Category Archives: Religion

Knowing My Role

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“A religious mentality, characterized by timidity and lack of moral courage has given us today a flabby Christianity, intellectually impoverished, dull, repetitious, and to a great many persons, just plain boresome.  This is peddled as the very faith of our fathers in direct lineal descent  from Christ and the apostles.  We spoon-feed this insipid pabulum to our inquiring youth, and to make it palatable spice it up with carnal amusements snatched from the unbelieving world.  It is easier to entertain than to instruct.  It is easier to follow degenerate public taste than to think for oneself.  So too many of our evangelical leaders let their minds atrophy while they keep their fingers nimble operating religious gimmicks to bring in the curious crowd.”  — A.W. Tozer, 1955

“I’m afraid too many churchgoers today are listening but not learning.  They are spectators, not students.  They are passive, not participating.  Why?  Because we who teach often give them cut flowers that easily fade and wilt, rather than showing them how to grow plants for themselves — to discover firsthand the truth that God has revealed in His Word.” — Howard Hendricks

Each week that I teach the youth at my church I have the temptation to “ease up” a bit on the Bible study and focus on making sure the students are having a good time — that they are enjoying it.  Then I look back on these two quotes and am reminded of my task — I am here to teach the Gospel.  If that is boring to them, then I need to keep teaching it because they obviously are still not getting it!

Thoughts on Church and Worship

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Because I can’t seem to stop talking about it.  I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve had some thoughts running around in my head lately regarding church and worship.  This is me expanding on those thoughts.

If you travel between Waco and Austin on I-35, you may have seen a building with a banner advertising 30 Minute Worship services.  The last time I went home to visit my parents I saw it, but I kept forgetting to look it up on-line.  I finally did today — here is an exert from their website:

Sundays @ 9am offers you a brand new way to go to church…30 Minute Worship. This innovative service is for anybody who is tired of the way traditional church has been done, has limited time, or has to work Sundays. The high energy, focused package will creatively engage you to personally connect with God. Our church website is www.vlcwaco.com.

  • Worship (10 minutes) Each service will have praise and worship lasting 8-10 minutes to connect you with God, lead by our full worship band.
  • Word (12-15 minutes) The most important part of the worship gathering is God’s Word! Listen to an actual message online.
  • Response (5 minutes) Every service gives you an opportunity to respond to God through prayer and giving. We know prayer is essential* for life!  (*– so essential they have devoted 5 minutes to it!)

I half expected it to be a gimmick — a jab at how commercialized the Church is becoming but apparently these guys are serious.

While most churches aren’t as upfront and honest as this one is, I think there are some similar (and dangerous) trends.

1.  Worship equals music.

Most churches would never say that worship is just the singing part of the service, but what they do every week speaks louder than what they say.  I think this has become more evident as the “contemporary” services have grown in popularity.  Even the titles we use seem to imply that worship is equal to music.  We no longer have music directors, we have worship leaders.  Instead of choirs we now have worship bands.  I have been a worship leader — I know I have lead people in music but I do not know if they were worshiping God.

2.  Worship happens during a finite period of time and it is a tool to connect us/focus us on God.

This one is a two-parter.  First, regarding time. This church may serve as an extreme example of this, but if you’ve ever been a part of planning or leading a church service you know that time is important.  For most churches the entire service is designed to last for about an hour.  This means that if the message or sermon takes up 30 minutes, everything else has to be done in 30 minutes.  I know, time is important and we’re all very busy (and there by important) people, but what if we are missing out on something by limiting our services to an hour?  I spent an hour with my buddy Felipe at AHOP and realized how short an hour can be when it comes to prayer and worship.

Part two — referring to worship as a tool to connect/focus us on God.  Something about this bothers me.  If worship connects us to God, then once we are connected do we cease to worship?  If worship focuses me on God, what am I suppose to do once I am focused on Him?  Worship!  Worship is the response.  We worship because we are connected to God.

3.  Church is something we “do” as Christians.

This church proudly proclaims that you can “do” church in 30 minutes.  If church were something you could do, I suppose there would be a minimum amount of time one could do it in.  Maybe there would be contests to see who could do it the fastest.  The average church, while not as blunt, broadcasts the same message — that church is a time and a place, like a college course or a club meeting.  LifeChurch.tv invites you to “try church online”.  This seems to contradict the idea that we, followers of Christ, are the Church.  We can say with our lips that church is not a building or a time all we want, but our actions reveal our true beliefs.

Okay, this may sound like I’m just getting worked up over semantics (and sometimes I do), but I don’t think that’s the case this time.  It’s not just about words, it’s about actions.  If we say we are the Church, do our actions reflect that?  If we say we worship God in everything we do, do our lives show it?

I don’t have all the answers, in fact I have very few answers.  This is the interactive portion of this blog post (you know, the part where you say what’s on your mind regarding the topics mentioned).  I don’t expect you to have any answers either, but I hope this stirred up some thoughts for conversation.

Adventures in Youth Ministry

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I came across this while looking at resources online regarding youth ministry:

“Youth ministry is best lived out in a relational model, where youth ministry staff persons and other mentors build relationships with youth that point to Jesus Christ.  Youth need caring adults who will journey with them and guide them in following Jesus.  For relational ministry to be most effective, longevity in relationship is critical. “

In the above statement, let’s replace the phrases “youth ministry staff persons” and “caring adults” with the word “parents”.

“Youth ministry is best lived out in a relational model, where parents and other mentors build relationships with youth that point to Jesus Christ.  Youth need parents who will journey with them and guide them in following Jesus.  For relational ministry to be most effective, longevity in relationship is critical.”

That’s much better (and more biblical).  Now I can see where my role in all of this is — I fit into the “other mentors”.  Can we admit that youth ministry is a product of years and years of poor Christian parenting?  This verse gives me, the “youth ministry staff person” peace:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” — Deuteronomy 6:4-9

I take my role as a mentor to the youth of my church seriously, but in the end I realize that they are not my children and the ultimate responsibility of discipling them rests on their parents.  Maybe we should have a Parent Ministry…

A little slow

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My mind is on a bit of a time delay.  Things will happen in my life that I’m conscious of, but I won’t really understand for another three to six months.  I’m not talking about complex concepts or ideas;  it’s usually more natural, like feelings and emotions.  Right now I don’t really know how I feel, but I’m finally starting to understand how I have felt for the past six or so months.

For the last six months I’ve been… confused, discontent and apathetic.

Here are some thoughts I’ve had:

  • I struggled with the concept of Church that I’ve been presented with.
  • Sometimes I feel that music gets in the way of worship.
  • I think Christian culture is teaching an incomplete and unhealthy view of worship that centers around music.

I suppose I’ll elaborate on each of these thoughts, but not tonight.