Worship That Shapes Us

The strength of our theology shapes the depth of our worship and the depth of our worship transforms the core of what we believe.  This truth stems back to the time of the Exile when God allowed Israel to be scattered.  Up to the time of Exile, the people had a temple, a system of worship, and teachers to study the law.  After the exile all of this had been displaced.  In response, the people searched for a way to preserve their faith and what they believed.  This came in what we now know as the 150 chapters of Psalms.  The Psalms did not simply give them a worship book for Sundays, it gave them a way to learn what they believed and preserved it, no matter where they were.

We are the teachers of truth to this generation, and what we teach must create a space in which obedience to truth is practiced.

We are the teachers of truth to this generation, and what we teach must create a space in which obedience to truth is practiced.  What does this say to us now and what does it challenge us to do as we pastor students?  How are we teaching them to translate worship experience in to a transformational opportunity?
Here are some things to consider:

1. We must go beyond just an experience.  How can what we do and how we worship become transformational in the life of a student?  How do we take what happens at an altar or a worship service and translate it in to everyday life?  Our challenge is to teach students how to carry their “altar time” in the rest of the week.  This challenges us to go from simply creating experience to transformational moments.  It requires us to go deeper and take our student deeper as well. Simply being satisfied in how worship makes us feel is not enough, because that is not what worship is about.
2. It cannot be about worship unto itself.  Sometimes I think a tragedy of the modern church is we worship the experience worship. We like the goose bumps and we like the response.  Worship was never meant to be about us, it is about us coming before God as an act of humility. How are we allowing him to speak to us and transform us?   Our worship must move us forward.   Sadly, I can count too many times I have seen students who actively engage in “worship,” yet no life change takes place, no obedience to the Spirit is manifested, and no desire for Truth or a pursuit of holiness is developed.
3. Our worship must shape our theology.  Consider this, most students won’t remember what you said, but they will remember the song playing in their head.  Music and worship become a powerful tool in shaping the lives of our students and what they believe.  This puts great responsibility on us to examine what we sing, how we worship and what we teach week in and week out.  Is it offering depth?  Will it teach them? Will it alter their spiritual DNA?

John 4:23-24 states, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴ God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The true impact of worship is not found in how good it makes you feel, but in how much it changes you. Worship moves us to seek and implement Truth and causes us to become people dependent on the Spirit. It is not tied to a place or a song, but instead it is tied to a deep dependency on the Spirit leading us as we follow. Great worship doesn’t respond with loud noise and shouting, it responds through obedient action to what the Spirit is saying to us and calling us to do in response to our worship, after all true worship is how we live our life out in the everyday facets of our lives.

Let us worship and let it transform us. Let us teach our students to do the same.

A Bird's Eye View

The bird used the stairs.  I used them too.  The difference between the bird and myself was that I didn’t have wings.  It would have seemed much easier for the bird to flap it wings and quickly escalate the stairs, avoiding the unnecessary hop up each step (I’ve done this as a kid, it’s quite a bit of work.)  I don’t know why it used the stairs, it didn’t need to.  Maybe for the bird hopping up the steps was akin to us flying in a plane.  Maybe the bird had a great fear of stairs and wanted to get over this fear.  Maybe it was taking a break from flapping its wings, or maybe it was injured.   Whatever the reason, it simply struck me as ironic.  He had wings.  He would have made pet birds angry. 

I remember the kid who sat in the back of the room and refused to use his talents because things didn’t go his way.  I remember the girl who sat on the side not even aware of her own beauty because she believed the lies others have told her over and over and over again.  They simply hop up the stairs either unaware or just simply refusing to use the wings that are right there for them to use.  It seems we live in a world of clipped wings.  The reasons are endless but the results end up being the same:  we hop up the stairs. 

For many, they know they have wings, they simply refuse to use them.    It’s too much work.  They don’t like how they look or they don’t want to use them they way others are asking them to, or how they were designed to.  I heard one bird got his wings clipped because it was the latest trend.  The bird kind of regrets that now.  Perhaps they don’t think they will work right, or they are embarrassed to use them.  Maybe that was the bird’s problem.  There were a bunch of people around, and it was too busy worrying about what all the people would think of how he flapped his wings.  One awkward flap and it becomes a bad day.

Others are not even aware of their wings.   I’ve often wondered how many Mozarts we’ve never heard or how many Rembrandts we’ve never seen because they potential artists never knew they had it in them.  How many worship leaders have never led, how many missionaries never leave their homes, or how many preachers never preach a sermon?  How many doctors never heal, or teachers never see the light bulb go on in a child’s eye?  They never knew they had the wings to do it.  No one ever bothered to tell them.

