Lately, I have been reading alot of different blogs, e-news, and status updates all in the name of contextualizing what exactly is going on in the modern day church. Don't get me wrong, it's really not a deep-level interest of mine, and I don't move pass the surface of most of it, but getting snapshots from here and there help put a more complete picture of what is going on in the bride of Christ. Music and worship had always been an attractive starting point for me, and alot of it, just because of my role and my passions, tend to be slanted, thematically speaking, in this light. I will say, that as a musician and worship leader, that I believe excellence should be sought after. Technical issues should, by every means possible, be kept to a minimum. Styles and influences should be relevant to the audience. You get my drift. There are so many issues, stories, and great ideas all floating around in cyberspace somewhere that you could spend all your time trying to go through it all. And unfortunately, we write, and hypothesize, and critique, and rate everything from decibel levels, to music styles, to traditions, to environment, and so on. But one thing I have noticed missing from most of the conversations...
Lets talk about the Gospel. This is the heart of the matter, correct? When did we start taking over the Holy Spirit's job of drawing people unto Him, and replacing it with gimmicks. When did we take our eyes of of missional evangelism and focus on internal solidarity? Please hear me out on this. Creative, relevant, well-done, quality results should naturally, with hard work, spring forth from our churches, worship teams, and outreach programs. But it should be a by product, not the main focus of our programs. I just read a blog today that was very well written, by a name that alot of people would recognize. The thing is, I agree with alot of what they said, and share alot of the same backgrounds and past experiences as well. They talked about tradition, about music styles, about age-related issues, about drawing people in, about making church appealing, etc... Very well thought out stuff, and very well said, but at the end, no mention of the Gospel in any of their arguments/rebuttals/concerns/solutions. I was so convicted myself. I have been that very way, and it is so easy to get caught up with all the stuff in and around church, that we loose sight of our vision. We worship Him to glorify Him, and we are called to spread the Gospel to ultimately glorify Him. I still haven't seen anywhere in the Great Commission anything regarding the quality of our music, programs, events, or services. But I do recall hearing the command to go into the world, and spread the good news, and make disciples. We have to do better. Our worship has to be centered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and our focus has to shift from an inward quality model, to an outward obedience model. Our worship should serve to glorify God, and to advance His kingdom. May we be worshippers in spirit and in truth...
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