Why Church?
If God is all you have, you have all you need.
John 14:8
Major life update: I bought a coffee maker!
John 14:8
Major life update: I bought a coffee maker!
I blame my love of coffee 100 percent on my parents. They have been drinking black coffee my whole life and I started following in their footsteps around the age of 13. I've been hooked ever since. While I love a fancy Starbucks drink as much as the next person, there is just nothing like a freshly brewed cup of black coffee. It tastes like home to me. So when Anitha and I were walking through the grocery store on Tuesday and I stopped to smell the bags of coffee, that rich, familiar smell sucked me in and I couldn't resist. I bought the bag of coffee and asked the cashier where I could buy a coffee maker. Conveniently, as if planned by God himself, the shop was right next door and within a couple hours I was home enjoying my first cup of brewed coffee in three months. To say that my joy has been increased would be an understatement. I'm drinking a cup as I write this morning and the whole house is covered in the delicious aroma. God is good. So good.
Other than the coffee maker excitement, it was a pretty typical week. School Monday through Friday, time with friends and choir practice on Saturday, and church on Sunday. I feel like Sunday church deserves a bit of explanation. As I'm sure you would assume, our Sunday does not entail your typical American church service. While the basic format is the same- we sing hymns, say the Lord's prayer, spend time confessing our sins, and listen to a message- the way in which we worship here is very different. Our church has no projector screens or lighting for ambiance. There isn't AC or a restroom with running water. We don't use bulletins and church members are expected to bring their own hymnals and bibles. We don't serve coffee and donuts and there are no other incentives or catchy promotions used to get people in the doors. So what do we do?
We spend three hours in worship together (yes, three hours - 10 am to 1 pm) singing, dancing, praying aloud, celebrating the happenings in our community, listening to the testimony of those in our midst and to the preaching of our pastors and lay leaders in our congregation. The adult and children's choirs sing multiple songs each week and the church claps, hollers, and dances along. Because we don't use bulletins the pastor gives all of the instructions for the service and you have to pay attention as anyone can be called on to lead a prayer at any time. There is a special time in the service where we recognize visitors and they are expected to introduce themselves in front of the congregation. While we don't have coloring books or special bags of activities for the kids, they do have a special children's church time during the message. The other two and a half hours, children are expected to participate or sit quietly just like the adults. And they're really quite capable. In the case of a fussy infant or toddler who can't sit still, an older child will come and take them from the parent and play with them in the back of the church. We have "scouts" in our church who go through training on how to serve during worship. There are scouts stationed at each door who act as ushers during the service. If someone is having a problem, needs to find a seat, or one of the pastors needs something, the scouts are there to help. They can also be put on baby duty if needed. At the end of the service everyone exits, starting with the elders in the church, and makes a big circle outside of the church, shaking each persons hand and giving them the Lord's blessing as they pass. We finish by saying "Praise the Lord" and waving before we depart.
I will be honest when I tell you that worship was hard for me at first. Sitting for three hours listening to a language I didn't understand, trying to sing along to songs I didn't know with no words to follow along, being called on to pray when I had no idea what I was supposed to be praying for our how to pray in a way that those around me would even understand. I was frustrated. Then one Sunday I remember looking over at Sophia, a young deaf girl in our community, and realizing just how selfish I was being. Sophia sits in worship every week for the same amount of time as the rest of us, unable to hear anything. Not the message, not the singing, not the prayers. Nothing. No one is there to sign for her or make the service meaningful for her. Talk about frustrating. And yet she's not pouting and sulking and complaining. She greets me with her gorgeous smile and hugs me tight and gets up to dance along with the children's choir every week like all the other kids. So who am I to complain?
It made me stop and really think about the real reason behind going to church and what church has become in America. How sad is it that in America we have so many other priorities we have to create incentives for people to come to church? Church staff actually have to sit in meetings discussing new, creative, relevant ideas to get people in their doors. We have to limit the events of the service to keep it to an hour, hour and a half max, because, hey people have things to do and places to be, we can't sit here all day. And congregation participation? Oh no, don't ask me to pray, dance, clap or shout an "amen". I'm here to sit quietly for an hour, enjoy the choir's one anthem and the preacher's fifteen minute sermon before heading to brunch and getting on with the rest of my day. Am I being critical? Yes. Is this the attitude of every church and every church-goer? No. But generally speaking, this is what church in America has become. And I feel I can be critical because I have been this church-goer. Even me, pastor's daughter, church staff member, never miss a Sunday even on vacation Christian, could not escape being influenced by the incredibly powerful American world around me. The American world that says Monday through Friday are for working so hard that by Saturday you're so exhausted you don't have the energy to do the things you need to get done to prepare for the week ahead which leaves Sunday and with all that you have to do, is it really a good idea to spend two of those hours going to church? There's always next week. Next week I won't be so busy. I'm sure many of you remember a time when church wasn't treated like this. The good old days when everybody went to church and we didn't need all these fancy things to get people to attend. We don't live in that world anymore. The pastors of our churches are faced with the incredibly difficult job of convincing people that in a world where money is power, where you can have anything you want instantaneously, and where we have the need to be constantly entertained- God should still be the most important. As called ministers of Christ it is their job to minister to God's people and that means meeting them where they are, wherever that may be.
