A few weeks ago I went on a mission experience at Camp Barnabas in Purdy, MO with some young people who went there to serve. Camp Barnabas is a camp for kids with disabilities ranging from Autism and Downs Syndrome to physical disabilities or even Cancer and HIV. It is a wonderful place with staff and managers generously giving a tremendous amount of compassion, love and freedom for these kids who come there every summer to experience camp. Although the staff and the C.I.A.'s (Christians in Action) are there to serve the needs of these kids 24/7, it is quite clear that the kids and even some adults with disabilities, teach the staff and C.I.A.'s so much more. At Camp Barnabas, their a-bilities shine through.
Around the camp there are signs. One says, "Dance like nobody's watching." Another one says, Love like you've never been hurt." Another says, "Laugh as if no one hears you," and finally, one that says, "Sing like nobody's listening." I'm not sure where these sayings come from. When I googled it, it came up as a quote from Mark Twain, with an additional piece that said, "live like it's heaven on earth." However, there were others who have added variations to this quote over the years, but I think originally it may very well have come from Mark Twain.
These sayings around Camp Barnabas speak to the beauty about the openness to one another expected there in terms of allowing people to feel unembarrassed and at ease for the things they might do in celebration, worship, play, or just in conversation and relationship. The kids who come to Camp Barnabas are truly beautiful inside and out. Many of them just burst out with joy, they will sing, dance, and laugh, all without worrying about how other people perceive or judge them. Much of the staff at Camp Barnabas are this way too, as are some of the C.I.A.'s who come. However, I am not one of those people who does this very well. I think that in many ways I am trapped in self-consciousness which inhibits my ability to truly open up without fear of what others might think about what I say or do. But I applaud those who do not feel trapped in such a way and I am working this out in myself. I believe I have been taught to be this way through my own church experience.
In terms of my faith and the church and how we worship or even in just how we relate to one another, we often only make room for the most talented singers, most gifted musicians, strongest speakers, and most elaborate pray-ers (I know that's not a word, but you get it). We make little, if any, room for those who might pause too long in prayer, who might sing off key, or raise their hands or cry, or pray with passion and emotion. For some reason, at least typically in my own church tradition and experience, we feel uncomfortable with those we consider less than "perfect" or even less than "exceptional." I think the modern contemporary church has turned worship into a place for professionals. At Camp Barnabas, watching the kids stomp their feet, shake their arms, or sway back and forth - out of rhythm no less - seems like more genuine worship before the Lord than much of our highly structured and ordered way of doing things sometimes. We try to address this in the modern, contemporary church by trying to manipulate people into getting up out of their seats to "do" something in worship as opposed to being spectators of a "celebrity hour." You know, like American Idol comes to church. But, we set ourselves up for this.
I appreciate Dan Kimball's (author of The Emerging Church and Emerging Worship) idea of the band being at the back or on the side in the worship setting. This at least helps a little to get away from the "performance" aspect of worship. I guess what is really important is that in worship, in the church, and in our groups, we would all be better off if we work together to create an environment where people feel free to worship and relate to one another in a variety of ways. This does not mean we no longer have focus or themes, or even structure. However, it does mean we would create opportunities where a variety of senses and experiences are engaged and multiple intelligences are considered in creating such an environment. It's interesting that we celebrated this past week the freedom we gained from England. We talk a lot about freedom in the United States - especially in our churches. But, my experience with the church is often the opposite of freedom. We tend to judge those not like us, who don't believe like us, who don't act like us, who don't worship like us, or look like us. We often think if people aren't in with us, they aren't in with God. How arrogant is that? We like to curtail people's ability to just express their joy or pain or thoughts and feelings when they don't line up with ours.
How refreshing though it would be to just be able to "Dance like nobody's watching, love like you've never been hurt, laugh as if no one hears you, and sing like nobody's listening." Of all places we should be able to do these things, should it not be the church? May we freely give one another room for expression and living as we journey along the path of Jesus.
6 comments:
I understand what you are saying and agree that some of the structure of a church setting may in fact limit the effectiveness of worship. But I think we need to differentiate between formal church service and less formal chances to worship Him.
I think the formal Sunday morning church service is setup (or should be setup) as a springboard for Christians to come together, sing together, pray together and refocus for the week ahead. It is a time to give thanks for the week that ended and to reinvigorate ourselves for the week ahead. In this setting, people of all ages and demographics unite. Maybe it's from years of habit, but I personally need a weekly structured church settings to reflect on my week and to set my sights on the next week.
On the other hand, I think almost more importantly, is what happens or doesn't happen in our breakout sessions. Sunday school, youth group, small groups, whatever you want to call them, hopefully provide people with a less structured setting to explore their faith, share ideas, pray in a less structured way, and learn together how to serve. I pray every week that we and our children can come to a better understanding of Jesus and our lives through discussions with others.
