Okay, we hear those words all the time in the church but do we actually live them out or even remotely believe them in the church.
Allow me to give some examples of when we really do believe it is about us...
1) Music in the church. How many times have you heard the following: "I didn't like the music this morning." "I just can't worship with the organ/drums/etc." "I don't know why we sing out of a hymn book/ off the wall." "I like choruses/ hymns." Has anyone ever stopped to ask what God would like to hear? I mean, it is worship of God... right? Or maybe its more about our self-gratification. Can everyone please just worship?
2) Service Formats. I like how the "cool" churches have a service for every kind of worship. Contemporary Worship Service. Traditional Worship Service. Liturgical Worship Service. Emergent "get wigged out over candles and low lighting" Worship Service. Then they call them "cool" names to make everybody feel even "cooler" about them. "Come to the torch and experience God in a new way." "Come casual to the refuge where we might bump into God." I hope I'll stumble upon some 'new' way to experience God some day soon... I'll call the new service "Spirit Grace Fellowship Community of Jesus Followers on a mission to save mother earth!"... wait, that one has already been taken.
3) "I am not being fed." or "I am not getting anything out of the service." Okay, this is reminiscent of infantile behaviour! If you are not being fed, maybe you need to use your fork and put the food in your mouth. It certainly is not because it is not there. Do we honestly think the preacher's job is to bottle feed us forever? Come on!
4) "I like your sermon, preacher." My goal is not to maintain popularity through my preaching, but approval from the heavenly father.
I could go on, but the reality is pastor's and churches are guilty of it too. They market themselves to Christians. "We offer nursery, children's church, youth meeting, young married couple classes, litter clean up ecstasy, biker Sunday, blah, blah, blah."
What if we just said: We worship God with all our heart, soul, mind, & strength... come and join us if you want to give Him all the glory..... ...... nah, Christians wouldn't be interested would they?
Not to mention the fact that I think most preachers and churches spend most of their outreach time trying to reach members of the church down the street rather than lost and dying souls!
But, if you don't want to think about this, just smile and nod your head when you hear someone say with a bit of shallowness: "It's not about you."
The Whole Henry Family
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About Me
- Jared Henry
- Lexington, KY, United States
- I have been happily married since May 25, 2002 and enjoyed fatherhood since January 15, 2007. I am an ordained elder (pastor) in the Church of the Nazarene.
3 comments:
First and foremost, I agree with you. I don't want to start in and start saying a bunch of crazy things that sounds dumb and not have the basic presupposition clarified.
I agree with Jared. Worship is about God period.
That being said, I don't think worship is a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. Two can worship God with all their mind, all their soul, all their heart, and all their strength, and one will look completely different from the another. The root is the same, but the methods to carry that out do have a bit of room to be different.
Compare the worship styles in indigenous Africa with worship styles in Mississippi. The people can be seeking God's heart, and do things very differently.
I do believe that the truth of Christ must hold priority in any gathering of the church, and everything else is on top of it. Just as long as the truth comes from the Word of God, it doesn't matter to me if it comes out at a pulpit, a conversation, a song, or anything else.
Truth must be told in Love.
I sense a bit of "if we don't do church the way our grandfathers did it, we're doing it wrong." The church manifests itself in a culture, to transform the culture to hold the underlying Truth of Christ, and the ethic of God's Love. If they do that with an hour long sermon, amen! If they do it with Stryper, amen! If they do it with Bill Gaither, amen!
I do agree with you that congregations often begin to market themselves and end up cheapening the whole deal. It makes me upset to hear the slogans and pitches for an "individual church," and how different they are from the "other churches."
Jared Henry!
Brett just revealed to me that you guys had a wonderful world of blog going on and I just had to check it out!
As soon as I saw the title "It's not about you", i just laughed and excitedly read what you had to say. I totally agree with everything you said. I laughed all the way through but i really did agree with everything. I especially liked the "litter clean up ecstasy" and "biker Sunday".
What you said about your goal of your sermon was particularly interesting. I struggle with wanting to please the crowd and to try not to say something that would offend someone to much. But i like what you said in that your goal isn't to gain the popularity through your preaching, but approval from the heavenly father. I am definitely going to keep this in mind next time I preach.
Also, just for fun i want to point out that Caleb Henry is a tree hugging post modern hippie. And Steve Hoskins says hi to both of you!
Brett:
You said: "That being said, I don't think worship is a one-size-fits-all kind of deal."
I guess there will be different heavens for different worship styles if that is true. Like: contemporary heaven, or traditional heaven or indeginous africa heaven?
I do not think it has to do with styles. I think it has to do with worshipping a holy God. My point is, we should take Him more seriously!
Instead of "rockin' it up for Jesus" or telling a joke as an intro into the next Southern Gospel song. It's God, not the Beatles, not the president, not...
I just get sick of all the stuff we call worship. I don't think I can explain worship, but I know it when I've done it!
(I still don't think you're a post-modern, but quit tempting me!)
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