December 4, 2006
Creating an Experience
My friend, Mike, just sent me a link to this blog on “Creating an Experience.” It is definitely worth reading. My hope is that more people in the church will begin to understand this. He said several things that most people don’t (or won’t) realize.
The bottom line is that if a church wants to impact a community–IT TAKES WORK.
For far too long the church has been lazy…that’s right…LAZY. We have sat back on our butt and done nothing, asking God to “do it all†and claiming to be “led by the Spirit.†And then people walk into our boring, lifeless and predictable services and we give “God all the glory†(or the blame!)
One of the things I have realized in reading Scripture though is that Jesus was far from boring–He created experiences for His followers–experiences that they NEVER forgot…do you remember…
- Jesus walking on water…don’t think for a minute that Peter didn’t think about that moment every time he walked by a lake.
- The mount of transfiguration. Peter & John were both so blown away by this that they both wrote about it in Scripture.
- The feeding of the 5,000.
- The day of Pentecost in Acts 2.
- Bringing back Lazarus from the dead.
- Turning water into wine (the Baptist hate that one!)
I could go on–the bottom line is that Jesus was constantly creating experiences that communicated to His followers who He was in a way that they would never forget…
AND THE CHURCH SHOULD BE DOING THE SAME!!!
Why is it that if we put a lot of work into a ministry or a gathering, people accuse us of being “performance based” or “trying to make it all about entertainment”? Yes, if your motives are wrong, that’s a problem you need to deal with. But should that exclude us from doing things with excellence and using our talents in the church? NO!!!
He also makes some great points (that I agree with) about the Holy Spirit being involved in the planning process and not just during the service. Just because you plan well, doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit isn’t doing anything.
He also says:
Sure–we’ve been accused of entertaining people…I always say I would much rather entertain you than bore you!!! Jesus didn’t mind creating experiences…and His church shouldn’t either.
We know GOD is in charge–that HE is ultimately responsible for all that is happening…but we also understand that God works THROUGH people…and that He is honored when people plan, pray, work…and then sit back and watch Him make up the difference.
We are serious about making His name famous…and that just can’t happen when church is boring. (I believe a boring church is a sin!!!) SO…we are going to always do all we can to make sure that when you attend church on Sunday–that is one of the BEST hours of your week!!!
If you’ve read all of this, then you might as well read Perry’s whole post. Let’s get out there and do what we do best.
