The Social Networks

I know that I have previously talked about social networking.  At the time I focused on how churches should utilize social networking.  This post will focus mainly on how these mediums are misused. 

In my years of youth ministry, I probably gave “The Facebook Message” (as my students affectionately called it) at least 10 times and probably could have given it at least another 30 times.  Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter started out as mediums to connect people together, but now have turned into personal soapboxes for people to stand on.  

Currently, there are close to a billion active Facebook users.  Imagine if you had the undivided attention of a billion people.  What would you say?  Would you tell everyone what’s on your heart?  Would you tell everyone what your passion in life is?  Would you tell them how your faith, family or friends have impacted your life?  Would you use that platform to be a positive influence?

I have seen teenagers ridicule and berate their parents and teachers.  I have seen adults complain about their work environments.  I have seen both young and old use social networking to spread rumors and gossip about anything and everything.  These social networking sites were designed to bring people together, but so often, they tear relationships apart.

Did you know that all of your social networking posts are saved?  Even if you erase them, they are saved on a hard drive.  Did you also know that most employers are now asking to see your Facebook page before they hire you?  I know mine did and I have heard of a few people that were not given a job solely because their Facebook account wasn’t good.

Some people think that they are just displaying a post to their 100 friends, but you’re always a few clicks away from telling the world how you really feel.  By just one friend “liking” or commenting on a status, all of their friends see that.  Now your post is out there for the world to see.

What do your pictures say about you?  Do they tell a story of how you act on weekends?  Do they show you volunteering?  Do they show you partying?

What do your posts say about you?  Do they depict you as a positive person or a negative one?  Do they depict you as a Christian or someone far from it?  Do they paint you as a gossip or an encourager? 

Think about this when you make your next post: if you had the undivided attention of a billion people, what would you say?

Christmas in October

If you’ve been to Target recently, you already know that Christmas is coming.  It’s almost painful to look at.  Today, it’s over 70 degrees here in Chicago and I know that Christmas is on my mind.  Why you ask?  Because as a worship leader, it’s my job. 

Christmas Eve is the Super Bowl of church services.  More people will attend the Christmas Eve than any other services.  So, it’s my job to make them memorable and enjoyable for everyone that attends.  Pastors, worship leaders, and entire church staffs toil over these services for months trying to make them great.  But why don’t we take the same care and preparation with the other 51 weeks in the year?  Why don’t we, as churches, put forth the same kind of effort and planning into all of our services, like we do for Christmas Eve?

First of all, a good percentage of churches don’t work ahead.  Pastors plan their sermons on Wednesday and speak on Sunday.  This gives the worship leader 4 days to get music together.  This puts the worship team at a disadvantage to learn new music.  It promotes a style of leadership that leads from “week to week.”  Every week is a “big emergency.”  Everyone is stressed and no one has the proper time to put their “best foot forward.”  Sundays end up looking rushed and thrown together.  The main idea may get across, but the execution of that idea isn’t done well.

Second, we claim that it’s a “special time of year.”  Well, of course it is.  Christmas trees are up.  Lights are lit.  Families come together.  It’s great.  But what is the purpose of Sunday worship?  If the true purpose of Sunday morning corporate worship is to glorify God with other believers, then shouldn’t we be as excited every Sunday like we are on Christmas Eve?  The reason why we worship on Sunday mornings is to remind us what Jesus did on Easter Sunday morning almost 2,000 years ago.  Sunday mornings are supposed to be a celebration of the eternal freedom that we have in Christ Jesus.  But, unfortunately, some look at it as just another thing to do or don’t even go or care at all.

Our Christmas Eve service is planned, and yes, we will put a little more effort into it than a regular Sunday service.  But because we are a church that plans ahead, we put a lot of effort into each week.  It’s my hope and prayer that your churches can plan ahead and make sure that every week is special.  That will help grow your church spiritually.  And when your church is growing spiritually, your church can’t help but grow numerically.

Sundae

As a church worker, I have heard a lot of analogies and stories over the years.  I’ve even heard personal stories from pastors at different churches that sound so similar it would appear that they both have access to the same stories. 

