Why Do We Serve?

I'm reading a short book by Henri Nouwen entitled, In the Name of Jesus Reflections on Christian Leadership. My pastor read it last summer and highly recommended it.

While reading a segment about the re-instating instruction of Jesus to Peter to "Feed my sheep" something occurred to me.

As an aside, has it ever occurred to you that nothing ever occurs to God? This is such massive evidence of how different I (the creature) are from God (the Creator). Things occur to me all the time! By this stage of life and ministry, I expected to more stuff figured out. Less to discover. Less to learn. But God continues to teach me new things, and He graciously teaches me old things in deeper ways. What a great God we worship!

So back to the "feed my sheep" epiphany...

This is not a new passage for me. I have read it many times, studied back in college, and have even preached from it before. 

You probably remember the scene: Jesus and Peter meet on the beach after the resurrection. Peter has gone back to fishing for fish. After having breakfast together, the Master asks the fisherman, "Do you love me?" Peter responds, "You know I do." And Jesus speaks those familiar words: "Feed my sheep."

It was just one of Nouwen's sentences that grabbed me: "Having been assured of Peter's love, Jesus gives him the task of ministry."

Assurance of love, then resumption of ministry. We serve people (feed sheep) out of love for God. 

I know. It's not groundbreaking.

Or is it?

In my experience and observation, we often serve people out of a need for their love and acceptance. Somewhere beneath the words we speak are the truths we feel: If I serve them well, they will love me. I'll be part of the group. I won't be lonely any more... for a while.

We also serve people out of a need for workers in our ministry. Few of us would admit we've ever done this, but I suspect most of us have thought, "I'd better serve them well or I won't have them at the piano/drums/mixer (fill in your own blank) any more. Then I'll be in real trouble."

We may even serve people out of a sense for what it does in us. Some psychologists have gone so far to say that altruism doesn’t exist. While I disagree with them, I'd have to say some of us serve in part because of how it makes us feel. (I'll leave it to you to discern how much is some or part.)

When we serve people in those ways we consume them.

But Jesus came to give life. "Christ in us" wants to give life to those we serve.

The only way we can do that is to serve them with love for God as the source. With love for God as the cause. With love for God as the motivation.

And I don't know about you, but I need to do a better job of sitting in God's Presence, letting Him love me. Knowing His love. Feeling His love. Trusting His love.

And then I can serve people in the way Jesus did, the way He trusted Peter to serve them: from God's love fueling heart, mind, and soul.

Don't Break God's Heart

Why attend worship?

If, for example, I am amply fed in Bible Study time, then why go to worship? After all, in my small group I learn about God. I develop deep friendships with people--friends that would do anything for me. I can even give God His tithe and my offerings online or in my small group. So why should I choose to attend worship?

A friend of mine once wrote a short story about a very sad birthday party. All of the friends arrived at the birthday girl's house. They brought presents. They played games. They talked and talked and talked. But they never gave presents to the birthday-girl. They didn't include her in their play. They talked to each other, but never to her.

Carl's story powerfully portrays the difference between Bible Study and worship.

In small group Bible study we learn the great truths of God's word. We talk about God. We delight in His truths. We discuss the amazing things God does in our lives and the lives of others. This horizontal kind of small group experience is essential in our quest to become fully devoted followers of Jesus.

In worship we take knowledge and turn it into relationship. Rather than talking about God's majesty, we talk with God about His majesty. Rather than singing about how much God loves us, we sing our love songs to God. In this vertical time, we express our love and we experience His love.

In other words, Bible study is like a woman telling a friend how much she loves her husband.

Worship is a wife telling her husband how much she loves him.

Church, you are the Bride of Christ.

We must not, we can not, neglect the opportunities we have to tell Jesus how much we love Him.

The single greatest power you possess is the power to choose. We all choose to--or not to--follow Jesus. We choose to obey or deny. To do right or wrong.

Some who claim Christ choose not to worship. They decide to sleep, or play, or work. A few serve at church but never take time to pray and sing from their hearts to the heart of God. Speaking of singing, many will say the music isn't their style. (I'm glad my wife's love for me doesn't depend on the style of clothes I wear, or the way I trim my beard.) Some even attend a gathering set aside for the Bride to engage her Bridegroom and still choose not to worship.

To sum it up, when we choose not to worship we break God's commands. And His heart.

Please, brothers and sisters, don't break God's heart.

Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.

Leading with Soul (Open Eyes)

Titanic was an epic film. The story demands such a telling. I remember when it was released (1997) and there was a running commentary among my friends: "Why would you pay money to see it? Everyone knows how it ends!"

