Music, Traditions and Change

Yesterday I opened a discussion of traditions and music and told you about the changes we made in this area and why.  I told you how we approached the difficulty of resistance when we did so, and today I’d like to wrap up the discussion…

Please understand that we didn’t make our changes over night or in a vacuum.  It all began with a concerted effort to grow our church spiritually not numerically.  I would imagine that if we just tried flipping a switch and went from totally traditional one week, and then totally contemporary the next, there wouldn’t have been anything but chaos as a result.  In addition, our music evolved slowly for a number of reasons such as a lack of people willing to participate; a general lack of talent available in a small congregation, but as time passed, these things changed  With each new success, more people wanted to be part of a winning team, you might say.

Music was not the only tradition that was either done away with or modified, but of course it was the most obvious.  I must mention here once again that when I speak of our traditions, I am referring only to the way we did things, not to the message of Scripture or to any Scriptural imperative. As time went on, something else started to change…

It used to be that baptisms were so infrequent that when there was one, nobody had any idea of what to do, and each time the wheel had to be reinvented… or so it seemed.  People might actually complain that church got out late that day! Baptisms became much more frequent, and pretty soon, everyone involved in the worship service knew exactly what to do:  Oh, there’s a baptism today, great!  Things go almost like clockwork because the results of the things that had been done, beginning with spiritual growth began to pay off in souls won for Jesus Christ.  To be sure, I’m not suggesting that improvements can’t still be made, that process never should stop, but a dramatic shift had taken place.

The time came when we had, instead of an empty auditorium, a need to go to two services, and the day may well come soon when we need either a third service or a new place to meet: God’s will be done!

The funny thing that comes to me in looking back is that I really don’t hear complaints much any more.  I can understand somebody being skeptical about changes at first, but when the harvest starts to come in, the skeptics are gone.  Oh, I’m sure that some day something else will change and it will take a time for a buy-in from certain quarters, but when you are in a place where God is working in your midst, TWWADI doesn’t seem to count for very much.

Looking at Your Traditions

I must begin by saying that it has been some time since my last post on Church growth.  I had not intended to be so long away (sorry about that) but I’m back at home and it’s time to move forward… so here goes.

Last time, I was talking about TWWADI (The Way We’ve Always Done It) and proposed to continue with a look at some traditions that we adjusted so as to move forward both spiritually within our congregation and as a result to bring more people to Christ.  The biggest and most visible tradition that we took a look at was our music.

Now I fully realize that this is a controversial subject in many places and it has had fallout in churches for quite some time.  For whatever reason the style of music in a church is often a polarizing subject that breaks a group into two parts:  The first part is often the older group that likes their music the way it’s always been and doesn’t want to hear about doing it differently, and the other group is often the younger ones who want more modern music. We had the same dynamic.

It is tempting to want to try “blended” music as many churches do.  Blended music is a little of each so that nobody is overly irritated… and so that nobody is overly satisfied. I must admit that we did some of the blended music for a time, but not because it was our desire to compromise, but because we lacked the people who could sing the more contemporary tunes.  This is not a good thing!

The thing that I hope you will understand here is not the “what” but instead the “why.”    There are two very important things to consider when music in the worship service is being discussed.  First we need to remember what the purpose of the church is from a Biblical point of view.  Is it to please its members and give them their favorite music… or is it to seek and save the lost?

If the purpose of the church is to please its membership, then take a vote and follow the majority.  If it is to seek and save the lost, then we must take into consideration what will make a visitor, a seeking person who is willing to consider becoming a Christian and give his or her life to the Lord, comfortable enough to let down their guard and take in the message of Salvation.

Before I go any further, I must confess that I prefer the old music, the songs that come from the old Hymnal, you know the ones, they are all a hundred years old or more… some are closer to 500 years old.  When I come home, I also listen to classical music; I am really fond of Baroque music (1600-1750).  Am I representative of those we are supposed to be taking the gospel to?  No, not really.