Both are equally frustrating.  How many times have we seen a student’s enormous potential, and they remain blind looking in the mirror.  Or how many times has a student seen it, and the take the path of least resistant or in some cases worst resistance, only to clip themselves through poor decisions, never knowing their full potential. 

As leaders, we must help students discover their wings, and to use them as God intended.  Can you imagine the impact they would make if students truly lived up to their potential?  I think the world would be just as impacted now, as it was 2000 years ago when Jesus took 12 cast offs and made them world changers.  He simply showed them their wings, and what an impact they made. 

The reality is the world is greatly impacted by the missionaries, pastors, teachers, doctors, and laypeople every day many times over who have simply used their wings and trust the Holy Spirit to do the rest.  If we can convey to our students to simply trust God, being willing to grow, and know that our failures are not fatal, there will be no holding them back.  They just need to stretch their wings.

A while back, I sat in a coffee shop and in hopped a bird.  He was pecking the crumbs off the floor.  I sat at the table eating a scone, which was right above him.  He had also hopped in.  A hot warm scone sat right above him, and he was settling for crumbs on a floor.  He and the hopping bird seem to have the same problem.  They didn’t know what they had right in front of them.

I wonder if it was the same bird. 

They Are Only Giants

One of the realities of ministry is that we will face obstacles and challenges.  The question then is do these challenges stop us from what God has for us, or do we face the challenges and move forward?  Issues such as worry and doubt can become giants that keep us from entering the blessing that God has for us and our ministry.  

When we look at Numbers 13:27-32 we see spies who allowed the limitations they saw keep them from receiving the blessing God had for them.  God sent them in to the land to spy out what he had already promised them.  Instead of realizing that God had already given them the land, they instead respond with fear and doubt, leaving them wandering for 40 years, never receiving what God already had given them!

The ‘giants’ we face can come in many forms, but how we respond will determine the end result. What is keeping us from receiving what God has already promised and given to us? What can we consider as we face challenges? 

Consider these things:

DON’T TURN OPPORTUNITIES IN TO OBSTACLES -  Two saw land and blessing, while ten saw walls and giants. So often we miss the opportunity hidden in the problem. Just beyond the challenge lies the opportunity.  Obstacles are meant to be pushed out of the way. Often we here people mus-characterized as “the bad kid that won’t change” or we hear people speak how “things have always been done this way.”   How often do we write people off, not realizing that God has brought them our way?  We become the agent of change to shape them and direct them toward the kind of life God had intended for them?  

OVERCOME THE ASSUMPTIONS.  The ten spies were looking through the wrong lens.  They already assumed they couldn’t defeat the giants.  What we think we see is not always the reality.  We often approach situations assuming we know the outcome.  This outcome is often based on the limitations we let dictate our lives.  Don’t let the assumptions you have of people, places, or situations remove you from moving forward in what God has for you.  How often do we misjudge or misread a situation, which keeps us from having the opportunity to make a difference?

DON’T LET FEAR BLOCK THE BLESSING.  The ten spies saw the giants, and forgot the blessing God had for them.  The promised land became an unopened gift they would never receive, because fear became the roadblock.  The land was already a guarantee.  They simply needed to take it. Focus on what God has placed before us, not on what stands in our way.   What stands in our way will eventually be behind us if we continue to move forward.  Remember, the giants only look big, but often it is simply a facade.  Fear is a facade that has no power.

TRUST WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY GIVEN YOU. Don’t let Go of What God has already given you.  God has already given you everything you need to overcome the obstacles that stand in your way. The size of our obstacles always diminish when held up to the glory of God. In the end, when we trust God and allow him to lead us, we find out the giants weren’t giants at all. 

What we Must Do?

a.    Trust God and trust that He is leading you

b.    Find and work with those who are going the same direction

c.    Keep your eye on the promise not on the problem

d.    Change your perspective of how you see obstacles

e.    Seek wisdom and counsel from trusted mentors and leaders

f.     Always keep the vision before you of what God has called you to do

What became of the other two spies?  For 40 years, they wandered with the others.  However, God remembered their faithfulness and willingness to move forward and take the land. In those years, they would come to be trusted men who stood beside Moses, and were raised up to lead.  Of the twelve spies, Joshua and Caleb would be the only ones to enter the land of promise.  Not only did they enter the land, but they led the others into what God had already given to them so long ago. Trusting God not only becomes an opportunity to be blessed, but also an opportunity to lead.   

So when you look at obstacles and when you face challenges, remember this: they only look like Giants