 11th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Good thoughts. I agree with your point of our lack of zeal in preparedness, however I disagree with a small theological point.
God is everywhere, but He is not manifested everywhere the same. For instance, we find the Pillar of Smoke/Fire in Exodus, and we find Jesus himself being incarnated. The Holy Spirit Himself is only in us believers.
The point I am making here is that indeed the Holy Spirit like a wind has moved or not moved. We do not control that, but we can invite it. We can prepare for it and by faith when we see it acknowledge it. Beyond the normative experience you direct us to, there is also the hope and possibility of a Holy Spirit meeting us regardless of us.
You acknowledge this point somewhat by the idea of us entering into His presence prepared. It means that there are sacred times and places available to us–albeit not a building, lighting coolness, or in hip grooves. Just His presence. However, it is also true that He can and does show up because He just does, regardless of us deserving it. I choose to not see these as mutually exclusive ideas and embrace your exhortation as a timely warning and heartfelt word.
Thanks James!
August 11th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I have to agree with both you and the comment above. This is something that has actually been bugging me for some time! Thanks for posting on it!
That said, I think what we should be praying is something along the lines of, “Lord, open our eyes, ears and hearts that we can experience Your presence — break down the walls and hindrances we put in the way of focusing on You…”
August 12th, 2008 at 8:18 am
I think most people and leaders understand that “God showed up” refers to the result of us worshiping Him appropriately and with proper preparation (spiritually and practically), which actually has more to do with us than God as God is the constant in the equation!
August 12th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Rich - I think you said what I was trying to say. Although God is everywhere, His ‘more evident’ manifestation can be very specific. I still don’t like the term ’show up’ though. It’s just to blasé. If we recognize those moments, I’d much rather we say “God made himself known” or “God manifested”, rather than “show up”. Perhaps its semantics, but then I don’t “show up” to worship God, I PURPOSE to worship Him. I think word choice isn’t insignificant.
A - I couldn’t agree more. One thing I’ve found that really helps my team pray and APPROACH like that is celebrating communion together every Sunday morning before soundcheck. Since we’ve been doing that, the journey has matched the prayer more often than not.
Jeff - Yes, I agree, I think most people know what it means when they hear “God showed up”, but I just wonder if a new believer or a non-believer overheard that, what meaning they would draw. If we’re to worship God with a fearful, humble reverence, then I think that needs to be reflected in the way we discuss His movement and manifestation. As I mentioned above, the term “show up” just seems far too casual and blasé to me.
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:40 am
What I think people really mean is “I showed up for worship today”, in the emotional sense of the word.