Emerging church struggles against the consumer orientation of worship. Do we come to hear the funniest, best sermon from one man or woman? Or do we come to experience God? What if we brought our best to church? What if we brought our faith TO church? What if we open our hearts to something bigger than consuming a product offered on Sunday mornings?
May God show us the way to faith together. I pray to God that I never become the center of church or Sunday mornings...for then my life's purpose has failed. I pray that everyone sees my weakness and my inadequacies. I pray they see I am just a broken man. My prayer is that we bring our faith in God together, and together, we celebrate the God who loves us all. May we truly experience God.
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6 comments:
Your words are refreshing! How many of us have come across worship leaders who think that it is all about them and what antics they can perform to draw more and more people in. When do they realize that it is not only about them and the number of people they can reel in with their "propaganda"?
Mark,
What you wrote reminds me of one of my favorite songs "Heart of Worship" the words are as follows:
When the music fades
And all is stipped away
And I simply come.
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That would bless your heart.
I'll bring you more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what you have required,
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear,
You're looking into my heart.
I'm coming back to the heart of worship, where it's all about You
it's all about You, Jesus.
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it, because it's all about You, All about You Jesus.
The words to that song bring tears to my eyes everytime I hear it because it does make me think, What have we made it? Do we come to worship or come for something else?
What if we all longed to bring something that is of worth that would bless His heart? What if we remembered that it is about Him, not about us!!!
Thanks!! Cindyb
Thanks for this invitation to conversation around the emerging movement and Emergent and postmodernity. I wonder if you've read Emerging Churches by Bolger and Gibbs, as well as ChurchNext by Gibbs. These two books for me have been incredibly descriptive of the focus of churches thriving in reaching postmodern peoples. Emerging Churches is very clear that many churches trying to be "postmodern" are really just modern churches trying to be hip. The emerging movement is not about being relevant as being cool, but instead about being relevant so as to enter into dialog with some philosophical similarities. I found both of these books to be challenging and inspiring as we seek to reach out to postmodern people in context, becoming like all so as to win some to Christ, as Paul said.
Mark, this is great. Thanks for your series of posts on the Emerging Church. This is so needed.
Great video too.
I am sitting to your right.
Great words/truth/beauty from our friend and mentor Brian.
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