3rd Stupid Thing - Second Rate Worship

Colossians 3:17

Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to the Father because of Him.

This is the 3rd posting on stupid things churches do to keep from growing. This is the most difficult one to write yet,  because it sounds so judgmental and subjective. I hope to write about principles and not my personal ideas and preference about worship but not sure if it can be done.

Here's the problem I witness most often; Worship is not God centered. Songs are often weak in theology, talk about one attribute of God over and over or sounds like passionate lovemaking music to Jesus.  I am all for intimate worship that is God focused and I don't mind a little focus on 'me and God'. However, worship should leave me with an awe of the power and wonder of God. It should remind me that God can be trusted if I walk with him in obedience.  I sometimes am left with feeling after worship that no matter what, God will work it out for me because He is on my side. What happened to my responsibility of faithfulness to God.

When will someone quote Jeremiah 29:11 AND 12. If you turn back to me, them I will hear you.

Worship should be full of If...Then statements. If you love then they will know you are His disciples. If you are connected to the vine then you will bear fruit. If you seek first the kingdom of God then these things will be given to you.  What I am saying is that I leave many worship services feeling that I am strong enough to make it instead of God is strong enough to carry me through it.  Worship should connect me with God first and foremost.  He is the potter and I am the clay.

Secondly, an awful lot of time is wasted in worship.  Wasted in announcements, inside jokes, tons of music, long empty prayers, unprepared ushers, long sermons. I have been guilty of all these things and I know they happen but it should be rare.  It doesn't bother me if there is a tech problem, that happens. It bothers me if nobody planned prayer time. It is the same ole prayer said the same ole way every Sunday.  Come on, get creative and teach people to pray.

How much music is necessary? Think about it... It is not a concert and specials are not special most of the time.

I was at a church yesterday that called all teachers and school employees forward and the congregation came round them and laid hands on them.  So cool. There was a brief encouraging message given and then a wonderful prayer prayed over them. I was a guest and thought, "this church loves teachers and school systems!"

When planning worship, who do you have in mind? A skeptic, newcomer, old timer, teenagers? Who? I always tried to plan worship that a newcomer would feel comfortable being part of. I wanted to start with something that anyone could relate to: humor. I wanted to connect with even the skeptic within the first few minutes. I wanted the songs to make sense at the beginning. We are singing lots of weak songs with a great melody.  Sing songs that mean something. Shortly after that we would move into a more intimate time of worship. This time was often explained each Sunday in a way like this: "in the next few minutes, we are going to celebrate our commitment and love for Jesus Christ. We welcome you to sing with us or just read the words. This is a time for us to renew, reconnect and celebrate our relationship with Jesus."

Prayer time was focused and different each week. We would focus on things like community issues, government officials, healing, other churches, certain ministries, the lost, the vision of the church, staff and leaders, etc.... I wanted prayer to always be a surprise. Sometimes we would light a candle for a specific need and other times we would anoint with oil? I wanted people to know that we were a praying church and we believed in an awesome God.

The only announcements given were ones that affected the entire church body. Not meetings, not individuals small groups, not youth group stuff.

Birthdays and Anniversaries. Okay, I know this will make a few angry but maybe they don't read the blog anyway. Birthdays and Anniversary time during worship just doesn't fit. You may like it and they may like it but visitors could care less and actually it does nothing for our encounter with God.  It detracts and is a waste of time.

Last thought, video your worship service and with your worship leader, pastor and entire team, watch the service and start with a few changes.    Wait  a few weeks and do it again. Make a few more changes. Work at making worship the absolute best that it can be.

Number 2 - The Role of the Pastor

What are the main disciplines of a pastor?  What should the disciplines be?  I have been writing about stupid things churches do to keep from growing.  I submit these thoughts humbly and with over 30 years of front line experience in ministry.  I have no ax to grind  by writing this blog, my vision for IL Ministries is to create healthy and growing churches and I  believe that a healthy role for the Lead Pastor contributes greatly to the health of the church.

Here are the main disciplines that Lead Pastors (single staff or multiple staff) should be doing with their time:

1) The Discipline of Prayer - For guidance and wisdom, For fresh vision, For ministry leaders and staff, For ministries, For people in the congregation, For the lost, For insight to scripture, For family... This role of shepherding cannot be done in five minute devotional times or a prayer in the shower.  Pastors  need blocks of time in the work schedule for this type of leadership.  The pastor needs to be provided a place in the church for a nice study or office that is quiet and lends for an atmosphere that is suited for their time with God.  It needs to be obvious in the witness of the pastor that he or she is a praying person.  Let me confess that this has always been the most difficult discipline in my ministry and still is to this day.  Just because it is difficult, it doesn't mean that it can be forgotten or ignored.  I have to schedule it on my calendar just like any other meeting.   I wish congregations would learn to hold the pastor accountable for this discipline more than "remembering birthdays,  visiting your neighbor in the hospital, or writing a thank you letter to the CWC for providing lunch to newcomers".  This is the most important role of the pastor.