Most people who are not already church members aren’t familiar with old hymns, but they usually do listen to music, and mostly they listen to music that is more contemporary than not.  If they are visiting a church, it stands to reason that the more that they come into contact with that is familiar and comfortable, the more at home and relaxed they are likely to be, and the more relaxed, the more likely they are to receive the message of the gospel than if they feel utterly out-of-place.  Thus, since there is plenty of very fine Christian music in a contemporary style, why shouldn’t we use it instead of insisting upon our own preferences and losing the opportunity to win a soul for Christ? I have heard it said that if the music isn’t traditional then it also isn’t worship… but consider this:  What is traditional music?  It is nothing more than contemporary music from a different time!  What is style?  It isn’t something from the Bible, it’s something from the culture of man.  If the music faithfully conveys a Christian message than the style is meaningless!

The other thing we should consider is why some of us insist on making no change in music.  A spiritually mature believer will have his or her top priority on the lost, not on their own preferences or habits, thus when people strongly object to any change, they are not telling us that we shouldn’t adjust our music, they are telling us that we need to do a better job of discipleship, that we haven’t taught them enough for them to grow spiritually.  To put it another way, their objection is a teachable moment.  When we patiently and lovingly teach them where our priorities need to be as Christians, we are able to bring them along into greater spiritual maturity and enable our churches to reach people that we haven’t reached before.

I’ll continue this discussion in the next post…

Stranger in a Strange Town

 

For the past few days I’ve been here in our Nation’s Capital, and what a different place it is!  This isn’t the slow-paced Midwest I’ve become used to, no, this place is big city.  The traffic is horrific, the streets are crowded and there are people everywhere who are in a big hurry to be somewhere else.  When you talk to them, they seem to have a whole different point of view on things.  Everywhere I’ve been has a long list of rules, people to enforce them and people following the rules without complaint; nothing like what I’m used to!

The weather is chilly, these good folks think it’s cold, the cherry blossoms are just starting to pop out, and the traffic, did I mention the traffic?

As different as things seem at first, there are some things that feel more like home.  For instance, there are many people in this area who are brothers or sisters in Christ.  It really doesn’t make any difference what the local culture is when you come across one of these, for they are like running into a family member you haven’t seen in a long time, and the funny thing is that you can tell who they are.  Maybe it’s something in their look or their walk, I’m not sure.  Even I who can’t really see very well can tell…

How good and pleasant it is
    when God’s people live together in unity!

Psalm 133:1

We may not always agree on what goes on in this place, but we are united in the things of God, and those are the things that count.

 

Just try to picture what it would have been like to witness Jesus entering Jerusalem in Triumph; can you?  Just picture it, the great King of Heaven riding into the city, people line His route and they shout:

Hosanna to the Son of David.

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna in the highest!

And there He is; riding a donkey!

That is hardly the way a “normal” king would ride into His new capital…

…but Jesus is no “normal” King!  His Kingdom is not of this world, He was entering the city not to conquer Rome but to conquer sin and death.  The people were excited, the city was alive with anticipation, and the enemies of Jesus were no doubt quaking in their boots.  Even though He was King of a heavenly kingdom, Jesus entered God’s city nevertheless, and the picture is even more important than it would have been if He rode a mighty steed with thousands of troops behind Him, for if that were His mission that day, it might well have been yet another great occasion that history has all but forgotten.

Truthfully, history has often tried to forget Jesus and His arrival in Jerusalem that day, but it just can’t, for the impact of what He would do there that week is with us still, two thousand years later.  Jesus, the Great King was victorious in Jerusalem, even though it looked like He wasn’t.  He was all-powerful, even though it didn’t look that way with Him riding a donkey.  He utterly destroyed His Enemy there, even though it looked at first like the Enemy carried the battle.

