My Responsibility: Part Three

on Jul 23 in Church, Worship

Welcome to Part Three of a Blog series called “My Responsibility”.¬† We’re in the middle of discussing four responsibilities all Christ-followers have to make their worship services amazing and inspiring.¬† God will do His thing.¬† The pastors and other platform people will prepare and do their best.¬† But what about us?¬† We’re involved too, right?¬† So what’s our responsibility?

Part One and Part Two of this series are pretty decent, but not necessary.  Rule followers will only feel guilty if you skip them.

My Responsibility:  Part Three

Churches are really good at dividing people into two spiritual categories:¬† Seekers and Believers. Seekers, by definition, are people who are… seeking (Yeah. You just hit the “brilliant” button).¬† They’re seeking truth.¬† They don’t know what truth is, and they’re looking at Jesus as a possibility.

Believers are people who have crossed the seeking chasm, and who have chosen to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.  They are no longer seekers.  They are believers.  They are disciples.  Followers.  Learners.

Think about that popular distinction for just a moment.¬† Try to read those first two paragraphs without the lenses of modern church language.¬† It’s awful, to be honest.

Implied in the definitions are two really bad assumptions:

Really Bad Assumption #1:¬† People who are seeking Christ cannot follow Him.¬† Sounds great, but please don’t tell the original Twelve disciples that.¬† They followed Jesus and, somewhere along the way, they believed that He was the Christ.¬† And the timing was different for each one of them.¬† But they all followed.

Really Bad Assumption #2: People who have placed their hope and trust in Jesus as the Messiah no longer need to seek.¬† They’re not called “Seekers” anymore, after all.¬† They’re “believers”.

That second assumption is what really worries me.¬† We don’t even label ourselves “seekers” anymore.

I look at my own life, and I’m embarrassed at how long I can go without really seeking Jesus.¬† It’s so easy to not pursue Him.¬† Love Him, yes.¬† But pursue Him?

Which all leads me to the third responsibility that normal, non-paid Christ-followers in a church are responsible for, as we try to help create amazing and inspiring worship services.

I am responsible to walk into any church service as one who is still seeking.

“Seeking” does not equal “interested in the topic”.

Seeking is pursuing Christ.¬† It’s walking into every church service I attend, pursuing more than just a deeper intellectual understanding of Jesus.¬† It’s about pursuing a deeper relationship with Him.¬† It’s about leaning my heart in the direction of His grace, and His truth.¬† Words like “trust” and “surrender” begin to surface.

And as long as we’re being real with each other… At the core of it all, I suppose I tend to do two things at church:

First, I talk the talk of brokenness.¬† I let people know that I still have a lot to learn, and that I’ve got my “stuff”.¬† With my actions and my words, I communicate that I’m just as screwed up as everyone else.

Second, I don’t really believe that crap I just mentioned – the stuff about being broken and screwed up.¬† Much of the time, I don’t really believe I’m in need of much at all.¬† Arrogance and insecurity meet nicely at the crossroads of this self-imposed illusion.

And it’s this illusion that makes me quit seeking.

So here’s my solution to the whole seeking question.¬† I proclaim certain truths as I sit in the seat, waiting for the service to begin.¬† Here’s my proclamation:

I am broken.  Really.

I am not right a majority of the time.  Really.

I am not talented enough at anything to earn a pass on being humble.  Really.

I have no amount of Bible knowledge that will ever replace a relationship with Jesus.  Really.

So how about you?  What keeps you from embracing a complete seeking of Jesus Christ?  Your answer to that question is the key to everything Рnot just a great and inspiring worship service, but a great and inspiring life!

And by all means… please post your own unique proclamation.