Do We Host God’s Presence?

With all this language about hosting God’s presence and welcoming God into our midst, we need to reflect a bit.

When we gather at church, are we, in fact, hosting God’s presence?

Let’s look at a helpful analogy. When a salesman comes to my door, and I don’t want to host them, what do I do? I might try to get quiet so he thinks nobody is home at all. Don’t tell me you’ve never done the same!

If it’s too late for that, because my tv was already too loud or my kids ran through the house, I will just tell him it’s not a good time. I’m busy. I certainly will not invite him in.

Is that wrong? Rude? Not really. It’s my house. I kind of get to decide who comes in and who doesn’t, what we do while in my house and how long someone can stay. I’m the host. I’m in control.

I think if we’re honest, a lot of people treat God’s Spirit this way at the gathering, choosing when we’re going to welcome Him in, choosing what we’re going to welcome Him to do or not and choosing how long He can stay and be the focus of our attention.

It’s not good. It’s not right. It’s not biblical, but should we be surprised when we tell the church that they are the hosts and God is the guest of honor?

We have to remember the host is the one whose house it is.

So when we say things like, “We welcome You!” or “You are welcome here!” is that biblical language?

Let’s look at the Old and New Testament realities.

When we think of God’s presence, the seeking of it and abiding in it, who do we think of? Of course, we think of David.

David longed for the presence of God.
David ached for the presence of God.
David sought the presence of God.
David knew the presence of God.
David lived in the presence of God.

We should pay attention to what he says about God’s presence, and does he ever speak about hosting God’s presence?

No, for David, today’s script was flipped.

In Psalm 24:3, he prayed: Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Ps. 24:3)

And again…

Psalm 15:1: O Lord, who may abide in Your tent?

Who may dwell on Your holy hill? (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Ps. 15:1)

In short, David knew who the host was, because David knew whose house it was.

Let’s look at the New Testament as well.

We’ve grown accustomed to speaking of Jesus living in our hearts. Afterall, Scripture says in 2 Corinthians 6:16: …just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.” (New American Standard Bible, 1995, 2 Cor. 6:16).

1 Corinthians 3:16 says: . . . the Spirit of God dwells in you? (New American Standard Bible, 1995, 1 Cor. 3:16)

If we stopped there, we would think the script was, in fact, flipped from the Old Testament to the New Testament, that the Old Testament was about God hosting us in His house, but the New Testament is about us hosting God in our house.

But let’s just consider this.
Whose is the church?

Ephesians 5:30: . . . we are members of His body. (New American Standard Bible, 1995, Eph. 5:30)

And right before we read in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that the Spirit of God dwells in you the text says, “You are the temple of God.” (New American Standard Bible, 1995, 1 Cor. 3:16)

Later in Corinthians the text says,

"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.
(New American Standard Bible, 1995, 1 Cor. 6:19-20)

It’s not our heart, our body, that we invite Him into, other than perhaps the moment of salvation we open the door to recognize that we belong to Him, it’s His heart, His body and His home.

Why does it matter who is the host and who is the guest? Isn’t it just splitting hairs, a matter of technicality? No, it’s not.

The host sets the requirements for the gathering, don’t they? And we, confusing the roles and the relationship, have begun to neglect the requirements God has set to enter into His presence.

While we should be coming with clean hands and with pure hearts, and while we should be coming with thanksgiving and with praise, and while we should be coming humbly and hungry and with a sacrifice of praise, we have churches filled with people who think they are the host of honor, who have been living in sin all week, whose hearts are idolatrously in pursuit of worldly things, and they want God to be happy that they invited Him to be a part of their week.

Is it possible that in the wake of the church growth movement and seeker sensitive megachurch growth strategies that emphasized the congregant as a customer and consumer in order to grow, that we have lost the ability to see rightly from God’s perspective and flipped some essential understandings of what it means to worship God?

Church, we might think we’re in control. We certainly can come when we want and not come when we want. We can start the service and end the service when we want. But, as far as our gatherings’ actual purpose to please God and enter into His presence, He is fully in control. If His joy is our prize, pleasing Him our purpose and encountering His presence our aim, we need to recognize that we can’t flip the script and simply show up and tell Him that He is welcome in His own house. We need to ask if we’re doing what a Holy God calls us to do to enter into His house and His presence.

We need to speak and think in ways that are biblical and true, ways that nurture humility not arrogance, recognizing that our actions align to our speaking and thinking.

We are not the owner. He is.
We are not the host. He is.

We can be hospitable to God. That is something we can do to another even in their own home. That is good and right. But, we don’t host God. It’s His house. We’re His house. So, let’s acknowledge that truth and honor Him as our host, as we come into His presence on His terms – with desire and reverence, with clean hands and pure hearts, and with thanks and praise.

In place of “We welcome You,” let’s learn to say things more like: “Thank You for making a way. Thank You for bringing us into Your presence. We’re here to honor You, to serve You, to love You and to be with You. This is Your House, and in Your word, You have said, that we can enter Your gates with thanksgiving, and enter Your courts with praise, and ascend Your holy hill with clean hands and a pure heart. Search us and show us so that we can do that.”

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