Reunion or renewal?
As I write tonight, I am sitting in a cottage near the ocean. I am relaxing (sort of) and reflecting on a good many things. We are in the middle of our annual camp meetings in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. I have been coming to these meetings off and on for the last 20 years. Some of those years I have served on the staff. Mostly, Janet and I have been part of the youth and children's ministries.
This place has a rich heritage and a good many people, even younger ones, have walked up to me and indicated their love for this place. Most of them have indicated their desire to stay part of the meetings, because the meetings serve as a "reunion" place. Few if any really mention the place having spiritual significance to them. The lack of the spiritual connection has saddened me this weekend as I have thought about that. Many spoke to me about the meetings as sort of an ancillary function to the reunions they would have. The crowds have not seemed to be very good this year.
On the other hand, I had an opportunity last evening to attend a lecture by Adam Russell Taylor of Sojourners. He spoke openly about the organization's new initiative to call our politicians to a new covenant with America. At the end of the lecture, during the questions and answer session, people talked about the spiritual commitments they made and renewal they felt as a result of hearing about social justice. They saw the need for Christians to rally around the issues of the defeat of poverty, the strengthening of the family, and the efforts to end violence in our land and others. They voiced that this was a renewal experience for them.
I wondered about this. Here I have been sitting in meetings where we are to worship and hear from God and heard very little of a spiritual connection. On the other hand, I go to a lecture and hear about spiritual renewal that takes place in the fight for justice for all.
I would hasten to say that this morning, I felt God speak in the worship gathering and I had opportunity to pray with some friends. I do, however, not really see this as the norm in most of our big gatherings. I am not sure why that is. I think people expect something. I am not sure they see the experience as authentic. Yet, those 75 or so people gathered last evening, made real spiritual commitments to living out the Gospel in a practical way.
Is it that we have lost our hands-on Gospel in many places in the church? Is it that worship is best exemplified in missional pursuits? I am convinced that the church needs to move to the big issues such as fighting poverty, providing leadership in education and the cessation of violence. For too long, we may have let one section of the church center our focus on our needs and our prosperity and comfort. We have allowed a small minority to say the "Moral Values" are those of fighting gay marriage and abortion. They are important issues on which the church must lead, but with grace and dignity. Yet, it seems that our best evangelism tool is getting people involved with us in fighting poverty and improving education. Could these be the real moral values on which we can build a bridge of grace and hope to a world that needs Jesus?
I am still wondering if we need $20 million dollar facilities to do it, as helpful as they may be.
Is it possible, as we have gathered in our Sunday best in our big meetings we have chosen form over function? Is it possible that our talk of needing renewal is code for finding comfort? I struggle with finding a balance in my own life. I don't have any good answers.
Sure God speaks in the worship gatherings. He did today. But I wonder if mission may be our best form of worship and evangelism.
What do you think?
This place has a rich heritage and a good many people, even younger ones, have walked up to me and indicated their love for this place. Most of them have indicated their desire to stay part of the meetings, because the meetings serve as a "reunion" place. Few if any really mention the place having spiritual significance to them. The lack of the spiritual connection has saddened me this weekend as I have thought about that. Many spoke to me about the meetings as sort of an ancillary function to the reunions they would have. The crowds have not seemed to be very good this year.
On the other hand, I had an opportunity last evening to attend a lecture by Adam Russell Taylor of Sojourners. He spoke openly about the organization's new initiative to call our politicians to a new covenant with America. At the end of the lecture, during the questions and answer session, people talked about the spiritual commitments they made and renewal they felt as a result of hearing about social justice. They saw the need for Christians to rally around the issues of the defeat of poverty, the strengthening of the family, and the efforts to end violence in our land and others. They voiced that this was a renewal experience for them.
I wondered about this. Here I have been sitting in meetings where we are to worship and hear from God and heard very little of a spiritual connection. On the other hand, I go to a lecture and hear about spiritual renewal that takes place in the fight for justice for all.
I would hasten to say that this morning, I felt God speak in the worship gathering and I had opportunity to pray with some friends. I do, however, not really see this as the norm in most of our big gatherings. I am not sure why that is. I think people expect something. I am not sure they see the experience as authentic. Yet, those 75 or so people gathered last evening, made real spiritual commitments to living out the Gospel in a practical way.
