The song not sung in vain
I had to wonder what that guy in church today was thinking. He looked to be in his mid-30′s. His longish hair was feathered and spiked at the top. He was wearing dark jeans and sneakers. No belt. His multi-colored striped shirt didn’t match itself, nevermind anything else. A sports watch adorning his left wrist. His leather trench coat jacket lay splashed across the empty seat next to him. He had a good deal of acne across his face. He was alone. In the corner. We were singing:
Here I am to worship, how I am to bow down, here I am to say that you’re my God. You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me.
I wonder if he had a hard time getting into that song. I wonder if the words were really moving him. At one point, I caught him picking his nose. He didn’t close his eyes when the pastor prayed. His arms were folded. He stared off across the room. I’m not sure if he was fixated on a person or empty space. He was the first to leave once the service ended. Where was he going? Why did he show up in the first place? Had he found what he was looking for?
Could I blame him for not seeming into it? No. I could not. I have the same problem sometimes. After all, I spent more time focused on him than I did on anything else. Maybe he couldn’t relate to the words. And, I started wondering if he felt like the whole thing was one big sham. I wouldn’t have blamed him had he decided to flip off the entire congregation and walk out in the middle of the song. I’m sure that he had more than a few reasons to do just that.
At the same time, I am glad that he was in church. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. It may not happen immediately, but they will be filled.1 In the meantime, sometimes the best you can do is to sing in faith. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.2 Whether or not this man felt it, I believe that God was pleased.
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:29
Foolishness
It was kind of strange sight in what many would consider to be a strange place. There was no rockstar pounding on his guitar or wild-man playing the drums. There were no flashing lights to catch your attention or powerpoint video backgrounds to appease our collective ADD. There were no pretty women on stage for men to be distracted by and women to feel jealousy toward. There was hardly anything up there to evaluate or consider. Actually, there was no one on the stage at all. It was completely empty.
The only thing to look at was the wooden cross in the center of the stage. And, to tell you the truth, it was actually pretty refreshing.
Some things need to be dressed up. My coffee needs a lot of sugar to taste good. A house without decorations doesn’t feel like a home. Some people, feeling the need for enhancement, order the Bowflex or maybe even the Wonderbra. Some things don’t need enhancement, though. They are powerful enough on their own.
And sometimes the temptation for the person on stage is too much to handle. It becomes about how charismatic they are or how eloquently they speak. They start talking about “my church” and “my ministry” and how many important people they know and how much they tithe and how many books they’ve read or sold and how often they pray. They might even start a website with their name as the address. They love to show off their knowledge (or lack thereof). He might say, “it’s not about me”, but deep down you wonder if him saying it isn’t about him is an insidious way for it still to be about him. It’s a trap that is so easy to fall into.
Soon, people start worshipping the pastor or the worship leader. It’s happens easily, really. Whether it be a spiritual leader or girlfriend or celebrity or athlete, how tempted we are to worship other people. We buy their jerseys and watch Entertainment Tonight to follow their every move. We want them to sign our books or become our facebook friends. Instead of pointing to the truth, Paul Pierce becomes the truth and a glorious angel named “Lucifer” develops quite a following in heaven.
Recently, I saw a lady wearing a shirt from her church. What stood out to me most is what would stand out to anybody most. The reason it stood out so much is because it was in larger print than the rest of the shirt and in bold letters. It was the name of the pastor. It made me wonder who the most important person is at that church and who exactly it is that the parishioners go to see.
And who doesn’t want to be worshipped? I have had plenty of practice in handling failure. It’s success that I have the most trouble with. Things start going to my head and I start thinking that I’m better than others. With sports, I become less concerned with how the team performed and start paying too much attention to personal statistics and getting the recognition that I feel I deserve. I am not Paul Pierce, but I can internally pound my chest with the best of them. Still, it’s a great thing to be recognized. We need encouragement and applause and good feelings about our hard work and accomplishments. What we don’t need is to forget where the gifts and any reason to boast comes from.
During this unique worship service, though, no one was in a position of elevation and no voice stood out too much among the rest. It was a collection of voices from people who sing off key and have farts that smell really bad and sometimes feel so hurt and lonely and betrayed at the hands of others followers that they think they could die. At the same time, a beautiful sound is made. Something in the pain and even deeper than the pain calls to someone stronger than we could imagine. And yet, his strength was in his weakness. Though in very nature God, he took the nature of a servant. He made himself nothing and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory not of the one who must become less, but to the glory of God the Father.
