Make EVERY Effort

Unity is a command. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Right there, loud and clear, it reads, "Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace." It even gives rationale: "We are all one body."

Division is about disunity at it's core. It can be rationalized using styles or preferences or tastes, but it boils down to disunity. Perhaps what continues to be an arguemnt is based on our misgivings about worship - if we TRULY understood what it is, this may in fact not be a debate whatsoever.

Praise & Worship - are not the same thing. When we have a "time of praise & worship" we're actually trying to accomplish two things at once - but one thing RARELY gets done. We do a truckload of praising and very little worshipping. Worshipping is our actions, our expressions, of God's unequaled character. Nothing about US enters into the equation. In Teaching Kids Authentic Worship, the author says that we only worship when there are no personal pronouns present. I like that. It's ALL about God. I think she's completely correct in what she says, and may ADULTS can learn a lot from reading that book.

She says that Praise & Thanksgiving are by-products, VALUABLE by-products, of worship. Lets just not confuse those things. Praise and Thanksgiving ARE NOT worship. They depend on what God has done for us personally - Worship is ALL ABOUT HIM. Praise and Worship, then, may be affected a little more by personal flavor. But, maybe not Worship.

I'm quickly realizing that a lack of unity is not the problem in Churches wrestling with splitting. The glue that CAN hold us together is a common worship of God. Since a clear definition of worship has gotten away from us, the glue doesn't stick that well.

In the protestant church that's a hallmark of who we have come to be though, hasn't it? We don't like something, so we split. We talk about how there's absolute truth - apparently there's just 1000 different versions of it. Martin Luther was probably right in protesting some of the Catholic practises of his day, but I think we may have taken his lead just a little two far.

My prayer is that we can all be united - somehow. In a setting where, not only will traditional vs. contemporary not matter, it will be irrelevant. The western thought that our church "service" can meet EVERYBODIES needs, is pretty messed up. First of all, we don't have any needs as Christians (see 2 Peter 1:3). Secondly, no one is getting saved in church. "Evangelism" also happens outside of 'Worship'.

We're a body - yup, we have parts. I wonder, though, if we really need to divide all the way down to the cellular level. How far is too far? (<- Didn't think I'd ask THAT question about church division!). My concern is that we aren't making EVERY effort keep the body together. EVERY EFFORT!!!

Perhaps there's a better way.

Grace.