Got another wonderful bit of “spiritual criticism” the other day on my blog, WorshipSetIdeas.com. Here it is:
Wow. A blog showing off worship sessions from churches. Never thought I would ever see something like this. I thought worship was meant for the Lord, not for broadcasting like a show on youtube or blogs. All I see is MAN and God taking backseat in a wonderfully and marvelously produced show.
Compare these lavish worship session and church decor with the amazing growing church in China, Africa or any part of the world and you will see a massive contrast. One so entertainment driven to excite, entice and draw in, and the other utterly and purely for the sake of worshiping the Creator. The heart might be right, but the methods are all messy.
Now, we could poke holes in his comment all day. I’m not going to focus on that. I’m not even going to focus on his chumplikeness for leaving the comment anonymously. I’m going to comment on why this affected me.
He went the “spiritual route”. Ouch! He made me feel like I was so unspiritual for having a blog like this. That’s the lowest blow. It hits below the spiritual belt and makes you writhe in guttural pain. This actually flashed across my mind: “God is rejecting me for destroying His Church!”
Call me a bit dramatic…but I feel like that any time I get some of this “spiritual criticism”. Are you the same way? Do you get hurt each time someone attacks your church for not being “spiritual enough”?
It’s really ludicrous. His criticism wasn’t rooted in the Spirit. Criticism and Spirit have no business being in the same sentence. So I can relax a little.
Plus, I need to be confident in the calling God has on my life. I’m never going to let a man convict me…only God. As long as I submit this to Him and let Him call the shots…I’ll be fine.
Maybe I’m talking about me in this post. But I get the feeling I just might be talking about you too. Don’t let “spiritual criticism” affect your work at church. Press on toward God’s calling and let the haters hate all they want.
You keep doing what you’re doing. Your ministry has helped, encouraged, and inspired me at both the highest and lowest points of my ministry. I’m sure no Chinese brother or sister would complain about praising the Lord in one of these “broadcasted shows.”
Thanks, Jordan! 🙂
You keep doing what you’re doing. Your ministry has helped, encouraged, and inspired me at both the highest and lowest points of my ministry. I’m sure no Chinese brother or sister would complain about praising the Lord in one of these “broadcasted shows.”
Thanks, Jordan! 🙂
It’s books like Sacred Pathways that helped us realize that there is meaning in stage design when at first we were critical. It doesn’t take away from worship in any other part of the world…it just means we are trying to reach the greatest number in the way they relate to God best…it’s honing in on the details. Is there a fine line between “who” our audience is, yes, of course. But we should be careful to not judge what another church is doing to facilitate meaningful worship to their congregants. Sacred Pathways…awesome book.
It’s books like Sacred Pathways that helped us realize that there is meaning in stage design when at first we were critical. It doesn’t take away from worship in any other part of the world…it just means we are trying to reach the greatest number in the way they relate to God best…it’s honing in on the details. Is there a fine line between “who” our audience is, yes, of course. But we should be careful to not judge what another church is doing to facilitate meaningful worship to their congregants. Sacred Pathways…awesome book.
What is Driscoll says? …Something like, “If you don’t have critics you probably aren’t doing anything”. I’m sure the religious leaders criticized Jesus saying, “He just wins followers with free food, dynamic speaking and magic tricks”. I manage my church’s twitter account and earlier today the COO of a large charity publicly scolded us for running a campaign that said, “Give church a chance and we’ll cover your gas”. He said giving out $5 gas cards to entice people to come to church is a gimmick and is wrong. It hurt hearing that from someone I really respect. But the truth is we had 40 people show up at church last week that weren’t Christians as a result. Half of them turned in connection cards. My point: take the critics as a positive reminder that you are “doing something”.
“He just wins followers with free food, dynamic speaking and magic tricks.” That’s such a great point! Those people that endlessly criticize others for not being as “spiritual” as them or not using their preferred methods are no different from the Pharisees. There’s absolutely no Biblical basis, just opinions based on their experiences, which is a very immature thing to do.
What is Driscoll says? …Something like, “If you don’t have critics you probably aren’t doing anything”. I’m sure the religious leaders criticized Jesus saying, “He just wins followers with free food, dynamic speaking and magic tricks”. I manage my church’s twitter account and earlier today the COO of a large charity publicly scolded us for running a campaign that said, “Give church a chance and we’ll cover your gas”. He said giving out $5 gas cards to entice people to come to church is a gimmick and is wrong. It hurt hearing that from someone I really respect. But the truth is we had 40 people show up at church last week that weren’t Christians as a result. Half of them turned in connection cards. My point: take the critics as a positive reminder that you are “doing something”.