I'm glad I went to see it.

Not only do I love movies, I was indelibly marked by a single phrase from Titanic. You might have missed it, or maybe I was late coming to an understanding you've had for a long time.

When Smith asked how long 'til the ship sinks, Thomas Andrews answers, "An hour... two at most." And then Smith responds with, "And how many aboard, Mr Murdoch?"

Here it is. The moment I was undone in that movie theater almost 20 years ago... a moment I've never forgotten.

"2,200 souls on board, sir."

Not 2,200 people or 1,500 passengers and 700 crew. No breakdown by 1st class, 2nd class or 3rd class.

Souls.

When we stand before the church to lead worship--whether as a singer or instrumentalist, we aren't leading songs or music. We're not just leading heads and hearts.

We are leading souls.

And that is one of the reasons I want my eyes to stay open as much as possible.

See the connection?

The folks you and I are leading to the throne of grace don't want to be led by a voice or a body. They don't want to be led by a musician or even a pastor.

They want to be led by a soul.

Our eyes are windows to our souls.

Let's not close the windows. Let's not seal off our souls.

Let's use our eyes to engage our brothers and sisters with words of encouragement and testimony. Join me in ensuring we focus attention on the God of the heavens when the text is directed to Jesus, the lover of our souls.

In other words, let's lead souls with our soul.

I'm curious... how do you do this? Or how have you seen it done well?

His Face

You can tell a lot by looking at someone's face.

If the skin is wrinkle free, they are probably young. If the eyes are not wide open, they are likely weary. If the mouth seldom raises at the corners, sadness is nearby. If the nose is shaped like a lightening bolt, there has been some trauma--maybe even several traumas. If the hair is matted, cleanliness is not a priority or not a possibility. If the skin is fair, that speaks to one possible ethnicity; if dark, another.

How do you imagine the face of Jesus? I'll go first, but I'd love to read your comments.

First, I don't think His skin was wrinkle free. In fact, I think there were two places where wrinkles developed deeply: his forehead and his eyes. You may have already figured out why. Certainly when He prayed for His followers--including us--His brow would furrow from intensity. And doubtless His eyes had crow's feet from the thousands of times He smiled and laughed.

I envision His mouth as usually closed. I am convinced that the greatest listener in the history of our planet was our Savior. Of course when He spoke, it was with the perfect question or complete authority. I don't mean authority like a politician or police officer, but as someone who knew truth, how it could set people free, and with great hope that the listener would discover that freedom. Perhaps like the great evangelist, Billy Graham.

His nose would have been distinctively middle Eastern, larger than mine. But no deviation in His septum. The Bible teaches that Jesus never had a broken bone, so while His nose would've been big, it wouldn't have been crooked.

I wonder about the length of His hair. Back in the day, when mine was long and curly (down to my shoulders!), I took pride in imagining Jesus' would have been similar. But really, I think other than having dark hair, it would've been coarse. (No such thing as leave-in conditioner back then.) He was a working, traveling man. Surely it wasn't slicked back, so he'd appear in any way "polished." He was a normal guy. His hair probably looked like pretty much every other carpenter's.

His skin would be darker than mine, even when I'm tan, but lighter than T. D. Jakes. I picture the olive skin of our mediterranean friends. Skin that is rich in color. Skin worn but not rough. Skin tender but not soft.

And finally, His eyes. I can't even begin to find words to describe how I envision the eyes of Jesus. Full of compassion, no doubt. Full of every Godly emotion. But mostly when I see the eyes of Jesus, I see searching eyes. They are looking around every corner, up every tree, along the sidelines of every crowd. They search for one more. The lost. The marginalized. The hopeless. Those eyes just can't wait to peer into the eyes of another person who yearns to be healed, forgiven, restored.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about those eyes is that they have never stopped looking. Still they seek those who are lost.

Do we? When we stop looking at His face in worship, I fear we stop looking at the world the way Jesus did. And does.

Now...your turn. How do you imagine His face?

7 Tips for Starting Well

Maybe you are about to start in a new place of ministry. Or maybe someone is about to begin serving in your church. A dear friend has just relocated to a new part of the country and asked for some tips. So while I wrote this for him, I hope it can serve you too...

My best 7 pieces of transition advice, some of which I did well upon arriving at Woodburn and some I wish I'd done better...

1) Build prayer into your schedule. Pray alone. Pray with others regularly. Pray with your pastor. Pray in your meetings. Pray in your rehearsals. Let the people hear your "praying voice." Ask others to pray so you hear theirs.

