Bad News

The Worship Ministry at Woodburn Baptist Church presented our Easter musical (The Story) a couple of weeks ago. That's not what the blog post is about, but it is important to the context of what you'll read.

It was a big production. Maybe the largest scale event this church has ever done. We offered three time options, opening room for 1,000 people to attend. (We had nearly 400 at our Christmas musical, which was amazing.)

And it was my first Easter musical as the church's worship pastor.

Starting a few weeks before the big weekend, bad news started rolling in. Some of it was personal. Some was about the production. Some was about people who were hoping to be in the choir. It was a little more bad news than the usual weeks leading up to the 20+ Easter musical events I've led. But it wasn't terrible.

Until the week before. 

On Monday and Tuesday I received not 2, not 3, not even 4, but 5 or 6 major pieces of bad news. People that had key roles in both preparation and presentation of the musical weren't able to keep their commitments. I was reeling. I'd done better than ever in my career at crossing the "T"s and dotting the "I"s, but that didn't seem to matter. 

Bad news, then more bad news, then just a little more on top of that.

Sensing the gravity of my world just days before the event? 

And then it happened. The phone call with the good news. It was really, really good news. It was personal, not professional. And it changed everything.

Everything.

So my thoughts turned to my role as a worship pastor. You may already be connecting the dots in your mind, but if not... here goes.

Every time we rehearse a group of people, someone has probably received a few pieces of bad news in the days leading up to that practice.

Without a doubt, every time we lead a group of people in worship there are a few, or several, or many, or most of those in the room who have been bombarded with bad news.

That's why we have to be people of the Good News.

I don't mean "happy clappy" and fake smiles. I don't mean we should ignore anguish and race to rejoicing. I mean that in the midst of the deep struggles of those we lead it is essential that we remind them: God is not only holy, and powerful, and majestic, and real, and eternal, and relevant... but that He is good.

And His goodness is what He wants for us.

Let me say it another way, if the gospel doesn't sound like good news, it isn't the gospel.

And forgive me if this goes too far, but if your worship services don't sound like good news, you may not be leading Christ-centered worship.

So let's make sure we find sounds and lyrics and images and people that effervesce with joy.  Honest joy. Godly joy. Transforming joy.

Let's be people of the Good News.