The Day After...
Sometimes 5 songs and a message clicks (read previous post if you want to understand what the crap I'm talking about).
Yesterday, it did.
I could go on and on about how there are differing opinions on what makes a worship service 'work.' For some, it's variation, innovation, etc. (which is what I'd like to see more of because of my personal taste). For some, though, it's predictability, stability, etc., and though I tend to think this is a dangerous position most of the time (traditionalism starts this way), there's something to be said for people with hectic lives wanting something to be stable and consistent (i.e., 5 songs and a message).
Either way, yesterday's 5 songs and a message was pretty engaging, much to my surprise. Why?
1. God can work through anything. For those who doubt that, open your mind. For those of you who claim, "Well, that's not for me," then what is for you? Is seeing God work and move through the lives of people in a way you didn't personally like not a good thing? Furthermore, is it for you at all? Worship is not for us. It's not a selfish thing. That said, I still want more innovation, but not at the expense of what already works (lest those things merely get reduced to empty tradition). As I've argued before, we could plan the same thing next week and wonder why it didn't have the same impact (not a trap I want to fall into).
2. There's much more to this thing called worship than attending a one-hour service involving some singing and a message. When our lives are lives of worship, then the whole gathering/singing thing becomes a more natural outflow of those lives. But if our lives are not such, then no wonder a 'service' can become an utterly empty experience. Empty, bland, cheesy - insert your adjective of choice here. And though I certainly agree there are cheesy things out there...and boring things as well, I still believe that when we have the right attitude about what worship is in the first place, all the rest of this stuff is secondary (important, but secondary)
I know I'm overly simplistic about this, and still believe there's much room for discussion about designing community 'gatherings' that don't feel so scripted or repetitive (at least to a fault) - and such is my heartbeat, since I'm generally a creativity-driven person. But that discussion is rather unproductive if we don't have a proper attitude about what worship is (and, for that matter, community is) in the first place.
Yesterday, it did.
I could go on and on about how there are differing opinions on what makes a worship service 'work.' For some, it's variation, innovation, etc. (which is what I'd like to see more of because of my personal taste). For some, though, it's predictability, stability, etc., and though I tend to think this is a dangerous position most of the time (traditionalism starts this way), there's something to be said for people with hectic lives wanting something to be stable and consistent (i.e., 5 songs and a message).
Either way, yesterday's 5 songs and a message was pretty engaging, much to my surprise. Why?
1. God can work through anything. For those who doubt that, open your mind. For those of you who claim, "Well, that's not for me," then what is for you? Is seeing God work and move through the lives of people in a way you didn't personally like not a good thing? Furthermore, is it for you at all? Worship is not for us. It's not a selfish thing. That said, I still want more innovation, but not at the expense of what already works (lest those things merely get reduced to empty tradition). As I've argued before, we could plan the same thing next week and wonder why it didn't have the same impact (not a trap I want to fall into).
2. There's much more to this thing called worship than attending a one-hour service involving some singing and a message. When our lives are lives of worship, then the whole gathering/singing thing becomes a more natural outflow of those lives. But if our lives are not such, then no wonder a 'service' can become an utterly empty experience. Empty, bland, cheesy - insert your adjective of choice here. And though I certainly agree there are cheesy things out there...and boring things as well, I still believe that when we have the right attitude about what worship is in the first place, all the rest of this stuff is secondary (important, but secondary)
I know I'm overly simplistic about this, and still believe there's much room for discussion about designing community 'gatherings' that don't feel so scripted or repetitive (at least to a fault) - and such is my heartbeat, since I'm generally a creativity-driven person. But that discussion is rather unproductive if we don't have a proper attitude about what worship is (and, for that matter, community is) in the first place.
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