random rant

Ok so today in church we took communion, just like every Sunday, but this week was a bit different. Why you ask? Because this Sunday the cup was juice. Probably normal for most who are reading, but not here. Here they use wine, and they always have in our church, now its really really cheap wine, but that's not the point. The interesting part about it was after we took communion an elder of the church randomly got up and noted the difference and asked the congregation their opinion. It's never really a good idea to ask a group of Dominicans their opinion in a public gathering. They are very passionate and feed off each other and everything gets louder and louder, and the people more emotional and more passionate. Finally Ruben stood up and interrupted and said that it wasn't the appropriate time or place to be having this discussion and they should have a meeting at another time. The whole thing was humorous to me, at one point someone suggested we have half juice and half wine so as to please everyone. Will everyone ever be pleased? If you want to be literal, and choose to agree with me, the last supper consisted of bread and WINE, not juice, and no it wasn't because the wine wasn't fermented, or that the water of the day was dirty. I feel like if Jesus wanted to have juice or water he would have done it. BUT I'm not going to fight to the death over something this silly. What does it matter really if you use wine or juice, sure I prefer wine because I choose to model my life after my Saviour (that was meant to be funny) but its the point of partaking in the covenant meal. We are to remember, and often (as in not just once a month) the obligation that Christ took on for us and our descendants and how it should bring us to reverence before him because when we come into reverence, it brings forth submission. Submission is the only appropriate response that comes out of reverence, and it is submission to God that we should be seeking.
Now, you might be thinking, how immature it is for them to argue over wine or juice, obviously it doesn't matter. But wait a second, are not the things we fight about in worship (church) just as dumb. Take music for example. The day I say I'm leaving a church because I don't like their music being contemporary or not, please slap me in the face. The fact that your music is contemporary or traditional is not the point. The problem is the individuals lack of understanding of what worship (church) is about and is supposed to accomplish, and what their position is in that. And since when does "worship" mean the music part of the service. If I were to explain our church culture in this situation to a Dominican Christian, they would laugh and say "silly Americans". The reality is all of us are silly, myself included, at some point when it comes to our interpretations of the Christian life. I hope I never leave a church because their music is too slow, or not contemporary enough, or too upbeat and loud. That doesn't mean music isn't important. Music is crucial to a worship service, its not the "point", it only brings us to the point. Our music should prepare our hearts for the worship service, which means it should be reverent and lead us to a point of humility and a state of fearfulness, because the ultimate point is submission. My personal opinion is that most, not all, of the modern "contemporary" music that I have heard, is neither reverent, nor fearful resulting not in my submission, but rather in my feelings at the present time. I'm also not pushing for solely traditional music. The point is not what form is better, but rather what will lead the congregation to a state where they are ready for the "rest" of the worship, the point of it all, which is submission.