I see a recurring theme in these last few entries. It has to do with how we worship and how we allow worship to lead us. Worship is an integral part of our faith.
But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks...because the LORD your God has blessed you. Deuteronomy 12:5-6, 7b
I'm worried that we think excellence is a must in worship. We see in this passage from Deuteronomy that we are to bring our best before God. Burnt offerings and sacrifices aren't just any gifts. They're of the best quality that we have to offer. We don't just tithe what's left over. We take off the top 10% and give it to God. The "firstborn of [our] herds" are given, showing our faith in God. So, naturally, we would come to worship, expecting God to want only excellence.
But that's not true of God. God expects what we give to Him to be an offering of sacrifice. I think God expects us to do the best with what we've got. Sometimes that's not "excellence" in our eyes.
“If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done” (Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT).
It's so important for us to alter the way some of us see worship. Sometimes we notice the things that we think go wrong. I think some worshippers focus on the "errors" they think they see in worship. They must leave worship that day feeling lost or as if they hadn't worshipped because of a lack of focus. They were waiting for the "perfect conditions" mentioned in Ecclesiastes instead of getting caught up in what worship was focused on that day.
I saw a Dove commercial once called "Dove Evolution."
Our culture expects perfection as well. So when we come into worship from a world that is not of God, we're expecting perfection. If things are not perfect, we're distracted and we allow the imperfections to pull us away from a genuine worship of God. We should be so caught up in worship that we don't notice when the instrumentalist plays something incorrectly. We shouldn't allow a reader's mis-spoken word distract us. Imperfection is natural. Ask David...
God doesn't bless only excellence. He blesses those that are faithful enough to trust Him and offer some sort of sacrifice to Him. Let's stop worrying about perfection or excellence in worship. If there's some down time, let's enjoy the silence. If there's a few misspellings, let's understand the true meaning of the word that is intended. If something unplanned happens, let's enjoy the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit working in and through our worship.
Our family of worship will not demand perfection or excellence in our offering of worship. Instead, we'll seek perfection in our actions and words outside of worship. We can thank God for the perfection of Jesus and what His life means for us.
Worship well,
Jonas
St. Jacob's Stone Church, 5152 Stone Church Rd. Glenville, PA
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Seeking a feeling is not worship
From Rick Warren's "Daily Hope" devotional.
"I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I turn to the south, but I cannot find him. But he knows where I am going." Job 23:7-10 (NLT)
Will you continue to love, trust, obey, and worship God, even when you have no sense of his presence or visible evidence of his work in your life?
The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God. They look for a feeling, and if it happens, they conclude that they have worshiped. Wrong! In fact, God often removes our feelings so we won't depend on them. Seeking a feeling, even the feeling of closeness to Christ, is not worship.
This reminds me a bit of the Craig Detweiler film in the last entry, Do You See? Sometimes we go to church expecting to receive some sort of out-of-body experience like what we hear about on radio shows or what we see on televangelists' shows. I think we go expecting to be wowed, like in a zoo or with a Vegas slot machine, like Craig mentioned. We expect to be given a show and get a "feeling," but we don't expect Jesus to come out of His cage. Because if He does, we might get "attacked." We just want to get the show, give the "Jesus monkey" a peanut and go home. We've had our "experience" for the week; time to get back to life. We don't want to become committed or anything. Then we won't be able to feel OK saying, "No," or "I don't really agree" or "I don't like that."
Maybe if we want to get "feelings" or have "experiences," what we need to do is reach out. How about this: we need to "help broken people heal." Or give "hurting people...hope." Or get "hungry people...fed." Then I think we can experience something and have a feeling. We'll get a feeling every time because we're putting ourselves out there and allowing our hearts to be broken and our bodies to be put to the test. We have to feel something because we're putting every part of us in that vulnerable place--in that uncomfortable place we haven't been before, or at least very often.
We do reach out. "Help broken people heal."
I think we help people heal during a Healing Service. Let's open it up IN the community, not just TO the community.
"Give hurting people hope."
Diaper Derby, Undie Sunday, Let It Shine Sunday, Hats Off Sunday, Sock It to Me Sunday, Take a Note, Souper Bowl (goes below, too).