2) Build margin into your schedule. This is enormously difficult early on, but if you grow frustrated by people interrupting, you will communicate to them that your task is more important than their time.

3) Build fun into your ministry. People want to feel good. You can do that without compromising the seriousness of your faith. C. S. Lewis said "Joy is serious business." Make it fun to be in your ministry. 

4) Build people, not programs. Great musicals, great services, great rehearsals...all of those are wonderful and we should strive for them. But use the schedule of ministry to build people, not the people of ministry to build programs.

5) Build relationship time into your early months. I started my last two churches with what I called: "From Trios to Quartets," (get 3 people together and I make the 4th) where I asked everyone who would sign up 3 questions: What was it like growing up as you? If God could see His dream come true in our worship ministry--something that would put a smile on His face--what would that look like? (Not musical style.) How can I pray for you? 

6) Build for the future. Have a long view, not a short one. We are all (I think) tempted to do a lot right off the bat to change what's broken. Sometimes this sabotages our ability to have long-term success.

7) Build better before you build different. Of course improvements are also changes, but if 9 of 10 people believe your making something better, rather than making something different, you will earn leadership capital with those folks to really change things later. Quick example, we changed the appearance of our screen content when I got here. Nobody thought of it as a change because everybody knew it was better--clearer, easier to follow, more consistent, etc.

Oh, one more: let your pastor know he is your pastor and your authority. Remove any doubt in his mind that you want anything but the best for him. He is your most important relationship, next to that of your wife, when it comes to effective ministry. Guard that relationship.

What would you add?

Music and Mission

I love hanging around wise people. They are likely to toss out off-hand comments that are better than my most carefully turned phrase. For example, I was in a breakout session with Rory Noland at the National Worship Leader Conference a few weeks ago when he commented, off hand of course, "Just choose music that fits the mission of your church."

Of course, Rory. It sounds so simple!

Wisdom usually is.

So his quip prompted some questions...
1) Does your church have a mission?
2) Do you know your church's mission?
3) Does the church know her mission?
4) How does music reflect mission?
5) What if my church prefers a body of music that differs from our mission?

Let me offer just a couple of thoughts about each that may serve our journey:

1) Does your church have a mission? Of course it does. The mission of your church is to get what your church is getting. You may have to re-read that one.

Many churches have a mission to engage the culture around them, connecting with those far from God. To read more about that, click here. Other churches have a mission to build up and strengthen their congregants, empowering them to live out their faith. Churches like this tend to be open to mission-critical change.

There are also churches with a mission related to preserving the past, avoiding persecution, or indulging in preferences. They would never admit that they are self-focused, but try changing the style of music or the order of service and see what happens. Now, I'm not saying a church like that has the wrong mission; that's for someone else to discern. But I am saying that if you are in a church like that, you will be most effective if you follow Rory's counsel and choose music that fits your church's mission.

2) Do you know your church's mission? This is tricky, because you probably know what you wish your church's mission would be. In fact, you may be leading/serving your ministry based on what you wish her mission was. But that is likely to lead to inner and outer conflict. And depending on how divergent the missions are, a lot of conflict. For those of you reading this who are in the early stages of a local ministry (the first 6-12 months, say), be a detective for a while. Ask questions. Watch those you lead. (aka "read the room".) It will be important to know your church's mission. Maybe you can be part of strengthening, encouraging, or even steering it. But first you have to know it.

3) Does the church know her mission? And to be honest--we have to know it in the Biblical sense, in the deep places. Intimately. At my church we have a mission to plant 20 churches by 2020. Virtually everyone in the church knows our mission. Our finances are structured toward that vision. Our building is. Our preaching, music, and other worship elements are. If we had a different mission, we'd do things differently. I'm very blessed to be part of a church who knows her mission.

4) How does music reflect mission? This may be a question that deserves a book rather than a paragraph. But still... is your congregation, like North Point Community Church in Atlanta, creating a church that unchurched people love to attend? Then you should probably use music that connects with people who are unchurched. Are you a church more like ours, which I think of as a church that de-churched people love to attend? Then you might need to use a little older content with newer sounds. It works well for us. (For more about this concept, read here.) Or are you in a church that focuses on being a really great church that great church people love to attend? Then you wouldn't want to pick the same music as the team at North Point. Regardless, I suggest this is a helpful question.

5) What if my church prefers a body of music that differs from our mission? Then your personal mission becomes to align your church's mission and your music/worship ministry. Start with your pastor, please. Then the rest of the staff, if there is one. Then the primary, secondary, even tertiary leadership groups. Have conversations with those who love to worship and lead in worship. Then have more conversations. Talk about the "why" of matching music to mission. Ask for ideas from your folks about how to make this happen. The older the demographic you're talking with, the more time they will need to process and internalize the concept. I don't mean any disrespect by that comment. It's just plain gerontology. The older we get, the longer we take to embrace different viewpoints.