Recently, I’ve been thinking about my role as a worship leader in a large church and thought of a great analogy.  “Working as a worship leader is a lot like creating a sundae for someone else” (see the pun there…sundae…Sunday…alright it’s lame, but you’ll get the point). 

How do you like YOUR sundae?  What kind of ice cream do you use? You could add sprinkles.  You could add chocolate chips.  Do you put fresh fruit on top?  Do you put a variety of candy on there?  What about syrup?  Chocolate, caramel or both?  A little whipped cream?  A lot of whipped cream?  Do you put nuts on top?  Ultimately, there are so many option to think about before you even begin, it can sometimes be overwhelming.

Imagine that you had to create a sundae for someone else and they had NO input on what they were getting.  The might complain that they don’t like chocolate chips and would rather have gummy worms.  They might even be allergic to nuts.  It could be very frustrating.  It will take you numerous tries to get what they are looking for and at the same time, their choices may change over time.

Now, imagine creating a single sundae made the same way for 1,000 people.  That is a Herculean task and borderlines on the impossible.  1,000 people could never agree on the appropriate amount of whipped cream or even the amount of cherries used.  Some may even disagree on the ice cream choice itself.  There is no way that every person will be satisfied and happy with the sundae that you create.

In the same way, as a worship leader, 1,000 people will never be happy with the Sunday that you create.  They may complain that there wasn’t enough singing or too much singing.  They may say that the song choice wasn’t what they wanted.  They might not appreciate the “acoustic” set that week and were hoping for a full band.  They might even want contemporary at a church that only offers traditional.  Whatever the case, it’s a very difficult task to get 1,000 people to agree on one thing.

As a worship leader, creating a Sunday for 1,000 people is like creating a single sundae for 1,000 people.  No one will ever be completely happy with what you do.  But it’s important to remember that Sundays are for glorifying God, not creating sundaes for each person in a pew. 

Parenthood:Part 3-Falling

So my eight month old daughter has started pulling herself on to coffee tables, couches and really anything that will allow her to stand up.  The first time she did it, I was so proud of her, but the past few weeks have been unnerving.  She has the ability to pull herself up, but starts to lose it when she tries to walk.  She has fallen down time after time.  Some instances include a banging of her head, while other times she simply falls safely on her butt.  Every time I see her start wobbling, I get nervous.  I want her to learn to do it on her own, but I also don’t want her to fall down and hurt herself.  It’s the fine line that all parents deal with.

I’m sure that God looks at us the same way.  He sees us try something we’re not ready for.  We may fall and hurt ourselves or we may just simply stumble and learn from our mistakes.

One of my favorite movies quotes is from Batman Begins.  After young Bruce falls in a pit, his father comes to get him and asks him, “Why do we fall?  So we can learn to pick ourselves us.”  My daughter is currently learning how to walk alongside a coffee table.  When she falls, she starts crying and I am always right there to pick her up and tell her that everything’s OK.  When she settles down, I put her back to work at learning to walk.  I don’t allow her to “walk away” from her goals.  I watch her and encourage her, lending a hand when needed and giving praise when she gets it.

God does the same thing for us.  He’s there to pick us up and comfort us when we fall.  He wants what’s best for us.  He loves us and encourages us.  If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have come to earth to die for us.  It’s through his death that we have life, and that his grace covers our failures. 

Church Softball

For most kids, the first song they learn to sing is the “ABC’s” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”  Me?  The first song I learned was “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.”  From the time I could stand, I’ve had a baseball bat in my hands.  It was a huge part of my life.  I was heart-broken when I finally had to give it up my senior year due to a major elbow injury. 

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started playing 12” softball.  I immediately fell in love with the game.  I played in a corporate league for a year before I was asked to play in a church league.  For the 3 years I was in that league, I never experienced such poor attitudes and bad sportsmanship .  I saw elders of churches throw temper tantrums that would rival those of my 7 month old.  I heard cursing, swearing and complaining in front of kids and teenagers.  I saw coaches get in verbal shouting matches with volunteer umpires. 

Now I know what you’re thinking: maybe they were non-Christians that were on the team.  Doubtful.  One of the rules was that all but 1 of the players on your roster had to be a member of your church! 

