Up in front, with lights bright and a dark room, it’s so hard to know what’s going on in the corporate worship. I find it hard to take the spiritual temperature of the participants. Worship leaders sometime make the mistake of judging the spiritual climate of a room by the number of hand-raisers, kneelers, and shouters. Although I do think that there is a physical reaction as we become more in love with Christ and experience more freedom in our passion for him, I would never want to judge a worship gathering by physical movements or audible sounds. I do believe that a passion for God begins quietly inside us throughout our daily life, then frees itself more vividly in private moments with Him, then becomes public. This is not an equation, as we are all different, but it is a pattern I have often seen.
So what about you? Especially those of you that have spend time over the past 5 Sundays out in the congregation. Give me your perception of the spiritual response happening out there. I am not looking for complements, but for impressions. Although, if there are things that have helped or hurt, that is always valuable.
I can understand the need to know what’s going on out there: to look and see the physical movements of your congregation. And, quite honestly, if you did only that, you would see that Terra-ists are a moderate group of white folks that are not going to move, jump around, or raise their hands all that much. Not yet, that is. At least, that is what I am seeing….
On the other hand, it is hard to identify the spiritual climate and base the entity of worship on Sunday evening gatherings. That is why I’m delighted to host events like our dinner parties: to get into more intimate conversations and take a better temperature of the folks who identify themselves as Terra-ists. Who are they? I’m not really sure… yet.
I’m sure the Spirit is moving, though. That is my prayer!
Freedom is the word that comes to mind when I think of my worship at Terra Nova. Perhaps not in the sense of dancing or always raising my hands, but I feel the freedom, more than ever before, to worship God in a way that feels natural for me. I find the dimness in the room very conducive to worship. I feel the freedom to be intimate with Jesus without the pressure of knowing that I can easily be seen. I also feel the freedom to stop singing and listen, as I sometimes have a hard time listening to God while sounds are coming out of my mouth:)