Is there a 12 Step Program for Worship Expression Addicts?

Is the church an addict? Am I along with my fellow gatherers addicted to the way we worship? Is the way I choose to worship more important than being in the relationship with God that He desires for me? If I decide that my worship expression takes precedence over God’s desires, it becomes an idol: I pour myself into the style of worship, expecting to get something back out of it, when really I should be focusing on experiencing and glorifying God’s grace.

Albert Einstein espoused the lovely idea on insanity – doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results. Each Sunday I expect to: be greeted at the door, look through the bulletin while listening to the prelude, sing a few hymns and worship songs, listen to announcements, participate in the obligatory and awkward meet'n'greet time, listen to a message, pass the offering plate, sit and ponder during open worship, and walk out the door feeling like I'm on the edge of experience true worship but falling short. Each week is greeted with the same troubles and lackluster passion for life. And yet every Sunday I along with many others continue to go back.

But many have given up. What does it say about an organism when its young leave? I wouldn't say that that's too healthy. Something has to change. The church is limping along. Church worship tweaks things here and there, but tinkering with the expression isn’t going to help: we need to get back to the reason *why* those forms were used in the first place. The truths behind the expression are what truly matters.

What would happen if I and my church congregation applied the 12 step program to our Sunday morning gathering? What would God reveal to us about ourselves? Alcohol isn’t bad: it’s just an object. *Abuse* of alcohol is bad. Hymns or praise songs or contemplative prayer or group prayer or times of silence or times of worship aren’t bad: abuse of them is bad. What are we abusing? What are we using to get our weekly 'fix' so that we can struggle through until our next Sunday hit? Can we admit that we can’t control our abuse? What will cause us to hit rockbottom? What will it take to cause an intervention?

Lord, please open my eyes to your creative expressions.