Formation

19 November: Tuesday Refocus

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‘When I want to pursue humility, whatever happens to me is okay…’ - Gary Thomas 

We love humility… in other people. Experiencing humility in others is disarming and magnetizing. But often, we run from or avoid the very circumstances and experiences in our own lives where humility can take root and grow.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:10

Being conformed to the image of Christ means that humility should also deeply mark our lives. Our thoughts of and toward ourselves are based on sober judgment, not thinking more highly than we ought to think (Romans 12:3).

As we move toward the Advent season, one of the realities we are invited to remember is that Christ “…emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:7-8).” And through his humility, he was exalted: “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so 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 of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11).”

Father, would we trust that our lives are safe in your hands. That humility in us is a beautiful reflection of your heart and character. In Christ’s name, amen.

Amen,

AB

Songs or Laws

As we move toward Election Day in the United States, I came across this quote:

“Let me make the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes its laws” - Andrew Fletcher, 1655-1716

Laws matter, but songs can shape our affections and our thoughts. This is why we must care deeply about the songs we introduce to our people as worship leaders. Songs matter because words matter. Words matter because they evidence the power of life or death, they image a God who spoke the world into existence, has spoken by the prophets, and is speaking through His Word made flesh. Songs help to solidify the boundary lines of our theological convictions, by giving us language about who God is, what He has done, and who He has called us to be. Songs connect the head to the heart. And songs connect the people of God across the aisle and the ages.

Formative Reading

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Corporate readings help us increase active participation in the corporate gathering. Just like every aspect of our gathering - and all of life - corporate readings are formative. But too few churches devote time to the corporate reading of Scripture, corporate confession, corporate prayer, and reciting the creeds as we gather the people of God.

For those of us planning services, we are responsible for giving our people language for who God is, what He has done, and how He has called us to live. Corporate readings are one of the most neglected resources at our disposal.

Corporate readings unite us in one voice. In the same way, a pledge, or vows unite us to one another in their shared language and shared direction - when we read aloud together we embody our collective unity as the people of God. But to an even greater degree, when we read Scripture together, and when we recite the creeds, or we use the ancient prayers we join the people of God from all places and time through history.

If corporate reading is something you would consider in your gathering, start with Scripture: read it aloud together, read it responsively, read it slowly, read it repeatedly. My wife first suggested to me that when leading a corporate reading, I begin not by inviting the congregation to read along but by listening silently while I first read the words. That way when I repeat the reading, inviting them to read aloud with me, they have already heard the words and felt the pacing. This small adjustment allows people to not exert all of their mental energy while keeping up with their reading and trying to process simultaneously. They can settle into the words as we pray, read, and confess together.

Space for Sorrow

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Are we making space, and giving language for the varied experiences in our corporate gathering? Does our liturgy allow space for grief, lament, and naming our sorrows and longings before the Lord (Psalm 38:9)?

As author Clint Watkins says, “Biblical worship includes sorrow.”

If corporate worship is about the spiritual formation of the people of God whether our specific room is filled with people currently experiencing sorrow (we all one day will) we have a responsibility to help do the burden-bearing work of weeping with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). When we make space for sorrow, lament, and grief we are giving people language, helping them now and later.

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Intentional Silence

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Within and without our world is full of noise. And our churches are no different. One of the things I see and hear increasingly is a complete lack of silence. Pads running the entire service, the band playing behind a call to worship or announcements, piano during the sermon, and on and on.

Our tolerance for silence is dwindling.

Truthfully, I do not mind a little musical cover for the elements of the service - our Good Friday service had wall-to-wall pads when we were not preaching or singing. I think that sometimes a little music helps people focus, and avoid being self-conscious. But as is true for many things, it can be taken to an extreme.

If our gatherings are forming our people, how is our perpetual space-filling forming our people? Where are the places where we are inviting our people to remember and practice the reality that “…the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” - Habakkuk 2:20

The Louder Song

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Whatever has been of 2023, and whatever will be of 2024 - may the song of the Father be louder than the song of your enemies (Psalm 13:2).