I didn’t realize how bad it was until last week.  I started playing in a corporate/bar league in Wisconsin with a friend of mine.  As we were playing, both sides complimented each other on good plays.  There were no arguments with the umpires.  The only negative words that were displayed were at their own teammates.  Opposing teams were joking around with each other.  It was nice.

Why does the corporate/beer league look more like what the church league should be?

This isn’t an isolate incident.  I go to a denomination-wide national basketball tournament every spring for junior high students.  Every year, I see parents curing out referees.  I see adults yelling at each other.  I have even seen a good number of parents get ejected from the games!

It’s a rarity that I see Christians have good sportsmanship while playing sports.  Why is that?  Why are we such poor examples on the court or baseball diamond?  It’s something that has baffled me for years.

Have you experienced this?  What are your thoughts?

No Pressure

I have been a worship leader for the better part of 15 years.  In that time, I have come to appreciate “No Pressure” worship leading opportunities.  When you regularly lead or are employed by a church as a worship leader, people tend to put their two cents in every chance they get:  The music was too loud.  I couldn’t hear Jessica.  Can you play more hymns?  Why can’t I sing more?  Why did you have a keyboard AND a piano?  You play too much Chris Tomlin.  You don’t play enough Chris Tomlin.  The list goes on and on.

That being the case, I really enjoy opportunities where the circumstances don’t allow me to have to “live with” the results.  For example, last week I led worship at my college alma matter.  Was it loud?  Yes.  Was it polished? When you have guys coming from all over the Midwest and practice for an hour ahead of time, no it wasn’t.  Was it honest? You bet.  Was it worshipful?  Absolutely.

I’m sure there were older alums that couldn’t stand the volume, but you know what?  I don’t care!  There may have been people that didn’t like my song choice.  To them, I say, “I don’t care.”  What people saw up front was worship leaders from different denominations, different churches, and different regions gathered together to worship the same Lord and Savior.  The music that was played came from the heart.  It was filled with a passion and freedom that wasn’t restrained by church politics or a congregation member’s personal preference.  So often, our worship is bogged down with these things. 

“Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!”  Psalm 150

Those verses left out things like personal preference, decibel level, and hymn to modern song proportion. 

I encourage you to read 2 Samuel 6.  Why don’t we worship more like David?  Why don’t we dance with unbridled joy in the streets?  A better question may be do we act like Michal?  Do we look down on those who worship differently or not to our personal preference? 

Something to ponder this week…

…and give to God what is God’s…

We have all heard the story before:  The Pharisees and their buddies are following Jesus around and try to corner him…again, even after so many failed attempts.  This time, they try to get him to go against the Roman government, thinking that the Romans would take care of their “Jesus problem.”  When they asked, “If they should pay taxes to Caesar,” he responds by saying, “Give to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s (Mark 12:17).”  

In my many discussions with church leaders in the area, the subject of finances came up.  Many churches are struggling with a lack of financing these days.  The reasons rage from job loss to property taxes that came early or even as simple as people forgetting their checkbook on a Sunday.  Whatever the case, churches are finding themselves strapped for cash.

As we were talking, I thought of something profound (OK, not so profound or new, but something that is rarely said from the pulpit), I think that we feel like our money is ours to freely give and spend as we please, when in actuality: it’s Gods.

Think about it this way: Who designed you? God.  Who gave you your gifts and talents? God.  Who is ultimately responsible for the paycheck that you receive? God.  So, whose name should really be in that “Pay to the Order of” line?  God.  You see, when you look at your money as God’s, you are forced to see things differently. 

Many of us are going through hard times financially, but no matter what, God will take care of us:

 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light.  But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!  No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.  That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?  So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Matthew 6:19-34

Your offering depends on what God is calling you to give.  For some people, that may mean 10% or tithing.  For others, that may be $50 a week or even a month for others.  And for some, that means giving time where you don’t have the money.  Does that mean that by giving you may have to get the 46” LCD TV as opposed to the 60”?  Maybe.  It might even mean canceling HBO or getting the lower satellite package.  What minstry could you help start/fund by putting in $5 a week?  At the end of the day, God promises to take care of our needs and because of that shouldn’t we return just a little bit back to Him?