One bonus question: what if I prefer music that differs from my church's mission? That's hard. Seek the Father. Ask if He wants you to be there. If so, die to yourself in this way. At least for a while. Then start having the questions about mission with your leadership team. If it is clear that nothing is likely to change, seek the Father again. Hear from God. Do what He says. Serve your people. Love them with your musical choices. Fuel their mission.

Better yet, do everything you can to fuel His mission.

What are your thoughts?

Worship Leaders, Let's Learn from Disney's new movie

I was skeptical.

Even though several people I love and trust said good things about Disney/Pixar's new film "Inside Out," I went into the theater looking for hidden agendas and sociocultural steering. (I know, I'm so weird!)

But I experienced an absolutely delightful, fun, and insightful movie.

And then, as I took time to reflect on the themes of the writers, several things I believe worship leaders should pay attention to emerged.

Without creating a "spoiler alert" I can tell you the moviegoer learns about 5 primary emotions and how they interact inside of head-quarters: joy, sadness, fear, disgust and anger each try to take over the role of "primary" in the life of young Riley.

Joy keeps trying to change the other emotions. She suppresses them. She even ignores them. It's as if she believes joy is the only valid, valued option. Don't get me wrong, she does all of this with joy. It's the only way she can be.

Few emotions are as helpful as fear... as long as we fear the right things. Riley needed to be afraid at times. It was when she feared the wrong things that her other emotions needed to kick in. As with all emotions, fear can take over and become crippling. But fear can also preserve our life. Biblically speaking, fear of God is commanded. When we minimize fear, we risk losing an essential part of who we are. What does this have to do with worship? Simple, actually. If we shouldn't suppress fear in life, we shouldn't suppress it in worship either. If people are afraid but we "play pretend" in church by ignoring that powerful emotion, we make it impossible to help our folks love God with all of who they are. How can we obey God's frequent command to be strong and courageous if we pretend not to struggle with fear?

Few emotions are as avoided as sadness...especially in American church culture. I wonder if this is part of the reason we have so many depressed people in our churches. I know the issue is far more complex than this, but perhaps by not giving expression to sadness we actually create a depressed culture. I'm way out of my league here, but let me come back by saying it is imperative that we allow people to feel sadness in our services. In fact, that's one of the reasons I'm convinced Matt and Beth Redman's song "Blessed Be Your Name" has been so popular in the modern church. It is honest about things like "being found in the desert place."

Few emotions are as neglected as disgust. At least when it comes to what I might call righteous disgust. Oh, we comfortably express disgust by our judgment of those far from God. That emotion is emboldened in pulpit after pulpit and pew after pew. But we fail to express disgust at our real enemy. Or at our own sin. We somehow leave out disgust for the sin inside of the church in favor of feeling disgust at the sin outside the church. Brothers and sisters, this simply cannot be. Apart from providing a time for confession, I have no clue how to integrate this into worship, but I imagine some of my song-writing and script-writing friends could help us here.

Few emotions are out of balance as much as anger. But we need to acknowledge that even anger has a place in our faith. Jesus Himself said "In your anger, do not sin." (Ephesians 4:26) Notice He did not say "In your emotions, be not angry." In the Biblical record, Jesus got angry several times. I believe He was angry at things like addiction, oppression, and favoritism. There is no doubt He was angry at those who hijacked the faith for selfish purposes. He expressed anger at those more concerned with religious practice than with a pure heart.

And, I'm increasingly convinced, few emotions are as essential to worship as authentic joy. I wish I didn't have to use a qualifier, but pretend joy has become prevalent. It is powerless. Indeed, it is counter to our mission. (Inauthenticity always is.) But the joy of the Lord is strength. And the church desperately needs strength. Christian worship should be characterized by joy. I love the way Walter B Knight put it: "Joy is the flag that flies over the castle of our hearts announcing that the King is in residence today."

So what can we learn from "Inside Out"?

Minor spoiler alert: when the emotions all take their proper place, life becomes full for Riley.

So let's learn to be honest in worship, to give time and space to our church families to express their full range of emotions. And to learn that we were made in the image of a mighty God, Who created fear to protect us, sadness to release us, disgust at sin--all sin, anger toward injustice, and joy to strengthen us.

And then maybe, just maybe, we will learn to worship with all of our heart.