Is it that we have lost our hands-on Gospel in many places in the church? Is it that worship is best exemplified in missional pursuits? I am convinced that the church needs to move to the big issues such as fighting poverty, providing leadership in education and the cessation of violence. For too long, we may have let one section of the church center our focus on our needs and our prosperity and comfort. We have allowed a small minority to say the "Moral Values" are those of fighting gay marriage and abortion. They are important issues on which the church must lead, but with grace and dignity. Yet, it seems that our best evangelism tool is getting people involved with us in fighting poverty and improving education. Could these be the real moral values on which we can build a bridge of grace and hope to a world that needs Jesus?
I am still wondering if we need $20 million dollar facilities to do it, as helpful as they may be.
Is it possible, as we have gathered in our Sunday best in our big meetings we have chosen form over function? Is it possible that our talk of needing renewal is code for finding comfort? I struggle with finding a balance in my own life. I don't have any good answers.
Sure God speaks in the worship gatherings. He did today. But I wonder if mission may be our best form of worship and evangelism.
What do you think?
posted by Larry at 9:29 PM
7 Comments:
Excellent post. For one reason or another the Christian church tends to prioritize certain 'moral issues' over others. So often while fighting for the unborn we forget the plight of those born into suffering and poverty.
I think you're also right about mission being one of the best forms of worship. Part of the reason for this, I believe, is that it is much 'easier' to sit in an air-conditioned church then to be out in the community serving others.
But God calls us to come out of those comfort zones. By stepping into something for God and for others we are demonstrating our love, sacrifice and devotion to Him, perhaps more than we ever could sitting in a comfortable pew.
Peter Lublink
www.lublink.ca
I agree with Peter . . . (and you) mission is our best form of worship and evangelism. When God speaks to me in a worship gathering I usually take notes . . . God is calling me to do something . . . inspiring an idea . . . or something like that.
"I believe, is that it is much 'easier' to sit in an air-conditioned church then to be out in the community serving others."
Lol. Clearly Peter has not had to sit through some of the church services that I've had to sit through! : )
I wonder if God is calling His Army to attention? "Get ready for battle!" "Dust off your Sword and fight valiantly for Me!"
Aurora,
Interesting. Would you think that worship is part of war?
To me, with the connotation of war these days, terms like this metaphor can turn Christians and others away. I think, along with people like Brian McLaren, that we are about fulfilling God's dream.
One thing I think you have hit on the head is that we are called to be activists not just pew-fillers. Mission is essential for the church as an act of worship.
I, too, have spent many years making the trek to Old Orchard Beach, and have a number of memories of spiritual encounters surrounding the camp meetings, most of which had very little to do with the actual "meetings." Solitary moments at sunrise, pausing on the rocks at Two Lights, and perceptive conversations with another believer have tended to be the way in which spiritual connections with both God and my brothers and sisters have been made.
Just as a general comment, we as SA people do not tend to make many spiritual connections/spiritual conversations . . .
And why don't we sit closer together?????
I wonder, if the structure of the "meetings' allowed for questions, answers, and feedback, would there be responses that would be similar to the Sojourners lecture? What would a conversation have been like that would have echoed Calvin Miller's verbs of blot, wash, and cleanse (Ps. 51), or that would have risked talking about the personal experiences of brokenness that lead to a grief that can't be spoken? Could we have found ways to talk about what it looks like to sow seed recklessly, or to recognize the holiness that results when the seed of God penetrates the worst parts of my life, as Comm. Christine MacMillan challenged us? I realize that I really don't want to sit and listen to a sermon anymore - I want to interact with the gospel, with the thought of another.
I agree with hs, and I wrote in my Bible that same phrase from Comm. MacMillan, "when the seed of God penetrates the worst parts of my life." God's calling to believers has monumental effects and it shows in what they do and say. And it should be something that other people are able to detect and moniter.
Unifying conversations, like this lecture, are much more productive than 3 hour worship meetings, yet the seeds of inspiration were spread in both. My oldest son, 11, is still talking with us about the meetings he sat through the whole weekend. He captured every song, every drama, every testimony and is still thinking about them. Can I say they are ineffective? No, God's seed cast into the heart, has started germinating.
The gospel in conversation and daily life, that is where the deepest more effective testimony is found.
Testimonies are frequently found within conversations, especially the ones that are expressing care, concern and critical judgement.
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