We often joke about going to church to be entertained, and we do find the music entertaining. But true growth comes when we get together in smaller groups and hash things out.
Making people comfortable enough to express themselves in a small group setting is a challenge in itself. I fear that removing the structure from the formal church setting would scare people away. I'm not saying that it's not the right idea, I just think that the formal setting provides a comfort zone for many. And the setting is much less formal than it used to be.
These thoughts are a bit random, so forgive me for that. I also believe that Jesus understood the value of entertainment. Rather than just coming out and saying do this and don't do that and you'll go to heaven, He used stories to convey His messages. The stories were easy to remember and easy to understand. Just like the songs in worship today are catchy and easy to remember.
Bottom line, I guess, is that I have no problem with the professionals leading the celebration, provide there are additional outlets for the monotone amongst us to also express themselves in smaller, less intimidating settings.
Do you think God would be disappointed with that attitude?
Thanks DT. I appreciate your response. I don't think God would be disappointed with the attitude you express. I think it's on target - for you. And, I think that is what I'm trying to get at - that I'd like to see "space," "room," in the worship setting for both corporate and individual worship expressions that can occur in the same context.
I certainly agree that the intimacy and connection, dialogue, discussion, etc. can very effectively take place in the small group setting but I'm not necesarily thinking in terms of how we discuss faith issues and related to one another in that endeavor, I'm thinking more in terms of personal connection with God in the worship setting and how not just in a corporate way, but when given the opportunity, in an individual way, people can feel like the worship environment is open to them, including folks like you who might have a strong preference for structure. For some, too much structure is not a comforting thing, but I understand that for others, and I would include myself in that number, structure does provide at the very least some direction.
I guess, ultimately, I'd like for worship to be an environment where, yes, people come together, but they come together with the understanding and openness that however they want to personally express their worship either corporately or individually is welcome.
This brings up a question for me that I struggle with. What is the purpose of the church service? Is it to sing praise and thank God? Is it to provide us with a lesson about God? Is it to ask God for his help and guidance? Is it for all of these things? Maybe a better way to phrase the question is this: Is the church service aimed at those who already beleive and are far along in their faith journey, or for those on edge who are trying to learn and understand more?
For me, I get the most out of going to church when the sermon speaks to me. If the sermon is good and gets me thinking about how to improve myself, then I come away feeling blessed. If the sermon doesn't touch any issues that are really pertinent to me, then I feel that my church experience that day was not as fulfilling. It may have been entertaining, the songs may have been beautiful, and the prayers may have been purposeful, but if the sermon misses, I admit to being disappointed.
So I guess, to answer my own lead in questions, church should be a little of all of that, but the emphasis to me is in the message of the sermon. And maybe that isn't fair to the preachers out there, but I truly believe that churchs that succeed have preachers that connect with the people, understand what they are struggling with, and are able to tie 2000 year old teachings into modern living.
The notion of being able to express myself in church is not as important to me. Just going up front to light a candle is more than enough expression. I sometimes get turned off by people being overly expressive, and I know I shouldn't be so judgemental, but it often feels like they are calling attention to themselves and distracting the attention away from God. Maybe there are right ways and wrong ways to do this.
One last thought. When we send our kids to school, we expect a certain amount of structure so that all the kids can learn. Sure some kids learn better in a highly structured environment and others learn better on their own with much less structure. I think the same holds true for the Church service. Some of us need the structure, while it sounds like others may not.
So, if church is for the seekers, than a little more structure may be needed in order to provide a teaching. If it is for those that are strong believers, then maybe less structure is needed to give room for more expression.
I am about to lead a group regarding some of these issues regarding worship. I'm afraid that we have turned worship into something from which we should be on the receiving end. For example, to say "I didn't get anything out of that service," reflects our intent to come together in worship to "get" something. It is self-focused.
However, "getting" something from the worship experience is not it's purpose, I believe. Worship is about what we "give" not about what we "receive." And it's not even about what we give to each other, although giving to each other may happen. It's about what we give to God of ourselves - our gratitude, our offerings of praise and adoration, our offerings of finances, our offerings of our talents and resources. Coming away from a worship gathering with the thought, "I didn't get anything out that service," is like giving a gift to a friend and then holding out our hand expecting them to immediately give us something in return." Hopefully, we don't give gifts and appreciation to others with the motivation being only to receive something in return.
In worship, we glorify and praise God from a genuine, authentic, heart of appreciation, respect, and awe. What I think would be more appropriate to say as I walk out of a worship service is "I'm glad I was able to give God...(fill in the blank). Maybe it's ears to hear God's voice, or the opportunity to give offerings of financial support for needed ministries and missions or to serve in some way by expressing our talents and testimonies, or just being say "thank you" before the Lord, or to just connect with God in prayer and meditation.
It is the worship leaders' responsibility to create an environment where people feel like they can "give" to God in these various ways. And this does take some planning and structure. I'll come back to this, but I'm running out of time at the moment. I think I will write another post about this whole subject of worship.
