Thoughts of a College Pastor

“What you draw people with, you draw people to.”

I was having a conversation about the production side of a worship service with a friend of mine and he shared this quote with me.

I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since.

I’ve been asking myself, “What are we using to draw people to Jesus?” And then the follow up question has to be, “Are we really drawing people to Jesus?”

If we use pizza to draw people…we draw them to pizza.

If we use pizzazz to draw people…we draw them to pizzazz.

If we use flawless production to draw people…we draw them to flawless production.

If we use tradition to draw people…we draw them to tradition.

Our team at Impact was discussing this and we were asking ourselves some very hard questions. We strive to do things with quality, with excellence, we want to do things well. But I wonder sometimes if by doing things so flawlessly (please understand our production/worship service is so far from flawless) we are communicating a very dangerous message to the people we are attracting.

I wonder if we are saying to people, “The only way something is great, something is effective, something is beautiful, is if that something is done flawlessly.”

Do you see why this can be so dangerous?

If you as a person are not flawless then are you beautiful?

If you as a person are not flawless then are you effective?

If you as a person are not flawless then are you great?

See, those of us who are creating environments for worship, who are planning worship services, who are brainstorming ideas that will attract people…we have a huge responsibility.

Everything thing we decide to do communicates a message. Not just a message about a worship service but a message about who people are and what makes someone or something valuable.

This is dangerous.

If a worship service is striped of lights, glamor, great sound and smooth transitions…is it still effective? valuable? worth while?

If you’re answer is no then answer this question…If a person is stripped of fashion, makeup, the right car, the big house, a good job, a fat salary…can that person still be effective? valuable? worth while?

With every decision we make…we are communicating a message…not just a message about church growth…but a message about the identity and value of a person.

We must be careful how far we take this…we might wake up one day with a Church full of people that are very pretty on the outside but a complete hidden mess on the inside.

Why is it that we always swing the pendulum from one extreme to the other extreme?

Is it possible to strike a balance?

Is it possible for “church” to strike a balance?

Does it have to either be this or that? Is there a middle ground?

Maybe I’m getting on my soap box here but I become extremely irritated at the petty arguments that take place in the church.

We argue about the color of carpet. To have a steeple or not. To have electric guitars or not. To have instruments or not. To have pews or not. To use this Bible or that. To use a hymnal or not.

In the past 20 years churches have split because of the style of worship.

Really?

The style of worship? Is that what Jesus meant when he called us to follow him? Is that what he died for?

I’m not saying that music doesn’t matter. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be relevant to the world we find ourselves in.

I’m saying that we have minimized “church”, the way of Jesus, to be about a Sunday morning deal.

Do we honestly believe that God wants us to divide his church over these petty things?

Do we honestly believe that God laid it all on the line so that his people would sit in a committee meeting arguing over whether or not to have an electric guitar or not.

I have become convicted about this in our community at Impact.

What are we concerned about? Are we concerned about what God is concerned about?

People are dying, lonely, hurting, suffering, starving, thirsty…and the church is talking about what?

In my opinion Jesus didn’t die for our style or music, translation of the Bible, color of the carpet, our church buildings or our 401K’s. He died to conquer Genesis 3 and reconcile us back to a Genesis 1 & 2 world.

He died to defeat death and reconcile us back to God and back to one another.

Are we doing that?

It doesn’t happen one day a week. It happens when our lives become consumed by his way of life, love, peace and grace.

It happens when the church becomes the Invisible made visible.

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” [1john.4v12]

The conversation needs to turn from entertainment to community. From the show to being servants. From consuming to giving. From doing church to being the church.

I wonder sometimes if this is what God would say if he was standing on the stages of our “emerging” “21st century” churches today.

Have we come to a point that our encounters with God are dependent upon entertaining worship services?

That without certain elements, “church” is deemed boring? (and what type of church service is considered boring…who decided what is boring and what is not?)

Is God alone not enough? Is is glory not enough to fascinate us? Draw us near? Leave us wanting more?

Is God’s Kingdom coming to earth…God’s Kingdom interacting with our daily lives…God’s way of Life changing the way we live…Is it not attractive enough?

I wonder sometimes if God would stand on our stages and say, “Are you not entertained?”

I found this prayer on Scott McKnight’s Blog called Jesus Creed. It was written by Christine Sine on her blog called GODSPACE.  I thought it was a great follow up to my last blog on Why I don’t like what Lent has become… I hope you enjoy.

We have chosen to fast

Not with ashes but with actions

Not with sackcloth but in sharing

Not in thoughts but in deeds

We will give up our abundance

To share our food with the hungry

We will give up our comfort

To provide homes for the destitute

We will give up our fashions

To see the naked clothed

We will share where others hoard

We will free where others oppress

We will heal where others harm

Then God’s light will break out on us

God’s healing will quickly appear

God will guide us always

God’s righteousness will go before us

We will find our joy in the Lord

We will be like a well watered garden

We will be called repairers of broken walls

Together we will feast at God’s banquet table