My Place of Worship

          

          It had been a wonderful vacation.  I was delighted when an acquaintance invited us to worship with them on Sunday morning.  Driving up to the church I spied my new friend in the vestibule.  “I need to run to the nursery for just a moment,” she said, “but I’ll meet you in the auditorium.  We have plenty of time.  The service doesn’t start for another ten minutes.”

            “Auditorium?” I questioned.  “It’s not called a sanctuary?”

            “No.  We call it an auditorium.  It’s probably just a more modern term.  No big deal.”

            The room was completely filled and the pastor a vibrant speaker, but my conversation with my friend about me being in an auditorium, gave me pause and kept interrupting my concentration.  Is this not a house of God?  What more goes on in here, I wondered?  Is what we call our “worship place” really not a big deal? 

When I think of an auditorium, I associate high school where we had meetings, drama presentations, concerts and award assemblies, among other worldly activities.  Auditoriums are places with curtains and a stage where actors can be anyone the script calls for; a place of leaving reality and wandering into an imaginary place, with all kinds of story lines, settings and casting. 

Plays in an auditorium can range anywhere between the Passion of the Christ to the horrible-- like thrillers or the occult.  Do I really want the undertones of the mystical, mythological, fantasy or the occult to be part of a sanctuary where I am to worship God? Are we not making allowances for that which is worldly, to be part of our sacred place, when we call our worship place an auditorium?   

            A sanctuary on the other hand, has the connotation of something sacred and holy, pure and separate from what is common.  It’s a term I reserve for worship, a place of reverence.  It’s the place Believer’s come together to pray, sing and hear the Word of God shared.  Granted, these acts can occur anywhere we are, since in reality, the Holy Spirit resides in each Believer.  Still, when things that happen within the sanctuary are anything less than holy, it causes me to cringe.

            While a group of Believers can worship in a house, store or on a street corner, those places are not considered “sanctuaries.”  These places are not set aside for worship and God’s glory.  They are of the world, common places, if you will, and while we exist within this place for the duration of this life, it is not set apart as holy, while a sanctuary is.

            My point in all this is as Believers, we are set apart, separated from the world.  We are called to be Holy, because God is Holy.  It is right that where we worship should also be Holy.  Are we not being irreverent and disrespectful of what is Holy when we allow what is every day, common, and part of this world, to be part of where we are to worship a pure and Holy God?  My heart breaks with the realization that even our churches, places of worship, are falling prey to the world.  This can't possibly please God.

            I'm not suggesting all churches who call their place of worship an auditorium include anything in their buildings except those things that honor Christ.  It does, however, open the door for alternative ideas.   And it is entirely likely there are some that do.   

           Share your thoughts.  What are your views on this subject?