The Religious Experience

Dedication, photo by Taylor Brown

This past weekend, I spent time in the rain at a music festival. It wasn't my first. It won't be my last. I was there to see several bands play throughout the day, but I was most looking forward to seeing Jim James take the stage. He did not disappoint. Even though we were soaking wet, our shoes and pants were muddy, and we had been standing for hours, it was a religious experience.

I do not mean necessarily that I went to Shaky Knees music festival to seek the face of God, but I think that for the majority of the people there, they had a religious experience.

You give yourself over to the music, the rain, the mud, the crowds, the shouting, the yelling, the singing, and all of a sudden you've joined into a group that is moving together and seeking to experience the same thing.

That is similar to what worship is. Worship is about giving yourself over to something greater than yourself. You bring yourself to worship, or to the concert, and you leave having experienced something.

The big difference is that Christians believe that worship is more than an experience. It is something that shapes us. Being in community shapes us, forms us, and informs us of the world around us. You still feel, you still experience, you still give yourself over to a higher power. But you expect to be more than entertained.

Too often, we describe what we like in church or what we dislike in church in terms of what we felt. We would do better to describe what we like in church with the question, "How did this draw me closer to God?" or "Did this change my relationship with other people?"

Music festivals only come around every so often. It was good to be with friends from high school who I do not see but once or twice a year. That made it special. The mud made it special. The music made it special.

Church is always there. We will not always worship at the festival (the ancient Israelites didn't). We do not spend our married lives on the Honeymoon. We will always live in the real world. Religious experiences are worth seeking out. If they don't change us, then it has been self-serving.

My religious experience was at the festival with friends. It changed me to be a better friend and to continue to be in relationship with others.

The real religious experience for me came as my friends walked into the chapel where I was preaching to hear me and support me. That changed me. I will always be grateful for the weekend of religious experiences.