The Game

If you visited the Journey site, I linked to in the last blog (even if only to check if I was really published), you would have seen the headlines of the November issue is “worship wars”.  So here it is, the long awaited position of Linda on music in worship.

Think of it like this.

There is this soccer team right, each player on the team has his own personal ball.  They may have gotten this ball as a gift from a loving parent when they were very little.  This young person played with the ball with parents, neighborhood friends, cousins probably played with anyone.  The purpose of this play was probably just for fun but the result was developing skills.  This young person then joins a team, like their-self, all the other players on the team have their own personal ball.  All of them bring their own balls to practice.  They move each others balls between them in drills, often repetitive, honing each skills individually.  As they get better, the coach comes along and introduces more skills.  Then they have a practice game, all the players on the team set their individual balls aside and use a ball that the coach has selected.  This ball may be a worn game ball but the standard will be consistent with regulations, unlike each individual ball which could have a variance in standard, not enough variance that it impedes the development of skill but varied none the less.  All the while, this player continues to practice with his ball at home or he won’t get to play in the big game.  When it comes to game day, the ball is a regulation ball.

Now, how would the team go if everyone tried to play the game with their own ball that they brought from home.  Chaos,  Or, how would it be if even if all the players left their ball on the sidelines and ran around chasing the ball on the field yelling, “My ball!”  Again, I think the individual’s focus on the ball being theirs and what that means to them, well, destroys the team.

I see worship sort of like this.  I individually know God, received faith as a gift from no other than God, Godself.  I use this individual faith at home, I practice it; challenging every day events with the gift that God has given.  But, eventually, I realize that this is not only fun at home, there can be more and I join a team.  In that team’s study group, I bounce around my gift, and experience skill building with it and with the gifts that others have, their own personal gifts.  I hone my discipleship.  Sometimes, by repetitive drills, doing them over and over again.  Sometimes, it is not for my sake but I am forces to repeat them because someone on my team needs more practice with that skill.  Sometimes they repeat things for me.  This is done under the watchful eye of a spiritual leader, one who knows the game, knows the big picture, one who continues to practice theirs skills and their skills should be evident.  Occasionally, the spiritual director will call all the members of the team together and have practice games, carefully choosing the gift for that game.  All the while, I continue to use my gift in my daily life.  But,then on Sunday morning or evening (or perhaps some other day), it is the game, worship.  God is there.  The God who gave all the gifts, he comes to watch his children demonstrate their use of the gift in worship.  This brings glory to him.  

What if we all bring our own ball into this event and focus on it?  What if we focus on God and sing out, “My, my, my” (like the bunch of sea gulls in Finding Nemo)?  Shouldn’t for that time, we give ourselves fully to be part of the team and for that time shouldn’t we sing, “Our?”

I get so frustrated with the argument that God is personal and if we only sing, “We, us and our” in worship people will not take responsibility for their own faith.  Rubbish.  Join the team, play the game, on game day worship our God and then take your gift home and  enjoy.