shawn gray.tv

The modern church is obsessed with customer service. I don’t think that is necessarily a bad approach. I just believe we need to bring some clarification to who the customer is.

Yes, yes, yes. Our churches should have parking attendants, greeters, and top notch programming… I think these things are great. What the church does, should compete with Disney, Nordstrom, or a top AMC theater. I applaud these things and believe they help set the stage for what some would call a modern worship service.

But the question is why? Who is it we are so obsessed with serving? Is it the Christian who has known Christ for decades and comes to be served up a new assortment on the buffet we call church?

Absolutely NOT.  They should be showing up to serve not coming to be served.

If we don’t do what we do for Christians then maybe it’s for those who don’t know Christ.

NO. That’s not it either.  I mean, everything we do at Echo is so that some might hear about the life changing power of the resurrected Christ. They are a large integral part of our mission, but non believers are not our customers.

The customer I’m talking about is much more important than that.

Our customer service must be our best because it is all for Jesus Christ Himself.

God is our customer.

We serve Him, through Him, for Him.

This is why we bring our best.

Psalm 48:1 says:
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.

We serve an awesome God, so we should serve Him in an awesome way. We should strive to make His glory the aim of everything we do.

If we can do that. Those who call themselves Christians will be strengthened, and those who are far from God will be drawn to Him.

There is a major problem that exists in a lot of churches: 1) Pastors who don’t participate in worship 2) Musicians who don’t participate when the Word is being delivered.

I truly believe that these two things can become a road block which prevents a church from going to another level in their worship.

I’ll start out by sharing about pastors, considering I am one. There are some who don’t feel the need to be involved with the worship. I don’t know that is a good approach. I believe that the pastor is the main worship leader at the church. Yes, even if you don’t have a lick of musical ability or talent.

I have a feeling that the church will go as far as the pastor is willing to lead it. What we need to understand as pastors is that we set the tone not only when we preach God’s Word but also in how we worship. We begin preaching a sermon on how good God is way before we get up and begin to speak about Him. I believe our worship is a sermon that people see and begin implementing almost immediately.

Listen, I may have been called to preach, but I was created to worship. Lets be honest. There isn’t a higher level of Christianity where you can engage less with God in your worship.

I should never become so pre-occupied with what I’m about do that I forget about what I’ve been created to do.

Then there are musicians who don’t participate when the Pastor is preaching. I believe, that first, it is an honor issue and I’m not necessarily talking about honoring the Pastor. Although, that is definitely part of it. But it’s mostly about honoring the Word of God. Just like the pastor, you may have been called to be a musician, but you were created a worshipper. And honestly, there is no such thing as true worship apart from God’s Word.

The Word reveals to us a God who is worthy of and deserving of our worship, a God that is worth leading other people to worship.

The take home for us is this. Whether you are preaching, playing an instrument, or singing into a mic, it’s better if you fully engage. As a pastor, I need to put my notes down and worship the one I have been studying about all week. As musicians, sit back for a minute, and grab your Bible, and a pen, and get into the God who gives you a reason to worship.

This is the recipe for success. This is what God designed. This is how a church goes to another level in it’s worship.

There is nothing quite as innovative as God’s supernatural revelation.  To receive it, we must prioritize Him in our life.

Much more can be accomplished in a second of prayer, worship, and listening to the voice of God than a year worth of strategy meetings.

For so many leaders. There has become very little room for divine encounters in which true vision is birthed.  Some of the most important ideas in the short history of Echo can be traced back to a specific moment in the presence of God. Not in long meetings where we consult our flesh for the way.

I know God gave us a brain.  I believe we should use it. I just feel that seeking the wisdom of the Lord should always be our first course of action.

Just think about what Moses would have missed if he never turned aside to look at the burning bush?

If the disciples in the book of Acts had neglected prayer and the Word, how would it have affected the influence of the Gospel worldwide?

What do you think might be left undiscovered in you, if you don’t first make time with God a priority?

We live at a time where so much of what motivates us can be found in a persons feelings. If you feel like doing something, then you should do it with all your heart. On the other side of the coin, rests the idea that if you don’t feel like it, why do it at all?

This mindset completely affects our worship. There are many times that we enter into our weekend worship experiences only to be at a place where we do not feel like worshiping at all.  Because of the way we feel we only offer up God a few scraps of praise. Sometimes we cut out our worship all together and wait until we are in a better mood so we can offer something that’s a little more real and authentic.

I believe this reveals a massive misinterpretation of worship, and what’s required for it to be authentic and acceptable to God. And if I’m permitted to be frank, it has very little to do with the way we feel.

Hebrews 13:15 says this: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise.”

Your worship filtered through your feelings might be lacking, but your worship filtered through Jesus’ sacrifice will never be. Feelings are not what usher you into worship. Jesus’ blood is.

The devil will try to rob you off your praise by telling you a certain feeling must precede worship. Jesus has offered up worship you will never be able to. So be faithful to offer up worship you are capable of. Even if you’re not feeling it.

Listen to me.  We must put our feelings in their place and make them catch up to our faithfulness. So get to worshiping in-spite of how you feel.  This is what is meant by “a sacrifice of praise.”