You Can’t Be Selfish with Armor On
Deep Thought: During the Middle Ages, probably one of the biggest mistakes was not putting on your armor because you were “just going down to the corner.”
You could get hurt because you weren’t prepared. Well, yesterday I said that as we finish up this series of posts on why we design our worship services the way we do, some of you might get hurt. Here is the 12th and final conviction that we, here at Shoreline, have about Worship services.
12. It takes unselfish, mature followers to offer a service targeted at reaching unchurched people.
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul says when we think of our needs when it comes to worship, we are being childish. Church members demonstrate incredible maturity when they take into consideration the needs, fears, and hang-ups of the unchurched and are willing to place them before their own needs.
In every church there is the constant debate raging between the concepts of “service” and “serve-us.” Most churches end up tipping the scale toward the “members of the church” side because they are the ones who pay all the bills. Offering a service geared toward the unchurched means intentionally tipping the scale back the other way toward the unbeliever, which requires members to be unselfish. It requires members who are willing to create a safe environment for the unchurched at the expense of their own desires, preferences, and traditions. Enormous spiritual maturity is required to put somebody else’s needs ahead of you own.
Jesus said, “Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve.” Unless this unselfish, servanthood permeates your mind and your heart, you may not be ready to make Shoreline your church.
That will teach you to go to your blog reader without your armor on.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Great post on worship!
December 17th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Wow, when Sandi and I said we felt our spiritual DNA was of the same line that shoreline was in I didn’t realize just how deep this ran. But I digress, something like falling out of a window… Oh wait I’m using a mac so I guess I’m safe.
Anyway, the point I wanted to make here was that we have really been seeing the difference between the service oriented church and the serve-us church and some churches that seem to be stradling that fence. I’ll post more on my personal thoughts about this at http://www.someplaceinbetween.wordpress.com. But suffice to say we have really been discussing this dynamic recently so thank you for posting this. It helps as we learn from what we are experincing here.
December 17th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Matt, I would be really interested in your thoughts when you post this. Make sure you let us know when you do.
December 26th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Eric…this has been an excellent series. Very well thought out. I know it’s tough dealing with these kinds of issues, but I think you’ve done a fantastic job and, hopefully, these posts will serve as foundational insights for others who are dealing with these issues in their congregations.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Thank you for your series on worship. I found your blog while searching your homepage. Our friends are moving to Hurlburt, they found your church online, asked us to check it out, so I’ve been combing through your stuff to see who you guys are and what you do.
As a worship leader, I can testify that selfishness seems to be one of the top detractors of the congregation moving deeper in worship. Not just selfishness on the part of individual church members, but worship team members as well. “We” need to sing this many songs, in this order, in this style, this person needs to be leading, etc. before “we” can “enter in.” (It’s now evident I like to use “quotation marks” to get my “point across.”) But unity in worship, followed by a tangible sense of God’s presence, comes when we lay our stuff down and instead focus on a shared vision. This… wait for it… *gulp*… comes largely in part when we submit to the leadership of those leading the service. God has placed them in charge and placed the vision in front of them, and when we submit to that vision and wholeheartedly support it, God blesses that. Even if we …*bigger gulp*… think we have a better idea of how things should run. (That’s when praying for our leadership is key. If our idea is God’s idea, He’ll give it to them. If not, He has amazing ways of refocusing our attention.)
Thanks for posting your thoughts on all this. It was fun to visit your blog. And if our friends wind up at your church, I’m sure I’ll meet you at some point. I mean, heck! They’re moving to Florida!!! I told them they better get a house with good guest accommodations, as it will actually be our second home. =^)
March 26th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Angela,
Thanks for the comment. It was very kind. I hope to see you when you visit your friends and I look forward to meeting you friend. I also subscribed to your blog.
March 31st, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Yay!