Matthew’s Question to Madison: Since you’re taking a Worship and Liturgy course, tell us what you’re learning about, specifically, corporate worship.

Of all the questions I could be answering for this week’s blog, this would be on the upper end of being the hardest. I’m five weeks into a Worship and Liturgy course, and I feel like my entire perspective is being challenged and transformed. Which is an amazing journey to be going through right now – but my thoughts are so jumbled and not clear yet, that writing out the things I’ve been learning and thinking about is rather difficult at this point.

So bear with me as I write out general thoughts that I hope are semi-coherent.

First off, I didn’t realize how deeply rooted the idea that worship was only music was in my mind. My generation seems to be very (emotionally) musically driven, so maybe that’s why. Or perhaps it’s because from the stage during a church service we “stand for worship” as the band begins the next “worship song”.

But preaching, communion, confession, thanksgiving, and prayer are all worship elements in a corporate worship gathering.

I’ll be honest, before I entered the course last month, I was at a place where going to church was a checklist item. Since I work at the same place I call ‘church’, I’m in the building a lot, and when Saturday evening rolled around, I wanted different scenery. Human desires, eh.

And prior to that, corporate worship was more of a reset button – realign my mind and heart with Christ since, as many of us have probably experienced, it starts to stray once we leave the building. And there’s nothing wrong with it being a reset button. We absolutely do need to renew our minds and center our hearts on our Creator, and corporate worship is one of the great places for that.

But, wow, it’s so much more than that.

The course is, in the simplest explanation, broken down into two components – how we worship, and who we worship.

My structured brain really appreciates the ‘how’ – lay out for me what to do and convince me of why, and I will gladly go do it. But the substance of the structure of worship experience can only come from the ‘who’.

Everything involved in the corporate worship service involves an invitation from God. God invites me into connecting with Him through the lyrics sung out; God invites me into hearing His Word so that I can understand Him, and be better equipped as a disciple; God invites me into a time of communion to remember what He’s done on the cross, and what that reveals about who He is.

It all starts with God’s initiative – and my job to respond.

William Dyrness, the author of “A Primer on Christian Worship”, writes that “God took the initiative to restore the relationship with humanity when this had been broken from the human side. So the beginning of worship is not some human need but God’s invitation.”

The story of God is a beautiful story that is still going on today. Through worship, we remember what He’s done in the past, what He’s doing in the present, and what we can anticipate for the future. My individualistic mind was convinced that a Sunday worship service was all about me, but entering into corporate worship is a reminder that we are the body of Christ, and we’re part of the grand story that we read about in Scripture. That’s mind boggling to me – I’m part of the story of Scripture! All throughout Scripture, God is inviting His people into His grand narrative, so if we’re also part of the story, we’re also being invited by the Creator of the world.

Think of a birthday party invitation or a wedding invitation. They expect a response. Just as God invites us into worship, a response is expected.

Dyrness writes, “The activities that make up what we call worship constitute some of the highest pursuits of which human beings are capable. And they involve participants totally, with the whole of their bodies and their minds, their wills and their emotions. The space of the church that we call worship in not inert or abstract. It is charged with the presence of God. Therefore, people who come into this experience cannot remain passive or indifferent.”

Yet how do I still remain passive and indifferent? How do I enter into a place that is ‘charged with the presence of God’ and not have any response?

I often get distracted, or forget the grand narrative and slowly worship becomes a checklist item – or even removed from the checklist all together. I get sad at the thought that I’m like the Israelites who were freed from slavery, and then become apathetic toward the One who did the freeing. When I read their story, I shake my fist at them, saying “how could you?”

Yeah, Madi, how could you?

I’m so thankful for a faithful God who is persistent and forgiving. I’m thankful for Jesus who made a new covenant with us through His blood on the cross. I’m thankful for the Holy Spirit who lives in me, and bridges the gap so I can be in God’s presence.

And it’s not just me. It’s the entire body of believers. We have the incredible opportunity of communing together with one mind and one voice and one heart to worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Now, as I enter into a worship service, I remind myself of why we’re worshipping, the power of worshipping together, and most importantly, who we worship.

Madison’s question to Matthew: Talk to your generation. With your passion for discipleship, explain to them why you think it is important for them to be disciplers? Give them an inspiring story.

