As I laid in bed last night, I felt the overwhelming sensation that I was a snow-globe. You know those tacky trinkets you get at Christmas? With nice bright plastic molded cityscapes? Something happens when you shake them up. As a kid, I used to have a special snowman snow-globe. Me and my brother both had one. We’d pull them out every year just after Thanksgiving. The only way you could tell them apart was because Adam’s had the paper torn from the bottom. I guess he’d tried to get it open and taken apart back in the day. I would always check to make sure that mine still had my name written across the bottom in sloppy childlike writing. Anyways…I can remember sitting on the couch shaking that tiny snow-globe around every Christmas. I would always try to get a piece of the dandruff-looking snow on top of the snowman’s black top hat. I think I managed to do so from time to time. But, with any jerk of the globe, the water would come along and knock it from its resting place. The flake would then float down to the base, eventually forming a new landscape. You see, as I look back on that snow-globe, I think of how I attempted to manipulate the view every time I shook it…whether it be attempting to see white flakes against the contrasting black or whether it be turning the globe upside down so that all the snow would come to rest against the glass. So, as I lay in bed the other night, I was taken aback to the feeling of being shaken up. I literally felt as though my thoughts have been rattled around. And the odd thing is that this time I feel as if I did nothing to manipulate what I would see. New things have come to light. I’m beginning to see that snow-globe upside down. The snow is beginning to settle…
On Thursday morning our team from Staines once again jumped into a minibus and headed for Guildford. It was time for training block numero four. We had heard excitement about the speaker that would be coming, but I suppose I really wasn’t expecting anything spectacular. At some point I had heard that we’d be discussing the topic of ‘worship’, but didn’t really think much about it. Maybe because this is a discussion that is had time and time again. In reality, I can’t think of any big talks on worship that have drastically influenced my thinking or living. Until Thursday.
Joyce Heron came to visit us from a community called Jacob’s Well, located up in Vancouver. From what seemed to be the moment she opened her mouth, I was fixed on this woman’s story. Jacob’s Well is a community that is essentially ‘doing life together’ and seeking out ways to bring God’s Kingdom to our world. It is a community slammed right in the middle of the highest rate of AIDS in the Western world. It is a neighborhood made up of over 50% who have a mental disease. Drug rates are huge. Disease rates are mind-blowing. It is basically a ‘community waiting to die.’
WORSHIP AS A COMMUNITY. This was Joyce’s first topic of discussion. Before I step any further into this, let me just say that this woman has incredible amounts of wisdom. There was such truth, such clarity and such rawness in everything that was brought to light. With that being said, I know that I will come nowhere near to giving her words and insights justice. But, here goes my humble attempt.
The church seems to go around and around about what it means to worship. We are able to agree that worship is our main goal. I mean, the chief goal of man is what?...to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. I suppose that’s worship. I also suppose that’s what it means to be human. It’s why we were created. So, what does Christ say about this idea? What are we commanded to do? When the Son of God was asked of the greatest commandment, what did he respond? He pointed back to an ancient Jewish scripture found in Deuteronomy 6:4. The Shamah. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. We know this Scripture. But, what are we doing with it?
All throughout the Bible, we see traces of worship services. They don’t just begin when Christ came. The Israelites held Assemblies, where they would here the Word, Worship, and offer Sacrifices. David spoke of desiring to worship the Lord day and night. Jesus even went to the local synagogue, or church. Peter is seen addressing thousands in the outer gates before they eventually dispersed. In each of these locations, there was Liturgy. Now, we often think of Liturgy as this stale combination of words with lack of meaning or thought. Our response is to automatically switch into ‘passive audience mode’. But, in its most basic sense, liturgy is the understanding of pattern. It can be both formal and informal, but it must be there.
The church, must therefore, always have pattern…liturgy. Firstly, there must always be Scripture. That doesn’t and shouldn’t mean that an elderly lady in her nineties should stroll up to the front, Sunday after Sunday and read the words straight from the Bible in her squeaky monotone voice. There are obviously different ways of presenting. But, church must always be founded on Scripture. Secondly, there must be Prayer. One thing to note about prayer is that it always seems to be happy. Why in the world do we sing songs again and again as if the world is perfect? Why do churches portray the image that everything is good. Where did this idea of happy worship come from? In fact, there is an overwhelmingly massive amount of worship in Scripture that is not happy at all. Instead, it is lament. It is honest. It cries out to God. Church must reflect this! Thirdly, there must be Fellowship. This leads to Feasting together. And, finally, there should be Sharing. Take a look at Acts, to see how the Church functioned. Chapter 2:42-47 states that there was teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer. They shared everything.
What is even more striking about the Acts Church, though, is the fact that these things were not just done on the Sabbath. They did life together. For Joyce, this means living in a community of around 50 believers. They eat together. They share. They live together. Our worship services must inform the rest of our life. In Marva Dawn’s book, “Keeping the Sabbath Wholly,” she encourages us to see the Sabbath as 3 days before (preparation) and 3 days after (reflection). The worship service must call us, as believers, ahead.
What has seemed to drastically go wrong with our churches could easily be termed Individualism. This is a direct cause of the Enlightenment…the time when we were somehow in some way given the ability to know all things. That’s the mindset around these days. And it’s a mindset that is in confliction with Scripture. What has happened is that we go to a worship gathering with the ME focus. What will I get out of it? Instead, we must realize the focus is what the Lord will say to US. We must change from I to US. When God meets one of us, He meets us all. When Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray, he said, “OUR Father…give US this day OUR daily bread.” The focus must be giving and not receiving. It should be less about seeking God’s hand and so much more about seeking his face.
