My pastor deftly delivers his sermons with the logical approach of a professor. Going verse by verse through a passage of the Bible, he carefully references other Scriptures to provide historical context. Despite rarely raising his voice, his passion for truth is evident.
I sometimes attend another church with a dramatically different service structure. The praise and worship portion lasts 45 minutes. The minister will then speak even longer. As his sentences rise and fall in a lyrical cadence, the congregation responds in a verbal, almost musical way.
These different churches hint at the different facets of God’s character. We dare not confine Him to one style of worship. He created us with diverse personalities; it’s only natural that we have diverse local-church cultures. Yet there’s a unity of Spirit in the congregations. And if the Spirit is present in both, who’s to say which is better?
Appealing to different audiences, John the Baptist and John the apostle used contrasting tones and words. John the Baptist was very direct and used strong terms in addressing the Pharisees (Matthew 3:7-8). The apostle John exemplified the warmth of a doting father for his kids as he called his readers “my dear children” and “dear friends” (1 John 2:1,7). Yet the Holy Spirit used both men to communicate God’s heart and message.
So it’s not surprising that our churches practice a wide range of worship styles. We serve a God who gives us serene sunrises but also the occasional hurricane. He provides the evening dew and the fury of the thunderstorm. He can’t be defined, contained, limited, or constrained.
Worship style simply blends into the background when it points to Jesus.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Samuel 11:1-27
More:
Read 1 John 2:28–3:10 and note John’s relational, loving style as he addressed his readers.
Next:
What aspects of God’s character can you identify in your church services? How does your personality reflect Him and His ways?
Gary Shultz on April 5, 2016 at 6:19 am
Tim, loved both of your works today. There is so much to both of them, wow. One of the first things for me to become a better worshiper was to determine who’s church it was, sounds simple, but it makes a profound difference. I had ideas, thoughts and opinions as to how the church should look and so did many others. First thing I had to do is know, it is Christ’s church, He could handle it if we would but listen. I think we still need to be on guard for unscriptural practices, but that is not often where the lines are drawn. It is opinions, preferences, may be entertainment “what can you do for me” or traditions we can’t let go. I know this may sound very forward and strong, but way to often the approach to church is like the world views marriage, they keep looking over their should until a better offer comes along. Of course this is a lot of “what I think”, but I do think it is wise to worship in the community where you live. Stop hunting for the perfect; participate and practice your faith with people who see how you live. Tell your leadership you’re in it for the long haul, pray and see what God does through faithfulness. Sorry for the length, but I wrestled with this for a long time. Thanks Tim
Tim Gustafson on April 5, 2016 at 7:52 am
Love your insights on this, Gary. It’s like participating in a good small group! I don’t choose when my posts run; they are written months and months prior, but it’s interesting how the two are related. You provide good cautions here — be on guard for the unscriptural practices; don’t look over your shoulder for something better — as well as wise advice. Stop hunting for the perfect. It doesn’t exist. Every church is full of us humans. 🙂
godlove on April 5, 2016 at 9:58 am
Thanks Gary, you make some good points which talk to me personally (Tim already noted them here so I will not go over them again) and thanks for the thought-provoking post Tim.
jim spillane on April 5, 2016 at 1:35 pm
Gary – in my comment below, I laid out my current situation. I feel that it’s important to find a church that you enjoy going to, and not for the entertainment aspect that you so appropriately stated. I have seen some churches where many in the congregation act as though they’re going to the movies. They’ve got their snacks, they’ve got their electronic media in case things get boring, etc. My point is that I think going to worship and fellowship with others should be something you look forward to, rather than looking at it as an obligation. To me it’s just as important what you can get out of it as it is what you put into it, and vice versa. It should be enjoyment because we’re worshiping and fellowshipping with God. Otherwise, you could just go to the nearest Christian church. Blessings to you, my friend.
Mike Wittmer on April 5, 2016 at 8:33 am
This is good to remember whenever I’m tempted to be like someone else. God wants me to be the best version of me, not a cheap imitation of another one of his children.
Tim Gustafson on April 5, 2016 at 9:15 am
Yep! Hypocrisy has no place in worship. (Speaking to myself here.)
tfedit on April 5, 2016 at 9:00 am
Such good insights, Tim. One of the most beautiful worship experiences of my life was being in the midst of people from around the world, reflecting different languages and worship styles. It was a little taste of heaven!