Is there any topic that Madison could have given me that evokes more emotion and conviction than that of discipleship? In reality, I have been engaged in intentional discipleship since my early 20’s. Additionally, my doctoral thesis was centred on the beauty of this.

I recognize that different people may define what being a disciple is differently, and perhaps many people simply don’t even think about this term – most people would simply say that they are a Christian. I would argue that not all Christians are disciples.

To quote Greg Ogden – “Discipling is an intentional relationship in which we walk alongside other disciples in order to encourage, equip and challenge one another in love to grow toward maturity in Christ. This includes equipping the disciple to teach others as well.” (Transforming Discipleship, 2003, pg 129)

There is something very intentional about the life of a disciple of Jesus. He/she has a desire to grow personally to be more like Jesus and to guide others on that journey as well. Additionally, we can not confuse a simple bible study with discipleship. When I speak of discipleship, I am always looking at in a holistic way. This is a view of discipleship that doesn’t segment spiritual disciplines but connects them. It’s not about having a bible study with one group, attending a prayer meeting with another group and perhaps serving at the mission with a third group. It is an integration of them all while walking alongside a younger disciple (not necessarily in age but in spiritual maturity).

Assuming that my understanding of discipleship is accurate, why is it that many people who would say that they are a Christian are not engaged in the journey of being a disciple of Jesus? Maybe just me saying that has stirred harsh emotions in you? Perhaps a longer conversation over coffee is a next step for us.

Over the years I have spoken with many people about this. I have asked individuals who are my age if they would be willing to come alongside another individual and be one who would be a “senior disciple” to guide a “junior disciple”. For the most part I get a “no”. They don’t believe that they will have the time, or they don’t believe that they would know what to do, or that they aren’t qualified to build into someone else in this way.

Over the years my response (mostly internal) has varied. Initially I was extremely frustrated at their replies. I would often judge them for not even wanting to try, assuming that they weren’t serious about their faith. Eventually I moved to a point of giving up, of neutrality. I stopped asking, assuming that anyone I asked would say no so I didn’t want to bother with the conversations anymore.

More recently I have moved to a response of sadness. That they are missing out on one of the most amazing things we can be a part of. The joy of coming alongside someone, to step into their story, to speak about faith in God, to answer questions they have, to learn from the insight they provide, to ask them questions so that I can grow in my faith.

Andy Stanley, founding pastor of North Point Community Church in Georgia, has an amazing phrase that should help to put anyone at ease if they believe that they have nothing to offer another person. He states, “It isn’t my job to fill someone else’s cup. It is simply my job to empty my cup.”

I won’t have all the answers on how to pray, but I’ll show you what I know. I don’t know how to serve the marginalized in the most effective way, but let’s do it together and I’ll model what I have learned so far. I don’t fully understand this particular scripture, but here is how it has impacted me and what I believe it means – what do you think?

What younger followers of Jesus are looking for is someone who will care about them and guide them to draw closer to Jesus. And then, after awhile, as the bird’s parents push the young one’s out of the nest, I must push those I am walking alongside to step out and build into someone else’s life as I did for them. It’s as simple as that.

No here’s the reality – I believe that I have only been 50% successful, as I would define success in the discipleship process. Of all the guys I have walked alongside over the past 30 years, I believe that only about one half have chosen to step into the journey and come alongside someone else. The rest have said “thanks for the memories” and moved on to the rest of their life. How tragic, how sad, to miss out on the opportunity to be a part of someone’s faith journey. And yet, when I do see someone move ahead to engage with others, what an amazing story it becomes.

I’ve seen guys that I’ve built into go on to build into other guys who have then gone on to build into other guys who have gone on to build into other guys. As such, I’m a great grandfather of faith to guys who may not even know how the journey progressed to them.

People have often said to, “You’re a pastor, you’re paid to do this, I just don’t have the time.” In reality, I was doing this during my 12 year banking career when I commuted almost 4 hours each day to Toronto and back. I fully understand the pressures of work life and marriage and young children. The reality is, we will find time for whatever we believe is important.

For me, living the life of a disciple of Jesus, holistically and alongside others, is something that is part of my DNA, and it is my desire that others would also embrace this, particularly those in my current generation who have raised their kids. The younger generation is asking for spiritual guides, I hear it all the time. The question is – will you choose to empty your cup in to someone’s else’s life?

For the kingdom.