“The Lord your God is in your midst,

    a mighty one who will save;

he will rejoice over you with gladness;

    he will quiet you by his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing.” - Zephaniah 3:17

2023 In Review

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I love speaking with people about corporate worship. I love speaking with people working through a theology of worship, the practical realities of serving on a team, or with volunteers. I think that is why I write about worship - I love that we as followers of Jesus, and worshipers get to think through how we encourage and equip the saints to worship with beauty and truth. As 2023 draws to an end, I wanted to collect all of my Friday posts in one place. I hope these words have been helpful to you:

Liturgical Resources

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“Tradition is a set of solutions for which we have forgotten the problems.” - Donald Kingsbury

I love hymns.

I love that liturgy forms us as disciples.

I love how reading, singing, and praying ancient words remind us that we are connected to a global Church that spans culture, continent, language, and generation.

Although some of my early church experience involved elements of formal liturgy, it was not until I was in college that I began to encounter liturgical rhythms and resources.

Other worship leaders, pastors, and liturgists would talk about the Church Calendar, seasonal colors, readings, prayers, and the intentional movements of the liturgy - but I could not understand how they knew all of that information. As I tried to find my feet in this context, the Worship Sourcebook was one of my most helpful resources. Explaining the seasons, and giving prayers, readings, confessions, and responsive elements for each season, and every service. Even as my understanding of Liturgical rhythms and the library of books has grown - this is always one of the first places I turn as I think, pray, and plan services.

More recently, I have incorporated the Book of Common Prayer into my preparation. A few of the elements I have come to appreciate about the BCP is that many prayers are incredibly succinct. Although I love using the Valley of Vision during times of personal devotion, I value the accessibility in language and the brevity of word count used in the BCP when it comes to corporate worship.

I think it is important to speak to current events in the gathering, but sometimes those events can feel like landmines in a service. But the BCP has a prayer for countless realities of living in a fallen world. When I can’t find my own words, when a topic feels important but delicate - I look for the ways the BCP can guide our congregation’s prayer and response.

How about you? Are there resources you use regularly that you have found helpful in thinking and planning intentionally for the gathering?

Hidden Visibility

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In one of the churches of my youth, our Worship Pastor was classically trained. He could lead a band, conduct an orchestra, and direct a choir. He did not lead from an instrument, and truthfully, very rarely did he lead vocally. If you asked him, he likely would not have thought he was a brilliant vocalist. Most Sundays there was a small choir, a piano-driven band, and a handful of vocalists leading at the edge of the platform - and Steve off to the side, with a largely unoccupied microphone on a stand.

One of the things I have come to appreciate about Steve’s leadership as I have grown older is that when he led, he carried enough presence for the congregation to follow, without dominating the songs and setlist. He would give visual cues with his hands, raise his eyes, and turn toward the congregation when it was time to sing. But much of his leadership enabled the people of God to address ‘…one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord…’ (Ephesians 5:19).

When I began leading worship at our church in the United Kingdom, it took me - and them - months to learn the ebb and flow following one another. They would sing with such volume and confidence, and many times I would start to lead a song, but by the end of the song, they were leading me.

As production quality continues to increase across churches, as churches across denominational and cultural borders begin to look more alike, as backing tracks and strict time limits become more common, as congregations anticipate (or expect) their church worship teams and worship leaders look, sound, and lead like what they see online - some of the questions I am asking myself:

How can I lead with hidden visibility? Especially as someone who does lead from an instrument, who does lead vocally. I do not want the people I lead to observe my leadership as spectators but participate as worshipers. I want to lead with enough conviction, competence, and presence that people do not just think I am in my own ‘worship world.’ Nor do I want to lead as a performer or showman.

How am I encouraging increased ‘one-anothering’ in the corporate gathering? I do want to have so little margin, so little capacity for in-the-moment response that our services feel rigid. I do not want to be so visible - or so loud - that our congregation cannot hear the voices of the people of God as we sing to God or to one another.

As I think, pray, and plan for 2024 - Hidden Visibility is one of my goals.

Reinventing The Wheel

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I try to suppress rolling my eyes when someone describes themselves as ‘a creative.’ I believe that all people are creative because all people have been made in the image of a creator God. Generally, I think when people describe themselves this way, they mean that they are artistic.

