What’s In the Way? When Our Expectations Become Barriers

What do we let separate us from God? Through the entire Old Testament, the people of God did not have direct access to him. The entire system of the priesthood was designed by God to function as intermediaries between God and humanity. But this was only a temporary arrangement.

After Jesus’ death, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. Many theologians feel this symbolizes that the high priest was no longer needed. All of humanity now had access to God and no longer required a go-between because Jesus himself was our new high priest.

I’ve heard some denominations of Christianity criticized for letting priests or full-time ministers function as intermediaries between us and God. However, I would challenge that we can all do this to some extent if we aren’t careful.

The modern church in the west has become obsessed with being well presented in all ways. This is not entirely bad, but it can also cause us to value flash over substance. The luxury in which we live as a culture has allowed us to have particular preferences indulged in every area of life. We have begun to approach the body of Christ in the same way.

If we can’t, then we have given those things too much power. There are many important and wonderful aspects of church that help us to enter into the presence of God. But in the end, if it’s all stripped away, we need to be able to meet God without all of those accoutrements. Otherwise we have allowed those things to be the veil between us and God, without which we cannot commune fully with him.

This ought not to be. Much of the world is desperate for any word of scripture and worship in secret. I’m sure their primary concern is not whether the bass player and drummer are in perfect sync or whether the carpets in the sanctuary are the latest style. This is not meant to denigrate professionalism or excellence, both of which have an important role in how we do kingdom work. But if it becomes a barrier to our spiritual growth and engagement, we’ve missed the point entirely.

At times we must return to the essentials and make sure we are still in genuine pursuit of the Father’s heart. Find ways to practice solitary prayer and silence. Visit a church that does things very differently from yours. Recognize that worship is a discipline, we need to be able and willing to do it whether the circumstances are ideal or not. Otherwise it is no longer worship, but simply applause and we become spectators rather than participants.