Cody Brotherton

Communication and Religion

11-30-03

What is Sacred?

Does the broadcasting of church services violate the sanctity of worship? In this paper we will look at three major topics in order to reach a conclusion. The three topics will show that the sanctity of worship is not violated because God is bigger than humans. First, we will see what has been deemed sacred or holy. Next, we will see where God is today. We will show why these two things show that broadcasting worship services does not violate the sanctity of worship. Finally, we will look at cases where broadcast services are a huge supplement to the body of Christ.

Where the Lord is, it is holy. Numerous times in the Bible it says God is holy. He says Be Holy, for I am Holy in Leviticus 11:44. God is a holy God. I believe in the Christian world there would be very few arguments to this. Now, on the question we are looking at, we must determine what all places are holy. Psalms 11:4 says, “The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne.” In this verse we can see that heaven is a holy place. Again this is a pretty widely accept view. Can we look deeper and say that heaven is holy because God resides there? This will be vital in understanding if broadcasting a service is unholy or unsacred. Now another verse shows that heaven is a holy place. Deuteronomy 26:15 says, “Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.” From this verse we see heaven is holy, it is God’s holy dwelling place. Now we know that heaven is holy we will see if there is any holy places on Earth. The first example is in Exodus 3:5 when the Lord says to Moses “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Now of course we know Moses was on Earth so we can see that there are holy or sacred places on Earth. In the Old Testament the priest would purify themselves of every sin before they went into the Holy of Holies in the Temple because if they had any impurities before the Holy God they would fall dead in his presence. They would tie a rope to the foot of the priest in case of the occurrence. The presence of the Lord is what makes a place sacred, in Earth or in Heaven. When Jesus died on the cross the curtain of the Temple was torn in two. The curtain was what guarded the Holy of Holies. This symbolizes that God is now everywhere on the Earth.

There is a song that says, “Where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.” The spirit of the Lord can be wherever it chooses to be. Where, more specifically, can we see God residing today? 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 17 say, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” God’s spirit as believers lives inside of us today. We don’t have to go to the Holy of Holies anymore; our heart is the Holy of Holies. We are God’s sacred temple. This is good news for us as believers. We have direct access to the sacred, holy, living God. We can at anytime enter into the holy presence of God.

Can we enter into the presence of God during a broadcast worship service? In order for broadcasting a worship service to violate the sanctity of worship we must not be able to enter into the presence of God at our house or in front of a television. Earlier we have already seen that we as believers are the temple of God. Since this is true is should be safe to assume that we take God with us wherever we go. His spirit resides in our hearts. Where the spirit of the Lord is, is holy ground. Thus if we are in front of the television the place can still be holy. I personally have connected with God’s spirit during broadcast worship services. An example of this is today. When I woke up this morning, I watched two church services with my grandmother. She is elderly and unable to go to church. I was able to worship God at my grandmother’s house just the same as I could at the church in which it was broadcast. We know where two or three people gather in the name of Christ, God has promised that he will be there. Two or three people fellowshipping together in the name of Christ makes a place sacred. This again is because God is there. I truly believe my Grandmother and I experience true holy and sacred worship this morning through a broadcast service. I also in the past have watched many preachers on television. These broadcast services have been a huge part of my Christian growth process. Now, not everybody agrees with me so I am going to show some points that conflict my view, but try to show where I believe them to be mislead.

One big argument against the broadcasting of worship services is that they have questionable messages. I do agree with this and this is detrimental to the reputation of broadcasting services. I believe there are some people out there that are only there to make money or even mislead people but at the same time these people can also be in the church. We have to discern for ourselves what the spirit is saying. Since He lives in us, we will be able to always discern what messages are misleading or spiritually enlightening. Some people would argue that non-believers that watch broadcast services will be forever repelled from Christianity. I do not believe this is a valid argument. Until they believe in Christ and receive his spirit they can never understand all that there is to Christianity. Yes, at first they may be lost but this can be an agent God uses to get there attention. We put to much power into the hands of people and not enough credit to the power of God. He has a plan for every person and His hand is on the sparrow. He will work in an individual way in each person’s life. Another argument is that broadcasting services cause individual Christians to be isolated an not part of the body of Christ. This is definitely a trend to watch out for. We should not be people who live in isolation, especially Christians. Again, I believe God is bigger than this problem. Since He is able to work through broadcast services we should trust that He will guide those individuals and provide for them a group of Christians to be accountable to. The last argument I want to get into is that there is no way communion over the airwaves can be sacred. Simply put, since we spent along time this semester discussing this question, if we truly commune with God it is a holy event. God does not look at the externals of worship but at our hearts. He is concerned with our inner selves. When Jesus talked with the woman at the well he says in the verses John 4:24 and 25, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The truth of Christ and the spirit of God is how we worship him. False prophets violate the sanctity of worship, not the air waves. People who isolate themselves cause the problem, not our attempt to use the television as a medium for evangelism. The responsibility lies on each individual person to make the choice to truly live for God. He is always there and open to us. We should not limit the power of God by saying he can not use the television for a tool of His kingdom. He can reach people any way he wants to. I believe God’s ultimate plan for every person is to lead them to Him. He can use any method he wants, but He is working in all of us.

Now we are going to look at some ways that broadcasting worship is a vital part of the Christian world today. I used my Grandmother earlier, but I am going to use her again. See loves watching church on her television and feels that she receives spiritual growth through this. She can not get out of her house to go to church, but people come and visit her. In this way she is not broken off from being able to be part of the church and is still active in a church body. This is a vital part to her life and we should not want to take this from her. There are many more people like this out there who may be crippled, sick, or elderly. They can still be an active part of the church. Also, I believe we need to broadcast services to evangelize. Now they may not be millions of people saved my broadcast services, but if one person is then the broadcast are worth it. Broadcasting helps us reach people in many other countries and aids in there spiritually growth. Also, the broadcast can be a wonderful spiritual tool for Christians today in America. I know in my life and many of my friends’ lives, Christian television programs have been a big part to our spiritual maturity.

God is able to work through television, and I believe he is. As Christians we should never limit the power of God in saying he can not work the air waves. We have seen that God’s spirit makes a place holy. Also, we know that His spirit live in our hearts and we are the temple of God. The broadcast have nothing to do with the sanctity of worship but instead it is the spirit of God which provides this sanctity. We have also looked at some argument to my point of view and I have replied to them. I believe that God is bigger than man or anything we can do wrong. He has the power to use even our mistakes. Finally, we looked at how the broadcasting of worship services is a necessity to Christian life today. We need to allow and invite God to work through our television today.

Works Cited

International Bible Society. Grand Rapids, Michigan U.S.A.