Let me clear the air, we can't take away from a person's sincerity. The Thanksgiving service was full of the greatest, most sincere pastor's you could ever imagine. We were singing hymns, reading scripture, and sharing thankful prayers of how God blesses people. The sincerity of this service was absolutely stunning. It was completely evident that the Lord moved among the people. The way the songs were sung touched my heart. The way the service flowed was real, intimate, and heartfelt.
Throughout this service, I felt this interesting conflict. My heart felt for those who sincerely and passionately worshiped God. Yet on the flip side, my heart hurt for some of the young people in attendance. For those young people, I had to wonder: what did this do for them? Did they know and understand the sincerity of the one's putting on the service? Could they understand the depths of people's hearts? Yet I found myself asking different kinds of questions. What do they think of the music? Do the young people wonder why they're the only ones in attendance? What do the young people think of this rigid formality?
What kind of services do we put on for people? Do our church services minister only to the lifelong Christians? If a person off the street came to a service, what sorts of thoughts and impressions would they have? I absolutely love the sincerity of people. I love seeing how people worship. The words of some of the old hymns truly speak to me. But I wonder, what about the new people who didn't grow up on those same old hymns? What is it doing for them? Tonight was an amazing night focused on the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving. We praised, worshipped, and learned from the scriptures. For some of us that have been brought up in the church our whole lives, this was the typical sort of service we're used to. A service what would prepare our hearts for Thanksgiving. Some of us have been in and out of these sorts of churches our whole lives. It can sometimes blend together and become all the same because we've been exposed to it so much. But what about those that have never been in a church before? Are we mindful of what they perceive when they enter the building?
Tonight was amazing for me, but what about them? It's my belief that we must start paying attention to the chemistry of our church services. I believe if we want new people to worship the Lord in our buildings, we must set up services that relate to them; not just us.
I was amazed tonight because the sincerity was overwhelming. The service was great for me, but what about them?
Do we think about them?
2 comments:
I love your posts!
I think the problem is not the content or the style of the service, but that it is a "service." The very word is borrowed from the predominant consumeristic mindset of our culture that has co-opted the church's imagination and ability to authenticly and powerfully contextualize the gospel. The "service" and temple worship mentality both result in a worship and christian lifestyle centered on a power heirarchy that results in a disempowered "laity" who rely on the clergy for all spiritual direction, an extremely dualistic sacred/secular split that leads to a neutered Christianity that has no meaning apart from the sacred space of the church building, and a church that relies on the metanarrative of capitalism to motivate its survival by relying on tithe money, popularity, and marketing to pay the burdening cost of maintaining the modern dinosaur that is the institutional church.
I will now step down from my soap box ;)
Josh. I'm in absolute agreement with your "soap box." I love that you referred to the institutional church as the modern dinosaur. It is! Yet something makes me feel for the young people, the sick, the poor, and basically everyone who hasn't found the "hidden treasure" which is the kingdom of God. I see these people everywhere! I see people who have no idea or experience about the saving power of Christ. The modern dinosaur i s broken, but I still believe God can use it to reach people. Maybe I've been cursed by a passion to continue for a while within the institution. What I do know, is that God moves. He's moving all over the world. A kingdom is established, one not created by territorial boundaries; this is a kingdom working in and through the hearts of those who surrender to the Lord.
I'm pumped to see the Spirit of God continue to move among a depraved generation of church groupies. Its incredible hard and extremely draining to work among a flawed system, but I'm convinced that God hasn't given up on them yet. ....He's moving and it blows my mind.
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