“Church? Why Bother?” asked Philip Yancey in a book title. There are good reasons to belong to a church. A recent study reveals the benefits of church attendance: regular church attendance can reduce blood pressure, improve interpersonal relationships, and offer better mental health, among the long list of possible benefits. At another level, how does going to church change our behavior? Some studies reveal that Christians are as likely to misbehave as non-Christians.
In Amos’s day, the people went “religiously” to the historic places of worship in Bethel and Gilgal. We remember that Jacob had met with God at Bethel twice. Gilgal, too, was a holy place for Israel. Amos said, “Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more.” What was wrong with their worship? First, it led to personal pride. They boasted about their worship. Second, their worship services focused more on what they loved instead of on what God loved.
God tried to get his people's attention. Famine, drought, locusts, and plagues could have shifted their focus heavenward. None of these problems led Israel to change. Finally, he sent Amos to preach, “Prepare to meet your God.”
Corporate worship should change our behavior. When we worship, we encounter our holy God. Anyone who has seen that God is “holy, holy, holy”, can no longer live comfortably in an unholy way. What would God have to do to get our attention today? Let’s prepare our hearts to meet God in worship. When we offer our lives as living sacrifices to God, he transforms us by the renewing of our minds.