2) The Discipline of Equipping the Saints -   I spoke with a lay leader yesterday that asked me, "How can I tell my pastor that he doesn't have to do everything because I want to learn to do ministry? I may not do it as well as him at first but I know I would get better. I want to serve."  Pastor, Equip the saints! I remember many years ago, Joyce looked at me one Sunday while I was setting up communion.  Joyce was always at church early because her daughter was setting up for children's church.  Joyce said, "Why don't you teach me how to do that and I will  take care of it from now on?"  I replied, "that's okay Joyce, I am used to it" and kept on walking.  She followed me into the sanctuary and said, "sit down." 

"Son", she said, "you are a great preacher. I love it when you sing and play the piano.  It is very obvious you love the people in this church. But what you are doing is wrong. You have to stop doing everything around here. I have never seen a preacher do all the work."  Joyce was 30 years my senior and she was right.  Joyce also served on my Elder Board and that next meeting we talked about the discussion and my role changed. My elders changed my Job Description that night and it set me on a new course of leadership.  I hired a coach - I changed my reading and praying habits - I learned the difference between dumping a ministry on the saints to equipping the saints!

3) The Discipline of Leadership and Casting Vision -  Whether the vision is developed by a group of leaders, a congregation or a pastor gets the vision on a mountain top - He has to be the one that drives the vision.  Pastors, learn how to cast vision.

4) The Discipline of Teaching, Preaching and Study - Handle this discipline with expertise and planning.  Plan ahead - God deserves to have time to speak to you in preparation.  The Spirit deserves to develop a message.  A lack of planning and thinking lends itself to sloppy preaching.  The congregation doesn't expect you to preach like Arlo Newell, Dave Sebastian, James Earl Massey or Ray Chin.  However, they deserve to hear from a man or woman of God that has been with Jesus and the message has been developed and inspired by the Holy Spirit.

There are many other things that pastors need to do and do well.  Notice what is not on the list.  If you are pastor, notice what occupies most of your time. Take the time this week to think about how much more effective you could be if you learned to develop these 4 disciplines.

Stupid Thing #1

Stupid Thing # 1

First of all, let me preface these writings by saying, my mother taught me better than to use the word ‘stupid’ but it did get the attention of more readers.  My intention is not to be degrading but catch the attention of a few more readers to recognize what I am trying to accomplish in this writing.

The first stupid thing that churches do that keeps them from effective ministry is, doing too much.  When I was pastoring I would often cringe when I would hear the stories of parents that are running their children from one lesson to another lesson and one sporting event to another. Their side comment was often, “they need a scholarship in something!”  While the effort of parents is admirable to want the best for their children, they would often have to say ‘no’ to some really great events like youth retreats or youth camps/conventions because the kids were so busy.

I remember one evening spending time with a large group of teens after a service at a youth convention.  One teen after the other began to weep about how stressed and tired they were because their parents wanted them in all these activities.  They were afraid to tell their parents because it might crush them and after all the parents had made it clear that their college future depended on the scholarship.

Lisa and I allowed our two daughters to be involved in one thing at a time.  It was mandatory that they stayed active in church activities.  We saved money for their college.  Whether they attended a college was not dependent on if they were a great cheerleader or violin player.  Our youngest attended a specialty college in cosmetology and our oldest graduated debt free from a university.  They didn’t attend a private college and would probably have debt if they had chosen that path.  But they are debt free.

This was our idea of keeping life simple.  We often regret not saving more so they could have had the choice to attend a private college.  We sometimes feel we missed out because they were not a part of more activities with friends.  I love reading about how great my nieces and nephews are doing in sports.  Friends on Facebook are incredibly busy with their gifted and beautiful children.  This blog is not about slamming anyone and saying that Lisa and I did perfect.  It is not in my blood to say, “I am better than anyone.” 

My point is this, in the life of the church, better ministry can be accomplished when churches find their niche and do it to the best of their ability.  Churches do not have to do everything or every new idea.  What do you do best?  Do that – and do it to the best of your ability.  Make sure those three or four things improve each year.  Tell the stories of those things.  Then with everything else, ‘stop it.’  Just pull the plug and concentrate on those things.  Here are a few examples with worship being an obvious given:

·      Worship, Small Groups, Vacation Bible School, Prayer Ministry

·      Worship, Missions, Discipleship, Choir

·      Worship, Sunday School, Food Pantry, Children’s Ministry

·      Worship, Evangelism / Outreach, Senior Ministry, Student Ministry

Once the church begins to show signs of health and growth, you might consider adding another strength to the list of ministries.

Do a few things well or life gets overwhelming, people burn-out, they leave and go to a church that they can find rest.