Another huge problem with the Church must be addressed. Joyce informed us that nearly half of the population of Canada would admit to saying the ‘Sinner’s Prayer’ while less than 5% could be found in a church on a given Sunday. The truth is that the Church has somehow found their worth in making converts instead of disciples. Think on that. Is our desire, as the Church, to make converts? When we examine Corinthians, we see that salvation in the assembly is the exception and definitely not the rule. Somehow we have placed the Great Commission high above any other commandment and suddenly we’re only concerned about saving people. Why do we feel as if that’s our job? Is God not the one who pursues? We can’t change hearts. Only God can. The Great Commission is in fact solely focused on making disciples. So often we think it is a command to GO. In reality, though (going back to my Greek days at Taylor), the command is to make disciples. It would better be translated as ‘Going into all the world, MAKE disciples…’ See the difference? It’s understandable why we have it the wrong way. We want it to be about success. We want it to be about achieving something. But, in reality, we have absolutely no mandate in all of Scripture to save people. God is the one who must be doing the pursuing. Bottom line.
In relation to this idea, I’ll end this section with one thought. Why did Jesus give the harsh words to the religious insiders and the kind words to the religious outsiders? And, why have we completely flipped this around?
WORSHIP AS A LIFESTYLE. Within church circles, we hear this whole buzz about living out worship as a lifestyle. It makes me sick to think of all the times I’ve heard people say that ‘worship is not something you do on Sunday mornings, it’s a lifestyle.’ Alright. We get that. I think. At least we say we do. The truth is that we continue to be dominated by this individualistic mindset. My life is all about me. What can I accomplish before I lay upon my deathbed? What am I best at? How can I be successful?
I was told stories of the ancient cathedrals that can be found throughout England and all of Europe. These were massive projects. Architects actually spent their entire lives designing these structures. But, the sad truth is that so many of them went unfinished without having the designer ever seeing the completion. In fact, some remain uncompleted today, hundreds of years later. How would you feel about never seeing the success of your life’s work? That’s exactly what we’re called to do. We need to have an entirely different mentality. We need to have a ‘Cathedral Mentality.’ We must see our life as a small glimmer in God’s huge story. We only play a part in the long history of creating the Kingdom. Our best worship, then, is to be ourselves, for we are each individually unique. Think on the truth that our lives, our salt and light lives, are all about bringing God’s Kingdom into being. We must do this in 3 ways. First…Serving. Second…Vocation. We must be careful to not view this as a painful result of the Fall. Look at the Garden. God commanded Adam & Eve to work before sin was even in the picture. They were to take care of the Garden. They were told to name the animals. Our vocation should never be a trap that we find ourselves in. We convince ourselves that our job is our mission field and yet we go there, day after day, hating life and waiting for the bells to chime 5 o’clock. Is this worship? Finally, our lives must be made up of Creativity. We are co-creators, right along with God. Why do we so often not reflect this?
A question to think upon: What would I do if there was no sin? Maybe this should be the answer to what our individual vocation should be.
WORSHIP & THE CREATIVE ARTS. If part of worship as a lifestyle equals creativity, then we must focus in on the arts. Exodus 31 seems to point directly to this truth. Bezalel was in fact the first person in all of scripture who was said to be filled with the Holy Spirit. This meant wisdom, understanding, knowledge and skills. He was an artist and the designer of God’s very own dwelling place, the Tabernacle. I’ve heard it argued that maybe the outward signs of tongues and prophecy aren’t the first evidence that someone has been filled with the Spirit of God. Maybe, instead, creativity comes first. Whether that’s true or not, the reality is that God places an emphasis and value on creativity.
The creative arts are intrinsic to what it means to be worshipers. There must not just be a couple random people in the Church who are considered artists and the rest of us just go along our journey without any evidence of creativity. Just as God awakened creativity in Bezalel, so God impresses creativity upon us. We must each act on it. Looking back in history, all the major universities were actually begun as seminaries (Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, Harvard, etc.). And, they were all places that cultivated creativity. This whole idea of creativity should not be brushed off. God is a creative God and if we are his image-bearers, we must be extremely careful to never brush off such a vital characteristic. This doesn’t mean that we are all Picassos or Rembrandts or Mozarts. Creativity does not only mean the fine arts.
The biggest truth that must be realized is that we must be seeking to make an announcement of God’s Kingdom. It goes back to being salt and light. Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. I remember when I first learned the definition of that word…repent. It means to change your thinking. Change your thinking, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. That’s exactly what we, as the Church, must do. Change your thinking. It doesn’t say that we need to be seeking for others to convert. It doesn’t mean slamming others in the face with our prideful beliefs. It means seeing through God’s eyes and declaring the Kingdom of God.
Having established the fact that we must be creative because we are co-creators with God…how do we do such a thing? Firstly, we must invite the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. We need to be worshiping and calling others to worship. Secondly, we must look beyond the here and now. The Kingdom of God is ongoing. It’s back to that ‘Cathedral Mentality.’ Finally, we must seek to develop and become skilled in our area of creativity and use it to serve. Each of us must find our own voice.
One of my biggest struggles in relation to this is that if we want our art to live, it must be HONEST. This is key.
Finally, one last question in this third area of focus. I encourage you to do this at the end of each week. Joyce suggested sitting with a candle in silence for about five minutes and reflecting on these two questions. First: What took the most life from me in the past week? (This is something that must be given up). Second: What gave me the most life this week? (Focus even more upon this throughout your life).
I feel as if I just regurgitated heaps and heaps of words out onto this page. It’s tons to chew on. I encourage you to do just that, though. Chew. I still am. As the snow begins to settle around you, examine the world in a new light. Look around. What does it mean to worship? Test these thoughts. But, don’t force anything to be where you think it should be. Don’t manipulate the landscape. Don’t struggle to make the flakes rest upon the hat. Let them fall gently to the ground. And pray that God would open your eyes in a new way. Ask to see the world as he does.
