[church/religion]

when i don't know how to start a blog, we might as well start with dictionary definitions of the terms that i want to talk about, right?

so...

church

1. a building for pubic Christian worship

2. public worship of God or religious service in such a building

and

religion

1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe

2. a fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by persons

okay, all good and well(so to speak), two terms that for many people evoke passionate(violent?) emotions. these terms form the basis of many a discussion, argument, debate, writing, etc. these are terms that so many people get caught up with, without ever really knowing what they are even talking about. in their hurry to get out opinions [or even to just hear their own voices], people flippantly use these terms in ways that they often dont understand.

now bear with me.

i know i did a posting on the difference between being [religious] and [spiritual]. this is different. what i want to look at is the (apparent lackof) contrast between the church: building, and religion: beliefs.

to start off with, [church].

dictionary.com offers up a fine definition of what church is, and for most people, this is a definition that would suffice. church is a place we go to, it is what happens on sunday morning, and is full of opinionated people, on the topic of religion.

Yay, perfect segway into [religion].

dictionary.com offers up (yet again) a fine definition of religion, as a set of beliefs that many people hold in common.

where is the contrast you ask? just drive into west michigan, specifically ottawa county on a given sunday, and walk to a street corner. chances are, three of the four street corners will have a church on them (seriously, not an exaggeration), but each of the churches will have a different denomination.

• CRC (christian reformed church)
• RCA (reformed church in america)
• URC (united reformed church)
• PRC (protestant reformed church)
• AoG (assembly of God)

(alphabet soup anyone? this'll make your head spin... http://www.abbreviations.com/acronyms/RELIGION)

now. for those of you not familiar with the scrabble scramble that occurs on sundays in a town with more than one church denomination, basically it goes something like this.

1. pick a denomination (which basically is just a grouping of churches that share similar beliefs on non-salvation [or not] issues)
2. make your family go to that denomination
3. hate every other denomination and tell people why your denomination is better
4. indoctrinate your children to do the same.
5. repeat
6. (optional) cause a church schism if the church does something you don't like. make sure to yell really loud.

now do you see the problem? church provides the [means] and religion provides the [opportunity] to cause some of the largest and nastiest fights in history.

think

• the crusades?
• the kkk?
• abortion clinic bombings?
• westboro baptist church?

now don't get me wrong, not all churches start blowing up buildings. personally, i think denominations are a great way for churches with similar styles to come together to poll resources and work together. not all church styles fit all types of people, and thats okay. God made us unique and different (tower of babel anyone?). the problem is, we get so caught up in trying to be [better] and have the flashiest worship "celebrations" or the most orthodox liturgy, or the most active spiritual workings, that we fail to acknowledge the God behind those things...AND what that God commands of us to do in worship.

however...

an oft quoted passage by progressive christians who try and argue for destruction of denominations and of religion and of big church meetings often cite James 1:27

"religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world"

the fundamental problem with throwing out religion and church in favor of the teachings of the apostle james is that this was not the point of james at all. if we were to throw out anything that is [difficult], we shouldnt be in the service of christianity at all.

instead of abandoning the church and religious culture, we need to fix it. brothers and sisters, rather than running away and (God forbid) start a new post-modern church denomination of "pure and faultless religion", apply II Timothy 3:16 and use the scripture you have. fix the broken. after all, christianity is all about fixing broken lives through Jesus, right?

As famed religious critic sir elton john has said 'religion has the tendency to turn normal, rational human beings into hateful lemmings [editor's note: must be a british term]'. and he is right, if we keep bickering over where to place the pulpet, instead of helping the 50 babies that have died in the last five minutes that it has taken you to read this blog posting...

In His Grip,

-J

[traditional/contemporary]

yup. we're talking about worship styles.

this is a topic i could go on and on and on and on and on about...

when discussing worship, one must be very careful when deciding any of the following. note this is not an exclusive list.

• to clap or not to clap?
• to raise hands or not to raise hands?
• organ?
• drums?
• choir or praise team? or both?
• hymnals or projection screens?
• too fast or too slow?
• too loud or too quiet?
• spontaneous or deliberate? or spontaneously deliberate?
• stand up or sit down? kneel? dance?

clearly, this idea of worship style is greater than one church staff meeting. discerning the style of worship appropriate for church takes lots of time, prayer, and thought...the first question being, "what does it mean for this to 'fit' my church"?

is this really "my" church?

does my opinion matter?

should it matter?

why?

as you can see...this question tends to spawn off multiple threads and roots, many of which lead the discussion so far off topic that by the time people are done shouting at each other, we're left a larger mess than the one we started with.

problem.

definitely a problem.

as a worship leader, this is something i have struggled with for a long time. and to be forthright, i don't have the answers. there will always be people who disagree with me, and i, them. i can tell you that God does not like quarreling [titus 3:9-10].

so what am i doing, writing on worship styles, if i'm not trying to explain or understand the various intricacies behind them?

simple.

i want to tell you

its not about you.

the way you worship.....and the way you like to worship....

are two totally separate things.

the way we should worship is laid out for us in [john 4:24]

"God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth"

the way we like to worship....

can vary.

the things that matter are....

1.) are we actually worshiping? because we are commanded to.

2.) is our preference for worship style getting in the way?

...because then that means our preferences are more important than following God.

....whoops.

i once had a worship leader talk to me about styles of worship. she said,

"jonathan, if you are in the congregation and you don't like the song playing, the style, whatever it might be...what should you be doing? it better not be sulking and complaining that you can't 'feel' God enough. God is all around you and you will experience Him whether you want to or not. at the very least, make sure you are praying for the people around you who are experiencing God right now. don't you dare let an opportunity to worship the Almighty God pass you by."

wow.

its less about style...and more about worship.

and if you have the chance to worship the Almighty God, i definitely would take it...would you?

-j