First off, let me start by saying I’m somewhat hesitant to write what I’m about to write. I don’t want anybody to get the impression that I think I’m better than anybody else, or “more spiritual,” but I really want to tell you what’s been on my heart for a while now.

I follow a few Christian authors on Twitter and they often make comments or ask questions or their followers. One such comment that continually pops us is about “cultural Christianity.” Basically it’s about how we live in a nation in which individuals identify themselves as Christians, but don’t live as such. I see it every day, both inside the church and outside; but what I want to discuss varies somewhat from this.

One of the definitions of culture is “the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group;” and we’re going to talk about the “culture” of the current Church. There are many wonderful churches out there, full of passionate preachers, teachers, worship leaders, and believers. They love God with everything that they are, they speak truth and life into the people around them, and they live out their beliefs; but unfortunately where I find we’re falling short is allowing the Spirit to move freely. For some reason I feel as though we’ve put God in this tiny little box and said, you can move around in here, but you can’t go any further than this. I feel like we’re more worried about making people feel uncomfortable, or taking up too much of their time, than freely and unashamedly worshiping Him. If the Spirit is moving, let Him move! Let Him do His thing! Let Him heal the broken, renew the weary, and strengthen the weak; and let those who choose to pour themselves out to Him, do so.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, if we really want revival and change in our “culturally Christian” world, perhaps we should start where it matters most: the culture of our churches. We need to stop trying to contain God inside a little box, allow Him to pour Himself out on our congregations, and allow believers to soak in His presence; because if we really knew what His presence was like, we would never want to leave His side, and we would want everybody around us to share in that experience and come to know His great love.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)