//thoughts from a recovering worshipper//

>>> This was an article I wrote for the International Network of Children's Ministry (INCM) e-magazine called "Insight." Unfortunately, they edited the article in ways that I didn't necessarily appreciate. Anyway, here's the original article.

"thoughts from a recovering worshipper"

I guess I’d consider myself a recovering worshipper. Like many, I grew up going to church and thinking that worship was something you did at an appointed time and place and in a particular way. Usually, the place was church and the time was at the beginning of the service before announcements and the message. (Sometimes, we’d worship as the plates were passed after the announcements, but this time was usually saved for what was labeled, “special music performance.”) Then there was the method of worship. Worship was always singing with a live worship band and was usually led by five or six well-dressed singers with amazing voices singing in perfect harmony. (Though, occasionally, they’d let the guy with the country voice lead so as to reach another demographic. I was not in this demographic.) Does any of this sound familiar to you?
The problem for me was not the “how” of worship. Of course you can worship with six singers (or even, I suppose, a country singer). The problem came in the “why.” The “why” for worship was never incredibly compelling to me. Yes… we worship because God is worthy of our worship… but why before the announcements? Why with three “praise” songs followed by one “worship” song? Why was worship always through singing? I always felt like I was worshipping because somebody else decided it was time. There had to be more.

A few months ago, I was working on our Tru curriculum with my friend, Kit. (Kit also happens to be our Children’s Pastor.) I was trying to find the right words to explain our philosophy of transformational learning when Kit gave me a great word picture. He said that traditional Christian education approaches learning like collecting. It’s as though kids are given a bag, and throughout their lives they collect information to be put into their bag. The bag, however, is something that they can hold at a distance or even leave behind at some point. It isn’t a part of them. It doesn’t change them. In fact, sometimes, it weighs them down. In contrast, transformational learning uses the same information to change the person. Instead of holding the info in a bag, it becomes a part of who they are and changes their identity. It focuses on allowing a person to encounter God and be transformed.

Needless to say, I loved his description. The picture he painted described my own education in Christianity flawlessly. I memorized stories and verses. I knew that the ark was built out of gopher wood. (Though I’m still not sure what gopher wood is.) I could list the books of the Bible, the Ten Commandments and the twelve apostles. But did any of this transform me? Not really.

When I was a younger man and was off at college, I took an internship with the college group at the local church. This is where my transformation began. In many ways, God began to reveal His character to me. In doing so, I began to see my true identity in Him. Whenever this would happen, I would want to respond somehow. Actually, it was more than that. I would need to respond. Apparently, I was in good company. Throughout scriptures, we see examples of people finding ways to respond to God’s goodness.

In Exodus 15, when God has lead the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt and across the dry ground of the Red Sea, His people respond by singing songs to Him. In 1 Samuel 7, when God is faithful to deliver His people in battle, Samuel stops to respond by setting up the Ebenezer Stone. Or look at the people in Acts who witness the day of Pentecost. After the Spirit descends on them, they respond by giving up everything they have to the cause of Christ. In Romans 12:1, Paul tells us that our response to God’s wisdom, knowledge and glory should be to give our lives to Him. He says that this response is our spiritual act of worship.
Worship is our response to God’s power and glory. It’s our response to who He is. One thing that was very different about the college group I was interning with was that we did the bulk of our worship after the message. Worship was a response to the ways God had revealed Himself. Some people sang. Some danced. Others prayed, tithed or took communion with friends and strangers. Some stayed for a little while and others stayed for a long time. Sometimes we’d sing a few songs and other times we’d worship for hours into the night. In each instance, we were choosing to respond to God by sacrificing our time, our money, our energy, our voices and anything else we could. For the first time, I got the “why” behind worship.

This has fueled much of the work I’m doing today. At ROCKHARBOR church, we also provide the opportunity for response after experiences with God. For years, we’ve provided response options that flow directly out of the message as a way for adults to worship. About a year ago, we began providing the same kinds of opportunities to our kids. I’ve never seen anything like it. Kids as young as three and four years old choosing how they will respond to God in worship. They’re experiencing something I didn’t until I was 20.

When I think of what I want for this next generation, this is it! I don’t particularly care if they know about the gopher wood, but I do care that they know who God is. I want them to know His character. I want their identity to be found and formed in Him and who He has created them to be. I want life transformation that elicits response. I want to see kids who have been impacted and changed by the very Spirit of God and are compelled to worship Him.

As people who are called to minister to the children of the next generation, it is upon us to replicate our faith in them. If we can help our kids experience God and make sure they are free to respond in worship, they’ll see a world impacted and changed by Christ through them.