It is a good thing, sometimes, to get away from the noise and listen to the song that rises louder than the loudest set of speakers and hear the story that has more depth and feeling than the most emotional of movies. It is a tale of broken people being made new. The cross is what made it all possible. It is a reminder of things that are finished and things still being done. Things that we can do without and things we need more desperately than ever. It is so central, yet a song some will never hear and a movie that many will never see. They focus so hard on the too often wayward and misguided group of followers that they often miss the person who is so worthy of being followed. Others get turned around by the glitz, glamour and empty promises that find their way into churches sometimes and call people from their first love. If you look hard enough, though, you just might find what you’re searching for or reconnect with what has been missing. And if you listen carefully enough, you might hear the song that has been sung from generation to generation and continues to be sung today. It is the song of the redeemed.
And with our hands lifted high, we come before you and sing.
And with our hands lifted high, we come before you rejoicing.
With our hands lifted high to the sky, when the world wonders why,
We’ll just tell them we’re loving our King.
Oh, we’ll just tell them we’re loving our King
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18
Not being yourself on Sunday
I recently heard someone describe the activities they participated in while at Youth Group the previous night. Their description consisted of helping the poor, planning a mission trip, and learning how to choose the paths that will take them to their ultimate destination. I then noticed the “What Would Jesus Do?” band on their wrist. This is when I became extremely confused.
You see, the previous day I had also overheard this person talk about how wasted they got on Friday and then describe in detail, with words I better not use in this essay, their activities on Saturday. I was just thankful they couldn’t remember enough to describe the last half of the night.
I see this person each day, duplicated many times around the school, and my judgment comes not from what they say they did at Youth Group, but what I know they did after. I personally don’t understand their motivation to take the time to put on a bracelet that is in reality the antithesis of their natural self.
They should at least be brave enough to stand up and say they believe there’s nothing wrong with their actions. There would be some dignity in this. Or they should be courageous enough to back up their bracelet and be the person they claim to be. People reserve the right to follow what they believe in, whether it is Jesus, Buddha, the individual, or nothing at all. It is only when one claims to be a deified version of one’s true self that really decreases one’s value as a human being. If one would only show who one is through actions, then all words would become nugatory. I don’t want to pretend that I am the perfect person, not even close. But I do strive to back up my values on paper with my actions in the world.
Even though I realize that I often mess up and make wrong choices, I continue strive to put my words into actions; and it is though these actions that I develop my character. It’s like a quote I heard long ago: Sow a thought, Reap an action. Sow an action, Reap a habit. Sow a habit, Reap a character. Sow a character, Reap a destiny.
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I recently came across the article above and I liked it. What this person describes bothers me to no end. It makes me angry when people verbally stand for one thing and do the opposite. Like the author of this article, I would rather someone not proclaim to be a Christian and openly get drunk and sleep around rather than claim to follow one set of beliefs and do something entirely different. I’ll take honesty over hypocrisy any day of the week.
Rather than being in the world but not of the world, it’s like these people want the best of both worlds. According to James, friendship with the world is hatred toward God. It bothers me when someone claims to be a Christian and acts the exact same way as everybody else. I want to shake these people and say that they’re giving all of us a bad name and that they should get their act together. Getting wasted Saturday night and leading worship the next day is disgraceful to me. This person has traded conviction for compromise.
Then, I slow down a bit and reflect on a few things. I hear about the prodigal son’s older brother who despised his father’s compassion. I read about the guy who thanked God for being unlike tax collectors while the tax collector cried out for mercy. I think about how much trouble I have getting my own act together. I recall how difficult it can be to do the right thing, even when I sincerely desire to do so. I ponder how hard life can be and how frail we truly are.
According to Galatians, you are supposed to be careful and gentle when restoring someone caught in sin. I think the reason is that if you’re not careful, you may be tempted to forget your own shortcomings and be too harsh. You might not reflect a God who is full of grace and compassion and slow to become angry. One loose translation puts it this way: If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You, yourself, might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out.
Look, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t call someone out for doing something that they shouldn’t be doing or that it is wrong to become angry when you see hypocrisy. If you claim to be a Christian and aren’t seeking to live a holy life, you might not really be a Christian. The Bible is clear that the person who sows to please his sinful nature will reap destruction while the one sowing to the Spirit of God will reap eternal life.
What I am saying is that my dirty rags aren’t cleaner than anybody else’s. If I pass judgment on others I am condemning myself because I do the same things I condemn others for doing. In the process I am showing contempt for the kindness, tolerance and patience of God.
I hope I can inspire people to get on the better path toward life rather than continue down a dark path that leads to destruction. I hope there is something different about my life that others want for their own. I hope I can love people deeply – especially those who have different viewpoints than myself. Like the author of the essay, I hope that my actions line up with my beliefs.
In reality, I haven’t been too great at any of those things. I hate failing, but maybe it is good for me sometimes. I go from being thankful that I’m not like others to crying out for mercy and remembering my own need for a Savior. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
And I love what it is that leads people to change. It is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. Jesus died for hypocrites – every last one of us. He is so patient with us all.
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:6-8