“He just wins followers with free food, dynamic speaking and magic tricks.” That’s such a great point! Those people that endlessly criticize others for not being as “spiritual” as them or not using their preferred methods are no different from the Pharisees. There’s absolutely no Biblical basis, just opinions based on their experiences, which is a very immature thing to do.
It’s in times like these that we remember the truth spoken by Madeleine L’Engle : “There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of the deepest messages of the Incarnation.”
If God could take on human flesh and redeem it for His glory, then there is nothing outside the realm of redemption. We remember that God’s desire is not solely for the hearts of people but for the reconciliation of ALL creation back to himself – our songs, our stages, our gatherings, the grass, the trees, everything animate or inanimate, known or yet to be discovered in all the galaxies and realms ever to exist.
Why do we belittle God in saying that there is something that He has made or an ability He placed inside of his creation that is beyond His glory?
Love you, brother. Press on.
It’s in times like these that we remember the truth spoken by Madeleine L’Engle : “There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of the deepest messages of the Incarnation.”
If God could take on human flesh and redeem it for His glory, then there is nothing outside the realm of redemption. We remember that God’s desire is not solely for the hearts of people but for the reconciliation of ALL creation back to himself – our songs, our stages, our gatherings, the grass, the trees, everything animate or inanimate, known or yet to be discovered in all the galaxies and realms ever to exist.
Why do we belittle God in saying that there is something that He has made or an ability He placed inside of his creation that is beyond His glory?
Love you, brother. Press on.
And showing off, really?? This is about helping people be creative!! That’s a God given talent. There’s no showing off here.
And showing off, really?? This is about helping people be creative!! That’s a God given talent. There’s no showing off here.
Jonathan,
You are doing a fantastic job! Your blog and webpage reminds me to the parable of the Talents, are we serving God with all our talents? Everything that we are and we know and we “create” gotta be for the Lord!!! How amazing is that we can get creative and make wonderful stages for the King of Kings, like Salomon who built the temple of God and it was sooo majestic that there was nothing like it back then…,
Keep on doing what you are doing, Good job and God bless you
Jonathan,
You are doing a fantastic job! Your blog and webpage reminds me to the parable of the Talents, are we serving God with all our talents? Everything that we are and we know and we “create” gotta be for the Lord!!! How amazing is that we can get creative and make wonderful stages for the King of Kings, like Salomon who built the temple of God and it was sooo majestic that there was nothing like it back then…,
Keep on doing what you are doing, Good job and God bless you
Don’t sweat it, bro. You’re doing an awesome thing!
Don’t sweat it, bro. You’re doing an awesome thing!
Hateraide….that’s what haters drink. Dude probably has an android phone in his pocket too…but has too much pride to get the new iPhone because all his smack talking/hating on iPhones…hahaha
But no really. You’re like David. Wasn’t even called to be in the lineup to fight and you said no send me! I really know this business (blogs, creatives, etc). This life is a battle against not flesh but principalities and you’re killing the giant one blog/idea at time and each person you reach can reach someone else. Teaching that we don’t have to be so serious all the time. That thinking outside of “what we’ve always done” is totally okay. Church is fun and so is serving the Creator of the universe. With your wisdom and fighting skills we can change the world. So poop on the dumb devil! Slay on friend. Do your thing. Then if they’re still being mean Carolina will punch them for you. Hahahaa because she’s awesome like that.
Hateraide….that’s what haters drink. Dude probably has an android phone in his pocket too…but has too much pride to get the new iPhone because all his smack talking/hating on iPhones…hahaha
But no really. You’re like David. Wasn’t even called to be in the lineup to fight and you said no send me! I really know this business (blogs, creatives, etc). This life is a battle against not flesh but principalities and you’re killing the giant one blog/idea at time and each person you reach can reach someone else. Teaching that we don’t have to be so serious all the time. That thinking outside of “what we’ve always done” is totally okay. Church is fun and so is serving the Creator of the universe. With your wisdom and fighting skills we can change the world. So poop on the dumb devil! Slay on friend. Do your thing. Then if they’re still being mean Carolina will punch them for you. Hahahaa because she’s awesome like that.
So this world can be all so stage prepared and have one great show and not for God? Our reason for being here is to tell the world the greatness of our God. How can they know greatness of God if what they see is just a plain church. I mean, God is the center of it all.
This is just one thing we do in the church. How to beautify the church. Well I guess, that guy who commented was not really a part of any ministry at all. 🙂
So this world can be all so stage prepared and have one great show and not for God? Our reason for being here is to tell the world the greatness of our God. How can they know greatness of God if what they see is just a plain church. I mean, God is the center of it all.
This is just one thing we do in the church. How to beautify the church. Well I guess, that guy who commented was not really a part of any ministry at all. 🙂