One of the things I have seen in myself, and in working with creative artists is that we can often act as though change is a virtue. We want to explore the boundaries and edges of our creativity! New and unexpected is better than same and constant. And when you marry this kind of disposition to an attractional style of church (‘We need to have a draw, a show, something impressive that grabs attention, to get non-Christians in the door so they can hear about Jesus’), we can quickly become worship leaders that feel they need to reinvent the wheel week after week.

The longer I lead worship, the more convinced I am that leading worship is about the spiritual formation of God’s people. That it is about making disciples. And as it has been said - there is no formation without repetition (I don’t remember who said this first, but I am guessing I heard this from Jon Tyson or John Mark Comer). Are we truly, discipling and forming our people if the goal of our leading is to make every Sunday a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience? I like change and I like employing creativity in the gathering. But I hope the aim and purpose driving those decisions is a deeper formation of the people of God, not just a cool and creative experience. Churches, cultures, leaders, and people have different styles, goals, and callings. There is not one particular way of serving the Lord which is morally superior. But like all things we are in danger of drifting away from our first love - especially if we do not acknowledge the ease with which we can drift.

Thoughts On Writing

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It has been said, ‘Write what you know…’ or others have said, ‘I write so that I might know…’ There is no doubt that words are formative. As followers of Jesus, we should not be surprised about this because God spoke the world into existence with His words. Jesus is the Word made flesh who sustains the universe by the word of His power. And God has given us His Word through Scripture.

Words are important. And personally, I believe that writing is important. That even if you do not consider yourself a writer, there is value, benefit, and importance to writing in, and for your unique context. Yes, write songs, but also write liturgy. Write in the language of your people, write to stretch them and grow them, write so that the trues of Scripture, deep doctrine, and beautiful devotion may inhabit their hearts, minds, and lives.

When considering writing, here are a few things I believe are worth considering:

Write all the time. Writing doe not just have to be pen to paper, it can also be exploring good writing, filling your own heart, mind, and life with things that are good, beautiful, and true.

Keep writing. I use my iPhone Notes app constantly. Lines, lyrics, phrases. Maybe they will turn into something - like a song, a call to worship, a blog, a responsive reading, a prayer, or devotional writing. Maybe those words are just a place for me to make sense of my own heart, and pour out my own praise. But keeping a running list of words, phrases, or quotes that have impacted me, can often jump-start a more intentional or focused time of writing.

Consider the purpose. If it is a song - is this a corporate worship song, a song of personal devotion, or something just for fun? What is it that the people of God need to hear? What is it that I just need to be able to say to God - or that He wants to speak to me?

Where are the gaps? As I am trying to bridge Scripture, songs, and liturgy, what words will help paint a clearer picture of the truths we are declaring? Does that passage of Scripture, Song, or pre-written liturgy already exist? If not, how might I prayerfully, and intentionally allow God to shape my words to fill in the gaps?

Are you feeling a need, a conviction, or a desire to write? How might you bring those desires to the Lord and allow him to shape them to bless, serve, equip, and challenge you, and those you lead and serve?

Tuesday Refocus: June 20

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“If we do not make formation in Christ the priority, then we’re just going to keep on producing Christians that are indistinguishable in their character from many non-Christians.” - Dallas Willard

Humans are meaning-makers and culture shapers. But we have also been shaped by our culture more significantly than we realize or recognize. Our thoughts, priorities, affections, preferences, expectations, tastes, and desires all bear the marks of the time, place, and people into which God has sovereignly placed our lives. Some of these realities need to be celebrated, some need to be redeemed, and some need to be outright rejected. Because what we know as followers of Jesus is that we have been adopted into the family of God (Galatians 4:4-7). We have been given a new heart, and a new identity (Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Corinthians 5:17). We are not of this world, but citizens of another country (John 17:16, Philippians 3:20).

To be formed into the image of Christ is not to be a cleaned-up version of the culture we represent, but to represent Christ in our cultures. “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one (John 17:15).” 

Father, may it be so. Amen.

Amen,

AB