Who invites whom?

One of the main praise songs in church today focused on our invitation to God to come join us in what we are doing. The words went something like this

"We are inviting You to stay

Make this home Your home

We prepare a place

Come in

The door is open"

and so forth. I think you get the point. While everyone was enjoying singing this song and feeling very praise oriented, hands up high and voices reaching their peak. I PONDERED.

Surprised that I would ponder? What could be wrong with this, Prof? Shouldn't we invite God into our lives? Isn't that a good thing to do for a Christian?

The sermon was from 1 Thessalonians 2. The theme verse was 

"to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own Kingdom and glory."

The preacher was emphasizing how Paul walked boldly in his calling. Wait, isn't a calling an invitation? Paul didn't call God to walk with him. Paul was not inviting God to join him. It seems its the other way around.

Paul recognizes that God has invited him to join in what God is doing, not vice versa. We are part of God's story, not the other way around.

Why then would an evangelical Christian church think that inviting God into our story is what we should be singing? Is it that our nature is a b4worldview which has such subtle, strong influences on how we think and feel that it is easy to confuse who is inviting whom?

I'll leave this for you to ponder, I already have ....