I am extremely blessed to live in a world where in the year 2018, the only incentive people need to come to church is knowing that when they do, they are part of a community of Christ. God's love for them shown through the people in their church is enough motivation to wake up early enough to complete their daily tasks with enough time to wash, dress in their Sunday best, and walk to church, knowing that when they arrive there will be a joyful celebration of God's love and sacrifice for them and that they, along with their community, get to thank God, together, for all He has blessed them with. When you truly believe that all you have comes from God and not your own doing, you don't need any more incentive than that.
I have found ways to make worship meaningful for me. I now play keyboard during the service and sit with my friend Mathayo who helps me translate when I don't understand certain things. I have relationships with the people I am in worship with and being in their presence each week makes my heart happy. I want to challenge you to do the same. If you're reading this blog, you have some kind of relationship with God, which means you have some kind of relationship with church. Maybe it's a long distance relationship. Maybe you're on a break. Maybe it's strong and going well. But the next time you feel the world around you pulling you away from your community of Christ, when you feel frustrated by the leadership of your church or like you're just not getting the things out of worship that you used to, first look within and remember your why. Is the one true incentive still your incentive or are you looking for things of this world to motivate you to connect to a God who is not of this world? It's hard, I know. But believe me when I tell you, it's worth it.
Mungu akubariki,
Allee
I will be honest when I tell you that worship was hard for me at first. Sitting for three hours listening to a language I didn't understand, trying to sing along to songs I didn't know with no words to follow along, being called on to pray when I had no idea what I was supposed to be praying for our how to pray in a way that those around me would even understand. I was frustrated. Then one Sunday I remember looking over at Sophia, a young deaf girl in our community, and realizing just how selfish I was being. Sophia sits in worship every week for the same amount of time as the rest of us, unable to hear anything. Not the message, not the singing, not the prayers. Nothing. No one is there to sign for her or make the service meaningful for her. Talk about frustrating. And yet she's not pouting and sulking and complaining. She greets me with her gorgeous smile and hugs me tight and gets up to dance along with the children's choir every week like all the other kids. So who am I to complain?
It made me stop and really think about the real reason behind going to church and what church has become in America. How sad is it that in America we have so many other priorities we have to create incentives for people to come to church? Church staff actually have to sit in meetings discussing new, creative, relevant ideas to get people in their doors. We have to limit the events of the service to keep it to an hour, hour and a half max, because, hey people have things to do and places to be, we can't sit here all day. And congregation participation? Oh no, don't ask me to pray, dance, clap or shout an "amen". I'm here to sit quietly for an hour, enjoy the choir's one anthem and the preacher's fifteen minute sermon before heading to brunch and getting on with the rest of my day. Am I being critical? Yes. Is this the attitude of every church and every church-goer? No. But generally speaking, this is what church in America has become. And I feel I can be critical because I have been this church-goer. Even me, pastor's daughter, church staff member, never miss a Sunday even on vacation Christian, could not escape being influenced by the incredibly powerful American world around me. The American world that says Monday through Friday are for working so hard that by Saturday you're so exhausted you don't have the energy to do the things you need to get done to prepare for the week ahead which leaves Sunday and with all that you have to do, is it really a good idea to spend two of those hours going to church? There's always next week. Next week I won't be so busy. I'm sure many of you remember a time when church wasn't treated like this. The good old days when everybody went to church and we didn't need all these fancy things to get people to attend. We don't live in that world anymore. The pastors of our churches are faced with the incredibly difficult job of convincing people that in a world where money is power, where you can have anything you want instantaneously, and where we have the need to be constantly entertained- God should still be the most important. As called ministers of Christ it is their job to minister to God's people and that means meeting them where they are, wherever that may be.
I am extremely blessed to live in a world where in the year 2018, the only incentive people need to come to church is knowing that when they do, they are part of a community of Christ. God's love for them shown through the people in their church is enough motivation to wake up early enough to complete their daily tasks with enough time to wash, dress in their Sunday best, and walk to church, knowing that when they arrive there will be a joyful celebration of God's love and sacrifice for them and that they, along with their community, get to thank God, together, for all He has blessed them with. When you truly believe that all you have comes from God and not your own doing, you don't need any more incentive than that.
I have found ways to make worship meaningful for me. I now play keyboard during the service and sit with my friend Mathayo who helps me translate when I don't understand certain things. I have relationships with the people I am in worship with and being in their presence each week makes my heart happy. I want to challenge you to do the same. If you're reading this blog, you have some kind of relationship with God, which means you have some kind of relationship with church. Maybe it's a long distance relationship. Maybe you're on a break. Maybe it's strong and going well. But the next time you feel the world around you pulling you away from your community of Christ, when you feel frustrated by the leadership of your church or like you're just not getting the things out of worship that you used to, first look within and remember your why. Is the one true incentive still your incentive or are you looking for things of this world to motivate you to connect to a God who is not of this world? It's hard, I know. But believe me when I tell you, it's worth it.
Mungu akubariki,
Allee
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| Happy kids after church - Sophia on the far right. |
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