In all honesty, Jesus completely confounded His critics and foes, for He was meek and mild, so different from the world of men; He didn’t play their game. He had a different agenda, and by that agenda you and I have hope all of these centuries later.  My hope is that we all will take time this week to pause in awe of all that Jesus did for us in Jerusalem so long ago…

The Vision Rollout

We’ve been going through some ides on how to turn a church around so that it can grow both spiritually and numerically and begin to prosper for Christ.  Yesterday, we left off at the point where our leadership adopted a vision statement for the church which set out the elements contained in the “Great Commission” given by our Lord in Matthew 28:18-20.  Today, let’s pick up where we left off and I’ll tell you how we announced it to our people.

Since the vision our leadership adopted for our church was so very important to our future, we decided to make a really big splash to impress upon our people how important this was going to be in the life of our church. We set a date which was something like September 6, 2009 as the “official” roll out date.  In the four or five weeks leading up to that time, we advertised this special date and set about sprucing up the building.  This may sound strange to you, but it was a deliberate strategy to grab the attention of our congregation.  For one thing, the building needed a whole lot of “sprucing up.”  For another, it gave us an opportunity to win some of our very long-time members over to our way of thinking, for we were aware that if we try to do anything differently, there were some really wonderful people who would oppose us.  In one particular case, I recruited one of the most influential and intelligent ladies in our church to take charge of the redecoration of the church, a lady who really loved the place and wanted to make improvements that were long overdue.

By bringing her into the project, she became an ally to it rather than a potential critic, and since she was very influential with the ‘long-timers’ (the church had been founded in her living room) our new-fangled notions gained a hearing; very important!

We painted, we cleaned, we got new furniture… we gained immediate results that everybody could see and touch: we gained credibility for a leadership that badly needed it.  We also had a six-week sermon series leading up to the big day; two sermons from the Sr. Minister, two from the assistant minister and two from me, each dealing with an aspect of the purpose of the church.  You can guess which of us got to deliver the two “tough” ones!

This all came off with incredible success.  People joined in the work who seldom did much of anything, and the facilities got a whole new look to them which would help us as time went on; more about the “look” later in this series.

In the next post, I’ll tell you what we did for “phase 2″ of our rollout, which was all about spiritual growth…

Pray with Boldness

How often do we pray with boldness?  No, I mean with real boldness…?

Do we ask God for big things, as opposed to routine things?  Do we ask God to take the battle right to the enemy, or to win great victories for His church?

Are our prayers full of the request that His will be done and are they self-less?

For most of us, when we pray our prayers tend to center on what we want and they often don’t really go all that far, but those aren’t really the kinds of prayers you see in the Bible, for there, prayers tend to be directed towards God’s purposes and they seek great deeds.

Save me, O God, by your name;
    vindicate me by your might.
 Hear my prayer, O God;
    listen to the words of my mouth.

Psalm 54:1-2

Here are words of boldness, of purpose and words asking for great victories.  If you go on to read the verses that follow, you might at first think that requests are being made for selfish reasons when the speaker is asking for his enemies to be taken care of, but when we remember that the speaker is David and that his enemies are also God’s enemies and that they are in opposition to God’s purpose, it becomes clear that he is asking God to sustain him while advancing God’s purpose; and he isn’t meek and mild about the request; he is confident in his position.

We, too as Christians should be confident in our position with God when we pray, always remembering that God’s purpose is the central force that is important.

There is nothing on this earth that concerns the devil more than a believer in prayer, for it is at that time that the power of God is made manifest.  A believer at prayer, praying bold prayers for God’s will and purpose is like a catalyst that sets free the power of Victory in battle!

God’s Shelter

 

Where do we find shelter?

In modern life, people seek shelter and refuge in many places, for instance many seek it in money and possessions.  Others might seek it in a relationship with a loved one, while others might seek it in their careers or professions… Some might even try to find refuge in drugs or drink.

