Imagine that a visitor entered your sanctuary or worship center next Sunday morning. This visitor has no idea as to the personality of your congregation, or for that matter, has no idea what Christianity is all about. For those of us who grew up in the Church, this is a little hard to fathom, but stick with me here.
What would this visitor discern from the architecture, interior design and décor of your worship space? Would they be able to tell just by looking around what you hold dearest? Would a glance immediately tell them what you believe?
And what if this visitor took his or her cues from the attitude, behavior and involvement of those in your congregation? Could they tell in an instant whether or not worship was important? Negligible? Merely convenient? Vital?
And what about the worship elements themselves? We're talking about music, of course, but also the other spoken, or even silent, actions that make up your service. What would this visitor understand about Christianity from the way these elements are prepared and from the way they are presented?
And, needless to say (or maybe it really is needful to say), would this visitor understand without a doubt just Who is the Object, Subject and Focus of our worship? Remember, they have no idea what Christianity is all about.
As I'm writing this, we're right in the middle of the Advent/Christmas season, and virtually every song we sing has an element of the Christmas story in it. I suspect that, with a little work, you could line up a handful of our favorite and familiar carols (and maybe a few that aren't quite so favorite and familiar), and you could reconstruct the story of Christmas in a pretty clear and fairly concise manner. That's part of why we love Christmas so much, you know – every year we get to re-tell this incredible, mysterious, impossible story.
But here's the point: every Sunday we get to tell an incredible, mysterious and impossible story. And every Sunday there's the likelihood that somebody's going to wander in and wonder just what's going on around your place. Is it going to be clear? Is it going to appear vitally important? Is the Object, Subject and Focus going to be unmistakeable? Will everything from preparation to presentation give irrefutable evidence as to what you hold as almost unspeakably sacred?
As they say, we've all got one. So, what's your story going to be?
--Click here for more helpful articles from writer/arranger/director Marty Parks.
