Browsing Category: Church

Ponder…Enhance

I can do nothing to enhance the Word of God. I can only tremble at the expanse of vision that the Word of God led me to during my work on this project. This vision is a luminal space that, in recent times, imagination has rarely approached. We are invited by our Creator to enter that space, an invitation which is extended to anyone desiring to journey there. – Makoto Fujimara

“Enhance.” We throw that word around a lot in churches today it seems. Makoto put words to my thoughts on the word and I think this quote is beautiful. It is from the introduction of Makoto’s The Four Holy Gospels. It is the Scripture of the Four Gospels illuminated by Fujimara’s paintings. It’s quite a sight to behold.

Comment Church, Creativity, Deep Thinking, Ponder...

The Twenty #3 – Why church is Relevant for Me

I used to work at a church where “relevant” was tossed around like a baseball. It was one of three words that closed out our mission statement. But, I’ll be honest, these days I cringe a little bit inside when I hear the words “relevant” and “church” in the same sentence.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t think church should be relevant. But, I’m not sure it should be a primary focus. I think the climb up the mountain of “relevancy” can be a slippery slope.

I believe that the concept of “church” will always be relevant because God designed us to live and love and learn in community…in the church. However, that may not always be the case with the institution or organization of the local church. For me, the local church is only relevant if it’s a representation of the Church.

These days, church is more than just a place I go to on Sunday mornings. And that’s what makes it relevant for me. It is family. It is support. It is accountability. It is love. It is compassion. It is encouragement. It is being challenged. It is brokenness and grace in action. It is rest. It’s gathering together with people whose hearts are knit together in some way to worship the One who created them all. It is the Church in action. And that makes it “relevant.”

Is church “relevant” for you? Why or why not?

2 Comments Church

The Twenty – #1: The Most Difficult Thing about Working at a Church

Gary Molander is someone I have great respect for and someone I think you should know. And when Gary posted a list of 20 things he wanted people to write about I got some inspiration. So, welcome to The Twenty series. One post a week. One topic from the list each week. Some of them I already have countless ideas for. Others, not so much. So, it ought to be a good challenge. :)

#1: The Most Difficult Thing About Working at a Church

Looking back I honestly think that the most difficult thing about working at a church for me was what came after I left.

I have struggled since leaving my position at a church to feel like I am living my purpose. And I’ve just recently begun to understand why. I feel called to serve the Church. And for the last 7 years of my life serving the Church has been my job. Though I was only on staff for 2 years at a church prior to that I served in roles that were volunteer staff for lack of a better description. So for 7 years what I have labeled ministry has been very regular, very scheduled, very constant in my life.

Fast forward to now, and I am not doing anything close to that. I am involved in my local church and volunteer a bit outside of that as well, but not nearly on the scale that I have for so long. Yet, I still long to live for something greater than myself…to feel like I am living my God-given purpose.

I’ve come to the realization that I have defined ministry as a job rather than a lifestyle.  I came to equate serving the Church with vocational ministry and ministry with being on church at a staff. I put serving the Church in the box of church staff and ministry in the box of church staff. In my mind the way to serve the Church was to be on church staff and ministry was being on church staff. And the reality is I think many who work in churches today end up doing that same thing without even knowing it.

But ministry is so much bigger than being on staff at a church and serving the Church is so much bigger than vocational ministry. Ministry is life. Life is ministry. At the end of the day ministry is people, it is serving the Church, it is compassion and caring and supporting and encouraging and admonishing and discipling and mentoring and loving. It is life. And it happens in schools and department stores. On blogs and on airplanes. In medical offices and art studios. It happens wherever it is that God places you. And so does serving the Church.

As I retrain my brain and learn redefine the term “ministry” I see that I really am living my purpose. If I am loving Him and loving others. If I am living out my faith, using the gifts He’s given me, then I am living my purpose. I am serving the Church. I am doing ministry.

How do you define “ministry” and “serving the Church?”

7 Comments Church, Missions

Saving the Church?

“The arts will save the Church.”

I’ve heard that said countless times in the last couple of months and I’ve even said it myself. But, the more I’ve been thinking about it, the more something about that phrase just doesn’t sit right with me.

Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that the arts can have a very meaningful and sacred place in worship. They can both guide people to the Father’s feet and be a response of worship when sitting there. However, I think saying they will save the church is giving them entirely too much power. To be honest, I’m not sure that the Church even needs saving. And if it does, I think it’s a bit presumptuous of any of us to think that something we do will save it.

Now here’s the thing, I understand what most people who say something like that mean…where they’re coming from and what they’re getting at. But, I think that language…one of something we do saving the Church…is a dangerous one…one that will slowly change our motivations if we’re not careful.

Honestly, that realization is a relief to me…it takes away a lot of pressure. Does that mean I stop using my creative and artistic gifts to serve the Church in worship? Absolutely not. But, it does mean that I remember that the Church doesn’t need me or my art or creativity. That at the end of the day I’m simply asked to pour out what has been given to me.

I just can’t shake a question that’s been nagging at me for months…what would it look like if “better” art or “more” creativity wasn’t our focus. I wonder if a focus on truly living out the faith we claim to have as a community of believers would result in expressions of worship far beyond anything we could ever imagine because they wouldn’t be born out of a creative brainstorming session but rather an encounter with the living God as we walk in relationship with Him.

I don’t have the answers of what that “should” look like…or even necessarily if the Church “should” look like that to begin with. I just like to ask the inconvenient questions. :)

Thoughts?

3 Comments Church, Creativity, Worship

Guilty

I’ll be honest, I’m 100% guilty of too often not dying to my artistic pride. I too often sit in judgement of people I deem as not “getting it.” I can be overly critical. I can analyze and pick apart for hours on end. My friends know not to ask me to filter something unless they want an honest critique.

Now, I recognize that questioning and analyzing to some degree is a healthy practice. But, too many times I take it to an unhealthy extreme. And in doing so I think I end up doing just as much damage, if not more, to the Church as those I am criticizing for hurting the Church…or maybe just the perception of the Church in the world (that could be a whole separate post…can we really hurt the Church anyway?)

If I’ve learned anything in the last couple of years it’s that there isn’t one “right way” to do most things in the Church and corporate worship. I’ve learned that a whole lot of it is personal preference. And in the end a whole lot of it doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m learning which hills to die on…and to die in service and humility, not because of artistic pride.

So, tell me, do you often lose the battle with your artistic pride too or am I the only one?

3 Comments Church, Deep Thinking, Worship

Does the Church Need to be Creative?

I got an email from a friend the other day asking these questions:

“What does the church really need? What do people need to know in order to be creative? Do they even need to be taught to be creative?”

Hmmm. That got me thinking. That’s a tough question…”what does the church need?” I’m not sure that’s up to us to decide or figure out or know. But, let’s pretend for a minute that it is. Do they need to be taught to be creative? Do they even need to be creative? Those are questions that, honestly, I go back and forth on a lot.

Sometimes I think we put too much emphasis & pressure on “being creative” and forget that we’re called to love God and love people first and foremost. I wonder if we shifted our focus we’d find that “creativity” flows naturally.

If being “creative is what we need…and something we need to do “better”…I think we’d do ourselves a favor if we stopped trying to learn from each other so much and instead walked out of our church bubble, sat still, and observed the world. Personally, I get burned out on the topic of “creativity” – how to do it, how to do it better, what not to do, how to increase it, etc. I’m not sure that we can add to the ability to create that God has already put in each of us. Perhaps we can learn to unlock it? And maybe that’s what the church needs…to learn how to surrender fear, get over ourselves, and unlock the creativity that is in us. And I think a large part of the answer to “unlocking” is simpler than we think: stop imitating. Instead of looking to the church next door or the latest pop culture craze for creative inspiration why don’t we try reading Scripture and taking a minute to stop and look at the life and experiences God has placed us in the middle of.

And then I return to the idea that “being creative” isn’t really what the church needs in the first place.

Those are my random, in process, disjointed thoughts on those questions. I’d love to hear yours! Do you agree? Disagree? What would you add?

6 Comments Church, Creativity