Deep Thought: Whenever you read a good book, it’s like the author is right there, in the room, talking to you, which is why I don’t like to read good books.

I do however like to read good blogs, which is why I don’t read this one. However if you are still reading this one, I will continue on post on convictions for worship. Let me give you some more…

6. God expects us to be sensitive to the fears, hang ups, and needs of the unchurched when they are present in our worship services. This is the principal taught in 1 Corinthians 14. In verse 23, Paul commanded that tongues be limited in public worship services. His reasoning? He said it would look like foolishness to the unbeliever. He didn’t say that tongues were foolish, just that that they would look foolish.

I believe that there is a larger principal at work here. The point Paul is trying to make is that we must be willing to alter our worship services when there are unchurched present. God tells us to be sensitive to the hang-ups of unbelievers in our services.

When you have guests over to your home for dinner does you family act differently than when it is just your family at the dinner table? Of course they do! I wish mine would. But you pay attention to your guest’s needs, making sure they are served first. The food may be the same, but you may put out your good china or present the meal in more thoughtful and creative way. The table conversation is usually more courteous. Is this being hypocritical? No. By doing these things you are being more sensitive and showing respect to your guests. In the same way, we try not to change the spiritual food in one of our services, but the presentation is more considerate of the guests that are present.

7. A Worship service does not have to be shallow to be sensitive to the unchurched. The message doesn’t have to be compromised to be understandable. Making the service comfortable for the unchurched doesn’t mean we have to change our theology, it means making the environment of the service welcoming. Making the environment welcoming is done through how we greet guests, the type of music we use, the bible translation that we teach from and the kinds of announcements we make during the service.

The message is not always comfortable. In fact, sometimes God’s truth is very uncomfortable. But we still must teach the “Word of God.” Being sensitive to the unchurched does not limit what we say but it will dictate how we say it.

Here is the thing to remember, the unchurched are not asking for a watered down message. They expect to hear the bible when they come to church, even if that church is in a bar. What they do expect is to hear how the bible relates to their lives and hear it in a way that says we respect and care about them. They are looking for answers, not to be scolded.

Unchurched people wrestle with the same questions that Christ followers wrestle with: Who am I? Where did I come from? (read these in an Indian accent like from Heroes) Where am I going? Does Life make sense? Why is there suffering and evil in the world? What is my purpose in life? How can I learn to get along with people? These are not shallow issues.

I will have some more of these convictions for you next week. I could come over and read the rest of them to you but that might make you uncomfortable. So I will just continue them on Monday. Until then, read a crummy book.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Pastor Eric. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.