Part of a series.
"I can worship God better outside in nature than in a building."
I have heard that line before, spoken by non-churchgoing folks. It has never struck me as a good excuse (not that anyone owes me an excuse); indoor worship doesn’t exclude outdoor worship, and I wonder how much worshipping the speaker does outdoors at all. Why not just say "No, I don’t go to church, I don’t like it?" At least it would be honest.
Today’s one-sentence selection tells why community worship is an important part of a balanced spiritual diet.
You cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers of the priests.
The writer is John Chrysostom (347-407), whose nickname ("Golden-Mouthed") reflects his reputation as a brilliant public speaker and preacher. He wrote prolifically, and I hope to excerpt some more of his work.
The sentence doesn’t denigrate the prayers offered in the home, alone or among family. Family and private prayer in the home is good. But it does point out two special qualities of worship in church. Neither is conferred by the building.
The first quality is rooted in the people gathered there for the purpose of worship. That gathering is an act of worship in and of itself, because it exists solely as a worship community (unlike the family or the indvidual).
The second quality comes from the ordained priests, who ordinarily preside at worship in church and are absent from private or family worship. As this passage demonstrates, the Church has always understood the ordained priest as a special representative. He "has something to offer" that most of the Christians do not, by virtue of his office and the sacrament of Orders he has received.
Private prayer is valuable; but corporate worship and sacramental worship are needed, too.
bearing blog 