WARS

Photo Credit:  gentsamongmen.com 

One of the things, sadly, the church has become known for over the decades is generational warfare over worship styles and practices - arguing and bickering about the kind of music we should use to honor the God who died to make us one.  The single most common subject for church fights - how and what we sing.  I'm talking full-scale, guerrilla warfare.  I'm talking church splits.  Division and break ups.  It's tragic.

I believe ... it is sin.

In John chapter 4 a Samaritan woman is talking to Jesus and she asks:  "Where should we worship God?  At the Samaritan place of worship, Mount Gerizim, or in Jerusalem as the Israelites say?"

And Jesus lets her know it isn't about geography or approach.  He says the time is going to come when people realize it isn't about this mountain or that mountain.  God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth.

The mistake she makes and the mistake many of us make is when we believe the only folks who get worship right are the people in our little group who do it in our little style on our little mountain.

I'll be real with you.  In my role I'm sometimes on the receiving end of comments, both pro and con, about what is going on in the church.

"When will we hear the songs we used to sing long ago?"
"When will we worship with real reverence here?"
"When will you do something I like?"

Here's what we've decided to do at Journey ... 

We're going to respond to God's glory and honor and majesty with full hearts and worship with all our minds and all our strength and all our souls with every resource we have at our disposal.

And sometimes we'll come and be overwhelmed by the holiness of God - and we'll be driven to our knees in response.

Sometimes we'll come and be overpowered by the great compassion of God - and we'll throw ourselves at Jesus' feet in repentance.

Sometimes we'll be seized by the joy of the Lord - and our feet won't be stilled.

We won't be present as consumers ... 

God deserves better.

But here's one thing we won't do.  We won't be present as consumers.  You and I are here primarily as givers of worship to an all-powerful God, not as takers of worship.  God deserves far better.

At Journey, we've simply made the choice that whatever brings honor and glory to God and will make worship accessible to the maximum number of people in our culture who are walking toward eternities separated from Christ and bring them into the Jesus community -- we'll do that.

We've decided we aren't having generational power struggles over worship.  That's a major sign of a church in decline.  That won't be us.


** I'm so proud of our older generations at Journey Church.  They've navigated the winds of change over the past years.  They've handled revisions - modifications - alterations graciously, lovingly, patiently.  They've decided to let their hearts be blessed by the hundreds of students, 20-something, 30-somethings who gather in the house to worship God every weekend.  As mature believers in Christ, they've made a decision to give up what they grew up on and embrace the coming generation and their styles that also honor God in His full glory, rather than sit in their seats with their arms folded and talk about how we don't do their songs any more.

They've made a decision along with Joelene and me that at the heart of the growing and thriving Jesus community is this value -- that instead of focusing on our tastes - our wants - our wishes - our past -- we'll worship God here at our 'mountains' in Kenosha and Burlington in a way that blesses God and in a way that makes worship attainable by a new generation -- where we who are older can say, 'You, come on in.  We aren't hoarding this treasure for ourselves.'  We'll keep singing a new song and then another new one and another and another and another, and we'll keep seeing the generations come find Jesus.

We've imagined being part of a great church means being willing to pour the Living Water out of containers our generation has never drunk from in order to reach the next generation for Jesus.

I'm so proud of Journey Church.

#journeyforward

And be blessed.