Author: T. Scott Daniels
James K.A. Smith opens his wonderful and ground-breaking book on worship and formation, Desiring the Kingdom, by inviting readers to imagine that alien anthropologists from Mars come to earth to study every aspect of humanity. Because they are especially interested in what humanity worships and venerates, they follow a large group of people into what they believe to be a sanctuary. The Martians assume it must be an important place of worship because it has so many cars in the parking lot, and once inside, there are no clocks on the wall (so people can lose themselves in worship), and the only windows into the building are in the ceiling (inviting everyone’s gaze upward toward heaven).
T. Scott Daniels is senior pastor of Nampa College Church of the Nazarene in Nampa, Idaho, USA.
Holiness Today, January/February 2021
Please note: This article was originally published in 2021. All facts, figures, and titles were accurate to the best of our knowledge at that time but may have since changed.