"Feed hungry people."
Angel Food Ministries reaches out to our community. But do we make that opportunity openly accessible to everyone in our community? Whoa...that could really tax us. It really might.
PALS is this example. Don really devotes himself to this. I think it's where Jesus stands every single week as people of all walks of life pick up a knife and fork, plate and napkin. I know Don never leaves PALS feeling empty. Tired, maybe. But never empty or lacking in the "feeling" or "experience" department.
Let's stop expecting a feeling IN corporate worship. Let's welcome the feeling we want to feel by going out and doing something that guarantees us a feeling IN ministry to our community and our world.
Peace,
Jonas
"I go east, but he is not there. I go west, but I cannot find him. I do not see him in the north, for he is hidden. I turn to the south, but I cannot find him. But he knows where I am going." Job 23:7-10 (NLT)
Will you continue to love, trust, obey, and worship God, even when you have no sense of his presence or visible evidence of his work in your life?
The most common mistake Christians make in worship today is seeking an experience rather than seeking God. They look for a feeling, and if it happens, they conclude that they have worshiped. Wrong! In fact, God often removes our feelings so we won't depend on them. Seeking a feeling, even the feeling of closeness to Christ, is not worship.
This reminds me a bit of the Craig Detweiler film in the last entry, Do You See? Sometimes we go to church expecting to receive some sort of out-of-body experience like what we hear about on radio shows or what we see on televangelists' shows. I think we go expecting to be wowed, like in a zoo or with a Vegas slot machine, like Craig mentioned. We expect to be given a show and get a "feeling," but we don't expect Jesus to come out of His cage. Because if He does, we might get "attacked." We just want to get the show, give the "Jesus monkey" a peanut and go home. We've had our "experience" for the week; time to get back to life. We don't want to become committed or anything. Then we won't be able to feel OK saying, "No," or "I don't really agree" or "I don't like that."
Maybe if we want to get "feelings" or have "experiences," what we need to do is reach out. How about this: we need to "help broken people heal." Or give "hurting people...hope." Or get "hungry people...fed." Then I think we can experience something and have a feeling. We'll get a feeling every time because we're putting ourselves out there and allowing our hearts to be broken and our bodies to be put to the test. We have to feel something because we're putting every part of us in that vulnerable place--in that uncomfortable place we haven't been before, or at least very often.
We do reach out. "Help broken people heal."
I think we help people heal during a Healing Service. Let's open it up IN the community, not just TO the community.
"Give hurting people hope."
Diaper Derby, Undie Sunday, Let It Shine Sunday, Hats Off Sunday, Sock It to Me Sunday, Take a Note, Souper Bowl (goes below, too).
"Feed hungry people."
Angel Food Ministries reaches out to our community. But do we make that opportunity openly accessible to everyone in our community? Whoa...that could really tax us. It really might.
PALS is this example. Don really devotes himself to this. I think it's where Jesus stands every single week as people of all walks of life pick up a knife and fork, plate and napkin. I know Don never leaves PALS feeling empty. Tired, maybe. But never empty or lacking in the "feeling" or "experience" department.
Let's stop expecting a feeling IN corporate worship. Let's welcome the feeling we want to feel by going out and doing something that guarantees us a feeling IN ministry to our community and our world.
Peace,
Jonas
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Do You See?
Craig Detweiler, filmmaker, author and professor and director of the Reel Spirituality Institute for the Brehm Center at Fuller Theological Seminary comments on the Jesus slot machine, the church zoo, and nice people. http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/
Click here to watch the video.
Our church is not a zoo--is it? Man, I almost cried. This stabs deep to the heart of a huge problem that we've been trained in and have been allowed to grow in. We've been deceived in some ways. Properly schooled in others. We need to think about this a little. What makes us angry? Sad? Worried? What breaks our hearts?
Peace,
Jonas
Click here to watch the video.
Our church is not a zoo--is it? Man, I almost cried. This stabs deep to the heart of a huge problem that we've been trained in and have been allowed to grow in. We've been deceived in some ways. Properly schooled in others. We need to think about this a little. What makes us angry? Sad? Worried? What breaks our hearts?
Peace,
Jonas
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