Rethinking Corporate Worship

Over the last several years, I have been thinking a lot about the modern 'worship movement' that is taking place in the Church today and the emphasis on personal worship. There is such a huge emphasis on worship style, methods, songs, etc. that we can quickly miss the One whom deserves our worship.

Furthermore, what has come of the corporate worship experience? If you think about it for a minute, you'd quickly realize that we bring a lot of people together to worship individually. Now, I know that people are encouraged to sing the same song, facing the same direction, and all, but is it just me or is there an increasing emphasis made on the experience of the individual rather than the glorification of Jesus? Plus, aren't we called to worship God as a people, not just as a person?

Shouldn't individual worship be defined as our whole life and not just an emotion (see Romans 12:1-2)? I'm not trying to be just another negative voice in the worship discussion. However, I am convicted that I have not been viewing the call to corporate worship appropriately. We need a little more of 'us and God' and a little less of 'me and God'. I think we've gotten pretty good at 'me and God'.

This trend also emphasizes the lack of community in the Church today. In my experience, there appears to be more authentic community being had at coffee shops and bars, than in the church. Why is that? Perhaps there is a connection between our view of worship and our view of community? The idea of community in the world is a group of people with common interests that derive benefit from one another. However, isn't there something more that Christ calls us to? For instance, aren't we to care for widows and orphans? What if that even means more than paying their light bills and feeding them? What if it means that we do life with them with the aim of encouraging one another to love and good deeds (see Hebrews 10)?  I'm not great at this, so this is just as much about me as anyone else.

The more I consider these things, the more I realize that we must return to a higher view of corporate worship. If you want to close your eyes and raise your hands, that is great, but don't do it at the expense of the community as a whole. I wonder how pleased God is when we are pouring everything we are into OUR worship, but ignore those in our midst who are suffering, hurting, or just weak in faith? That must be connected to loving our neighbors as ourselves in some way...

What are your thoughts about worship?

"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord as commanded the blessing, life forevermore." - Psalm 133 (ESV)

Writing and ADD

I've been working on my first book and I am reminded how annoying ADD can be. I'll be writing along, nailing a point, and then boom, a paragraph is injected in the midst of a very focused chapter that was a spin-off of a sentence above. Quite frustrating, oh and did I tell you about what happened at the mall today? <-- See!

Overall, today was a productive day. I am working on a book dealing with apathy in the church: the reality, some causes, and biblical solutions. It's in the early stages, but the last few days on this writing retreat have been very fruitful. I have a lot more organized outline(s) and thoughts to move forward with. Lord willing, the book will be ready to publish Spring 2010, but we'll see how it goes. Thanks for your prayers and I will be keeping you updated.

Who Cares?

I can't tell you how often I hear students and adults alike use the phrase,"Who Cares?" or "I don't care." There are other, more colorful ways that this is said at times, but this expression is far more revealing than one might understand. The fact is, the church is dying a slow death from misplaced passions about things that don't matter and apathy towards things that do really matter.

Now, it is NOT my intent to suggest that ALL arguments about the style of church music, the manner in which we facilitate communion, pre-mid-post-a, whether one is a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 27 point whatever, etc. are irrelevant. There are issues like this that must be considered and explored biblically. However, I do propose that these vigorous fights, debates, and splits are robbing us from caring about things that really matter. The two primary things that come to mind in this assessment are the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

To be honest, an increasing amount of American Churches (or American Christians for that matter) don't seem to care so much about these two things. Sure, these 'Greats' are in the majority of our mission/vision statements, but how much is this really being lived out? Are we as vigorous about caring about the 'widows and orphans' as we are about making sure that people are using the appropriate translation of the Bible or are refraining from whatever we perceive to be sinful? I wonder what would happen if we were more about the Great Commission of seeing the whole person transformed, and not just managing sin and changing behaviors?

Behaviorism as a measure of success for 'biblical discipleship' shows that the charge of the prophet Isaiah, and also Jesus' charge against the Pharisee's continues to be true today, “And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me...” (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8 ESV) This indictment directly confronts the prevalent belief that as long as we look like we are godly and give an appearance of being 'nice and well-behaved' then we are making an impact on culture. While external transformation should truly be a part of sanctification, it is not the end nor should it be our final goal.

If God does not revive the church in our land, it will continue to decline. The apparent attitude today is, "Who cares?" Well, I do and hope that you do too.

More to come on this issue in the weeks and months to come...

'Why' Series: Pt. 1 - Programming Evangelism

As I continue to read through the Bible, God is always kind to illuminate the Scriptures in a fresh way. I occasionally make the mistake of reading through Acts (sarcasm implied) and I start questioning things. If you don't know me very well, then you might not know that I have a lot of questions. One of my favorite questions to ask is, "Why?"

Thinking about church today, I begin wondering about why such intense programming is necessary? Of course people are busy, but I think the problem lies much deeper than just that. It seems in many places that the church is either expected, or assumes the responsibility to program sanctification. This is so normal that it doesn't seem that many people even think much about it, but when you compare it to the teachings of the New Testament, there is definitely a disconnect.

One of the primary areas that I am baffled is about are evangelism programs. Now I am not questioning at all the validity of training people on various ways to share the Gospel, to live missionally, or to help them understand the biblical commission all believers have to make disciples. I think that is to be expected and encouraged. However, I think it is odd that if churches don't provide evangelism 'programs' then by and large, evangelism doesn't normally happen.

This observation is not an attempt for me to point the finger. I'm just as guilty at times of not being aware of the great privilege we have as believers to share the best news with people from all backgrounds. However, being a minister, I wonder what has happened from the times of the New Testament, the Great Awakenings, etc., to this seemingly sterile approach to evangelism.

Why do we have to schedule something that should be a natural response to the grace of God given to us in Christ? Why are we placing the responsibility of our own sanctification in the hands of the church to schedule it for us? Why are we so content to view church through consumeristic lenses and to make our selection of where we will do life based upon the music program, youth program, kids program, singles program, college program, discipleship program, missions program, etc?

Look, I understand that we are ministering in a fallen world, and our people are busy. Also, I understand in a post-Christian nation that it is becoming less and less acceptable to share the Gospel openly. However, if we get so bogged down into the programming of evangelism, discipleship, etc, then at what point do we expect believers to do these things because they are, well, they are believers?

If you have an evangelism program at your church, praise God! I'm grateful that the Gospel is being preached, regardless of the means or motivation. However, I do believe that our brothers and sisters who have gone before us have modeled for us how to BE Christian and not just DO Christian things. Something to think about...