Almost seven years ago, I was at a worship conference in Kansas
City. The conference was a sort of “choose your own agenda,” so I was looking
through the optional breakout sessions when one caught my eye. It was about
early church worship practices, and the instructor was with a school called The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies (IWS). I decided to attend the
breakout. And thus began a very important season in my life.
See, I didn’t go to seminary. I went to UNL for a BA in Music
and a BSBA in Marketing. I felt called into worship ministry a couple years
after college, and was encouraged to put my resumé out there. Before I knew it,
I was five years into full time worship ministry with no real sense of what that
meant. I yearned for a deeper understanding of worship.
Fast forward to today. I’ve spent six years reading, studying,
writing and praying. I’ve been instructed and encouraged by a diverse faculty
of wise men and women on a variety of topics related to worship. I’ve attained
a new title as of April 13: Doctor of Worship Studies. And while I don’t feel
much different today than I did on April 12, I know the past six years have
forever changed me. And I know I’m not done. Here’s some of what I learned, and
what I am continuing to learn…
We need each other. At IWS I was part of a cohort: we
were together from orientation day to graduation day. The exchanges I’ve shared
with my classmates—who come from many denominations from around the world—over
the years were sometimes eye-opening. I’ve seen my own faults, and learned to
speak with love and grace, and to listen. This was a tremendous time of growth
for me. I ended up writing my doctoral thesis on unity. We need others to speak
wisdom into our lives.
Worship looks around as much as it looks up. Half of
worship is inviting others to know God the way we know God: through Jesus. The
minute we put ourselves ahead of our neighbor in worship, we start to miss the
point entirely (Isaiah 58:1-11; Amos 5:21-24). Worship isn’t for me;
worship is for we. How do we worship in Christ? How are we
being invited into God’s story? How do we respond to the story?
God is bigger. When I started learning about the history
of the church, the variegation of worship around the world, and the depth of
meaning behind symbols that we tend to take for granted, I realized how
limiting my view of God has been. It’s like I’ve been looking backwards through
a telescope at God: He looked further away, and small. Now I see God is bigger
than anything that can come my way, and He is closer than I imagined, and I
have to sweep my telescope back and forth to take Him into view. Until He comes
again, I will never be able to fully comprehend or appreciate God’s greatness.
But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.
We all have these seasons where God stretches us, changing us
forever. Are you in one now? Or has God just led you through a season? Or do
you feel a yearning that might lead you into a time of change? How will you
respond in worship? Who will you invite along?
1 comment:
Glad to have shared part of your journey my friend! I look forward to see where God takes you in the future!
Michael
Post a Comment