Tim Gustafson on April 5, 2016 at 9:17 am
As a third-culture kid, I can really appreciate some of these differences, and that’s been a real blessing in my life. I have even been blessed when someone is praying in another language. It causes me to thank God for the unity we have despite language barriers.
gagirllive on April 5, 2016 at 9:26 am
It is pretty amazing how dogmatic we can become over styles and preferences–so divisive. Having traveled globally a bit, I have had the blessing of worshiping with other cultures who do not “do church” like I’m used to, but the experience has only served to enrich my life and give me a glimpse of heaven as tfedit said. Christ’s beautifully diverse body is a wonder to behold. As long as it meets His requirement of “in spirit and in truth”, I think we should celebrate these different church personalities. We all have our “flavor” that we feel most comfortable with, but we should never feel like our way is superior to what someone else enjoys. Unity is not uniformity. Thanks for this, Tim. Grace and peace to all of you today.
Tim Gustafson on April 5, 2016 at 1:22 pm
I couldn’t agree more, gagirllive! Both those churches feed my spirit, and many others could also do so. I even found “church” at a car dealership in Mindanao. A group of workers were in the habit of meeting for a brief lunchtime service. It was equal parts surprising and awesome.
sandy229 on April 5, 2016 at 10:18 am
I remember when I was younger and we were always searching for the “perfect” church, but we never found it. Now I realize all those years were wasted when we could have been in fellowship with God and worshiping Him with other believers, instead of looking for something better. We lost track of what was good and what was better. The church I go to now is where I believe God wants me to be and I can feel the Holy Spirit moving through the service as we sing praise songs, or listen to special music, or watching baptism, or whatever is going on. We recently got a new Pastor and everyone really loved the old one, but he was going to retire but ended up being associate pastor, so now we have both Pastor’s, and its such a joy to have them both, we are extremely blessed in this church. God has given us the best of the best. I went to Idylwild for the weekend women’s retreat and got to know a lot of the women there who I only knew from attending every week. Getting to know the women in the church was such a blessing to me, and worshiping and singing praise song’s with these women gave a whole new meaning in my life.
gagirllive on April 5, 2016 at 11:08 am
So glad you had a great time on your retreat, Sandy! As for your comments, I totally understand. I think the dissatisfaction we feel is often displaced. It’s inside of us, but we tend to project it outward toward the church. When I stopped looking for what was missing in a particular church and focused on being the change I wanted to see, it was a game – changer for me. Switching churches all the time only changes your address…same people, different faces. Most importantly, like I always say, “Everywhere I go, there I am.” 🙂
jim spillane on April 5, 2016 at 1:18 pm
Thanx Tim for bringing up an interesting topic and one that goes right to my situation. I have been bouncing back and forth for a while now with 2 different churches that each project their own style of worship and I obviously enjoy both. This goes right to your statement that “different churches hint at the different facets of God’s character” and “we shouldn’t confine Him to one style of worship.” As gagirllive mentioned, as long as we come to worship “in Spirit and in Truth” we fulfill the requirement of worship. I also like her strong comment that “unity is not uniformity.” Let us never confuse the two. And as you stated “as long as the worship style points to Jesus” then we know that we’re in a proper place. That said, I continue to pray that God will lead me to the church where I truly belong. Blessings to you and all our forum members.
Tim Gustafson on April 5, 2016 at 1:23 pm
Yeah, we have to make sure we’re “dialed in” to at least one of them so that we are also serving alongside our brothers and sisters, and not merely spectators. Thanks to everyone for weighing in today!
daughterdeb on April 5, 2016 at 7:28 pm
Reordering my playlist I scanned past a Christian CD my daughter had loaded onto my computer. I was saddened as I deemed it a little too metal for “God’s music.” As this thought passed through my mind The Man Himself gave me a yank on my ponytail that was sufficient for me to place my hand on the back of my head, glance up and laughingly ask “Ouch, what was that ab . . .” My last word was truncated as I saw the anger in His eyes and I hit the floor pleading for patience as I truly meant Him no harm. Long story short His simple question to me was “since when have you been against that which honors me?” My second “ouch” of the evening. I now have Skillet and Disciple on my MP3 player and they really work when I’m doing yard work or hitting the gym 😉