God's Perspective

I'll continue to be out of the loop for a while, as my wife recovers from two abdominal surgeries in the last month and a current bout with mild pancreatitis. She's still hospitalized, being fed with a central line so that the gall bladder and pancreas can relax. She's been through a lot, but her faith remains strong, she's getting stellar care, and prayer support has been heroic.

So, rather than trying to sift through my current jumbled thoughts, I thought it better to go to someone else. As a gift my wife received a great prayer book entitled Prayer: A Holy Occupation by Oswald Chambers. Here are a couple of thought provokers from that book:

"We use prayer as a last resort. Jesus wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there's nothing else we can do. Jesus wants us to pray before we do anything at all." (Page 7)

"When was the last time I tried to see an issue from God's perspective rather than asking Him to see it from mine?" (Page 10)

What do you think? I'll see you around the next bend in the river, though don't be surprised if it's a ways downstream.

The Director

This weekend our associate pastor spoke to our fellowship about that which our bishop calls "passionate worship." Borrowing from the thoughts of Soren Kierkegaard, he noted that many churches assume that worship is like the components of live theater. God is the prompter, pastors and worship leaders are the actors, and the congregation is the audience. In this model, he argued, the presumption is that those who gather for worship are consumers. It is the duty of the "actors" to take cues from the "prompter", and provide a "performance" that sufficiently entertains or moves the "audience." Worshippers are in a the mode of receiving at best, and passive at worst.

My colleague observed that Kierkegaard argues that the worship of Jesus is the reverse of this categorization. In fact, God is the audience. Worship is done to honor and glorify Him. Pastors and worship leaders are the prompters, guiding the direction of worship toward God. All of us who worship then, are the actors, fulfilling our role as God's people.

My colleague went on to add his spin to this analogy. In keeping with the imagery of live theater, he suggests that God is in fact also the "director." He is the one who knows the flow and aim of the entire drama. He knows how each person will contribute to the best possible production. His aim is that everyone flourish in the production, and He works and guides to that end.

Excellent image...what would worship be like if it were really that way?

I'll see you around the next bend in the river.