None of these can really protect us from much, for the things of men will perish after a season.  In spite of this grim reality, shelter and refuge are available for anyone who seeks them; we need only to seek them in the right place.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91:1-2

Do we seek the shelter of God?

Will we dwell in His ways, walk His path and do His will? I’d have to say this is an important question, for in our answer lies our destiny.  If we answer “no” there will be no place to take refuge, but if we answer “yes” our security is assured now and for ever.

Have a great weekend!

 

Very often a picture is better than text, so here’s a picture and no text… well almost no text.

Have a great weekend!

 

How Can We Respond?

As followers of Christ, we have received an amazing gift, or should I say amazing gifts!

We have been forgiven of our sins, we have received the gift of eternal life and we have received the gift of the Spirit, to name three; isn’t it fitting that we should respond?

I realize that Christians might answer this question in various ways depending upon their particular doctrinal backgrounds, so let’s acknowledge that right here and now.  I’m not going to get all upset if you might give an answer that varies somewhat from mine.  Here’s how I see it:

We have received these unspeakably awesome gifts when we entered into relationship with Jesus Christ by His work on the cross.  There, He shed His blood for forgiveness, establishing a new covenant between man and God in His blood.   I think we can all agree that Biblical covenants have three components: Parties, terms and promises, and that because of our entry into covenant with Him, we have become ‘parties.’  The promises are pretty clear, they are the gifts I mentioned at the top of the post.  We sometimes disagree about the terms, however.  Covenant terms or stipulations are the things that constitute our “response.”  To me, there is one statement that sums up the covenant terms of the New Covenant, that we should live as Christ would live (in our place).  It seems to me that if we adopt this notion, then there is no need to make a list of rules, for it is quite clear that Jesus wasn’t one who went around behaving badly.  What He did do was in all things to serve God by serving others in a way that advanced God’s purposes.

He was never selfish, never concerned about the accumulation of earthly goods, and always served the interests of others.  He didn’t do this in the earthly sense as a rule, for He took on God’s perspective and served people in a way that would advance their eternal interests; even to the point of giving Himself up to go to the cross.

Therefore, it seems to me that the appropriate response for each of us to the awesome gifts we have received is to serve God selflessly at all times and in all things.  It is to let go of the earthly perspective that dominates modern life and to serve God by serving others in a way that advances God’s purposes. I believe that this is what Jesus meant when He said: “Follow me!”

What are these two characters up to?

Here are two real characters, I wonder how many of you recognize them…

Here’s a hint:  No, this isn’t from a movie!  These boys are really quite famous apart from Hollywood, although they would both have been great movie characters.  On the left is David Lloyd George who was Prime Minister of Great Britain, and on the right is a young Winston Churchill, who was First Lord of the Admiralty.  (For us Americans, that’s roughly equivalent to Secretary of the Navy)  Here they are chatting away as they stride down the street during the first world war.  I don’t know what they are talking about, maybe how to win the war, or possibly they are up to political plotting, or maybe what to have for lunch!

Here is something that I do know about these two:  Both of them made decisions that affected the course of history, that affected who would live and who would die.  Both of them shaped the future of the world in various ways, sometimes for good, and sometimes not so good…

As we go through life, we too make momentous decisions.  Oh, don’t you think you make momentous decisions?  OK, maybe you aren’t the prime minister or a king, but you do make decisions that impact others’ lives!

The greatest decision that anyone ever makes is the decision about whether or not to follow Jesus Christ.  This one has eternal consequences.  Have you decided to raise your children in the faith?  This too has eternal consequences; this time for other people.  Have you made a decision to serve Jesus Christ by doing your bit to share the gospel of salvation?  Here’s another hugely important choice that will impact the lives of others for eternity.

History has both praised and criticized these two men for their choices; what would history say of our lives.  Would it say that we neglected our calling and let others die?  Or would it say that we rose to the occasion and led others from death into everlasting life?

Pardon me for saying so, but I rather think that this is a big deal.