As a high school student I remember
going to pep rallies before the big game on Fridays. We would sit in the gym
according to our classes, with freshmen in one section, sophomores in another,
juniors in their place and seniors usually in the best section of the gym. The
cheerleaders would lead us in various cheers and then the classes would seek to
outdo one another in displaying our enthusiasm for the team.
One of the cheers we often chanted went
something like “We got the spirit, yes, we do; we got the spirit, how about
you?” This would be chanted by one class, and another class would have to
respond. Whoever shouted the loudest was considered to have the most school
spirit, and therefore won the pep rally.
As an adult looking back on those pep
rallies, it occurs to me that we were all cheering for the same team. We were
all there to show our support for the team and encourage them to play hard and
bring home the trophy. It really did not matter which class was the loudest.
But back then it sure seemed important to win the pep banner and show the most
school spirit.
I think this “we got the spirit, how
about you” attitude sometimes creeps into the church. Some churches follow a
more traditional path in worship. Other churches follow a more innovative path.
Still others seek to combine elements of both traditional and innovative
worship. Like high school students, we tend to hang out with people in our own
group and we tend to think our group has a lock on how the Spirit wants us to cheer
on the saints in worship. At times it seems that we are acting more like high
school students at a pep rally instead of mature leaders in the church of Jesus
Christ.
Traditional pastors may think that
innovative pastors have watered down the Bible and abandoned biblical
principles. Innovative pastors sometimes feel traditional pastors have quenched
the Spirit and are riding a dead horse into the ground. Often pastors are
caught somewhere in the middle and afraid to share their ideas about these matters
with anyone because they are not sure how those ideas will be received. Such
pastors tend to drift back and forth between one group or another never really
fitting in completely.
Perhaps we should stop acting like
self-centered teens trying to prove we have the most spirit and instead focus
on serving the Lord in the way that He leads us to. While some traditional
pastors may have indeed quenched the Spirit, there are others who are deeply in
love with Jesus and serve Him with passion, but through traditional ways.
Likewise, some innovative pastors have taken far too many liberties with the
Bible in their efforts to be contextual. But many others have searched the
scriptures and many things they are doing are often ancient practices of the
church re-packaged for a more modern audience. Since we are all on the same
team, we should rejoice when someone discovers a way to engage a group of
people and lead them in genuine worship, even if it looks different than how we
lead our own group.
It takes all types of churches to reach
the many different types of people in our society. Together, as a team, we can
join God in His work and reach all those whom He is calling to Himself.
Lord,
help all Bible believing Christians find unity in our mutual faith together instead
of being in competition with one another. Amen.
This post is an excerpt from the book, The Heavenly Mundane: Daily
Devotions from Ordinary Experiences. Filled with stories of how God spoke
in big ways through small events, the book will encourage people to look for
God in the mundane things of life. Great for both personal use and to give as a
gift to friend, either the print version or the e-book version may be purchased
at this link:
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