The Truth never changes and it is always changing us. Or so it should be in us.
I was talking with a man the other day about church. We were discussing ways to get more people to show up. The question always tends to come up; "what are the people looking for?" The thing about people who do not know Jesus is they do not know what they are looking for. Should we let people's preferences dictate to us what we should be doing in church? I fear that if this is the case then we will have to dismiss the Gospel from our gathering. You see, the Gospel is uncomfortable, offensive even. We cannot expect sinners to walk into a service, be confronted with the Truth, walk away and feel comfortable. At first encounter it is possible, even likely, one would not interpret Christ's redemptive work as an act of love. Remember, the world's idea of majesty is far different from the King of kings, bloodied and suffocating, on a cross. This takes time to comprehend. Even seasoned believers cannot expect to fully understand the scope of the Gospel.
I wonder if the feeling of un-acceptance or of being un-loved that is often spoken of is in reality a misinterpretation of a feeling of conviction.
No matter what we do to appeal to our culture's senses we can never make this Gospel pretty. It is harsh and dirty. The most majestic choral anthems, the most dramatic dances, the best cappuccino, the most colorful and stimulating media presentations will never do anything to change the reality and true majesty of Calvary. Instead of changing the face of the Truth with our aesthetically pleasing elements of worship we should let the Truth change the way we live our worship in community.
The lost and unsaved do not need to be made comfortable, they need to be set free. "...you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:32
Grace and Peace,
Joel
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- joel winters
- I serve as worship pastor to Cedar Heights Church in Morgan, AR. While this blog is mostly about worship, it should be known that the views written here are not necessarily the same as those held by Cedar Heights Church.
3 comments:
I would agree with you. Instead of asking "how can we be more relevant" I think we first need to ask "how can we give the world a better representation of who Christ is in our worship". The former leaves room for humans to compromise the Gospel. I think the world is simply looking for a genuine actualization of the Body of Christ-- and that is relevant to any people in any time.
We appeal to people...by all means.
Paul, 1 Corinthians 9:20-23
"When I am with the Jews, I become one of them ...
22 When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression...Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ. 23 I do all this to spread the Good News, and in doing so I enjoy its blessings."
NLT
The problem I think you are dealing with here is actually trying to mold a "Christian Worship Service" into an "evangelistic event?" That is probably because of our past emphasis on "evangelism" much to the loss of "worship."
More so, may our worship ring out from hearts ablaze with love and devotion to our Lord, and the result will be an accurate picture of Christ and His vicarious suffering for us. The result will be for the lost present, conviction.
Psalms 40:2-3
"He brought me up from a desolate pit,
out of the muddy clay,
and set my feet on a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the LORD."
HCSB
Good post. Thank you.
xtnyoda shalomed
You have made some very good points here. We no longer read a Latin Bible translation in our services. We must stay contextualized but not become so focused on it that we lose sight of the main goal: Worship. I think if people's live are truly changed in Worship, then people will come out of curiosity or their own desire for change. So worship can be used for evangelism. We just cannot allow ourselves to neglect the glorification of our Lord.
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