I have been blessed in my life to be afforded the opportunity to be involved in church planning. By that I mean I have led worship teams, been on worship teams, helped plan youth events, got to be in conversations about the direction of the church, and have been involved in a greater community of ministers and church musicians thanks to social media. I love thinking and dreaming about the future of the church, I love that people who play music in church take it seriously, and I love that people who serve (preachers, musicians, greeters, planners, sound engineers, light guys, designers, videographers, photographers, ect.) are always aiming to get better at what they do! I honestly believe that the glory of God's name deserves the best that we can give and not a "good enough for church" mentality. The King of Kings deserves above and beyond and not just "good enough".
There is a danger in all of this that I think anyone who has ever been involved in planning understands; it is all too easy to miss the purpose of it all in the midst of the details. Our conversations start talking about the details: which songs we sing, what guitar pedals we use, what colors the lights are, budget issues, what we could buy to do church better, what the preacher/worship leader could do better, and what kind of coffee is best. All these things should be considered by the appropriate people, but the danger comes in dwelling on the details.
I recently went to a wedding which may have been the most beautiful and thought out weddings I have ever been to! After the ceremony we went outside for the reception and one of the bridesmaids joined us at the table. She started talking about all the things that went wrong and all the details that didn't get finished. I was thinking, "Are you kidding me?! One of the most beautiful and sweetest weddings I have ever been to and all you can do is think about the details that don't matter." I wish she could have enjoyed the wedding day just like had!
I find that I often do the same thing in church. I get consumed with doing my job on that day, that I forget why I am there. And the danger in planning that way is that neither people nor attendance rise because of these details.
A well-produced service can't save anyone. Guitar tone doesn't bring people in the doors. A cool video cannot deliver anyone from darkness. Only the presence of God can do it.
Gold has been stirring this in my heart over the past week. I spent most of the week doing design work for the church, and I know that was important. But I know nothing was as important as Wednesday night when then people of God were declaring "it is well" and he met us in that place.
If God has given vision for a big, powerful, and influential church it will never happen through great programs but only by the presence of God. When you hear the stories from guys like Bill Johnson at Bethel Church coming up and the new wave that began at the virtually unknown Toronto Airport Vineyard Church with Randy Clark who no one knew 20 years ago you begin to understand that the Lord blesses the people that value his presence with his presence and that people come and are delivered as a result!
So let's have a renewed pursuit of the presence of God instead of a pursuit of better services. Let's go after God instead of cooler songs. He is all we need
-Patrick Hawkins
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