And I believe worship is for believers. How can one worship God if one does not believe in God?
I will try this again (for some reason my response didn't post the last time)
I think the issue here is defining what is the purpose of the church service? Is it for praise and worship? Or is it for teaching? Or maybe a little of both?
I agree with you that it would be nice if, while worshiping God in public, that we could dance like nobody is watching. That is why, for me, praising and worshiping is best done in private. Far too often, when people pray together, the prayer is said for those standing beside us rather than for God above. That is why I think it is more effective to praise and worship God alone. You don't have to worry about impressing the person next to you. You can tell God in your own words how grateful you are, how sorry you are, how much you need Him. You don't need an audience for that.
Yes worship is for believers. But what is the church service for?
I think the early church was started by Jesus for the purpose of instruction. (I would be interested to find out when that purpose changed). Jesus would meet with his disciples and teach. He then instructed his disciples to go out into the world and teach the Word. Was this not the first church?
Maybe this places a lot of burden on the teachers, and the students too need to engage, but when I say sometimes I come away feeling that I did not 'get something out of the service', I meant to say the sermon did not broaden my understanding of the scriptures. The sermon did not challenge me, rebuke me, inspire me, enlighten me, or affirm my beliefs. Jesus was a teacher and he instructed his disciples to go out and teach. The music, etc. are nice, but the message is the primary reason I go to church. I can thank God an praise him through prayer in my own home, and I do so every day. In fact, if the church service was only about praise and worship, I doubt I would go for long. I think the service should also be about teaching, about comforting and encouraging, about giving, and about fellowship.
In summary, I think the church service should provide us with a time to thank God as a collective group, but I do not see that as the primary purpose of going to church. So yes, I want to get something from the church service. I want to get a better understanding of God, and the live we should lead, so that I can offer Him my praise and worship with better knowledge of all He has blessed me with.
Maybe a definition of worship would be a helpful start at understanding purpose(s) of a worship gathering. The one below is a compilation of ideas taken from an article on ginkworld.com and Dan Kimball's book, Emerging Worship.
Worship is glorifying and exalting God in spirit and truth. It is also a retelling of the Gospel Story, the story of God’s redemption (salvation), to realign our lives within The Story. We want to put people inside the Story itself so that they can embrace it and live it.
Not perfect, I guess (as nothing is), but I think what this definition reflects is that worship can have multiple purposes. However, all of these purposes need to be focused on God and centered on Jesus. This is why I believe that in a corporate (public) worship gathering it is a good thing to have prayer/reflection stations available in the worship environment. This allows for people who may have a preference for individual prayer, reflection, and contemplation to step away from the crowd, off to the side so they can have that personal time but also be able to connect in fellowship with others in different elements of the corporate worship (e.g. the singing, communion, teaching/preaching, etc.).
Certainly, out of what we invest of ourselves, we can come away from such worship gatherings feeling that we have "received," something. It is an attitude that we receive out of what we give to it. What might that look like? Well, maybe we can give our listening to hear the message, hear the needs of others, to hear how we might live better in the way of Jesus. Or, maybe we give of gifts and resources that range from financial to using our abilities and talents, time, energy, leadership, friendship, or just our presence with others. We give our thankfulness, our awe and and wonder before God. We give our compassion and love to others with whom we gather and along with them take that love and compassion and life of Jesus outside the walls we refer to as "church." Although we come before God with the attitude of giving of ourselves in worship, we can certainly come away receiving in that context.
Concerning the "church," Jesus did not start the church. Jesus was a Jew and for the most part attended the synagogues as he traveled. He was part of the Jewish tradition. It was Jesus' followers who started the "church," as they found themselves more and more out of sync with the Jewish traditions. Certainly the early followers of Jesus were primarily Jewish. They continued to go to the synagogues, although they met in homes later to deal with the teachings and worship of Jesus. As a matter of fact, early on, if someone who was a Gentile wanted to be a follower of Jesus, they were required to be circumcised and follow all the Jewish laws and traditions, even though they acknowledged Jesus as Messiah. When Paul, formerly Saul who participating in the killing of Christians, came along as a converted follower of Jesus, he challenged the idea that one had to become a Jew in order to follow Jesus. He fought with Peter over this and the Jewish Council, but eventually Peter came around to Paul's view for the most part.
With all that said, the church service is for worship. The worship environment can have multiple purposes: adoration and praise, prayer, singing, teaching/preaching, and I would add opportunity for us to engage with The Story of the Gospel so that we can find ways to live it out in our own lives. Room for individual worship within corporate worship can be offered in the form of prayer/reflection stations that are off to the sides and have prompts to help us engage in the Gospel Story and asks us questions about our own lives as we seek to incorporate Jesus' values into our own, hopefully allowing his values to overtake our own.
Post a Comment