Do not judge
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Matthew 7:1-2
Styles of worship…
One of the major things I had to deal with when I started with multicultural worship, and sometimes still deal with, is judging someone’s style of worship as inappropriate. Do you know what I mean?
Have you ever been in a church worshiping quietly and someone starts clapping or even shouting? How about when people start dancing in the aisles during worship?
Sometimes we can get stuck on what is appropriate for church and what is not. The truth is it’s just different, not wrong.
I remember thinking that people who used colorful flags during worship was a distraction. They’d be twirling and moving around…and right up front too.
Things changed when I understand their heart behind it. I met a woman who made worship veils at a conference for creative Christians.
She told me she hand-painted these silk scarves and prayed over each one. This woman went on to tell me how God revealed this gift/skill to her. I was blown away.
Different thinkers…
I have to admit…I have a hard time with logical thinkers.
The problem is I think they take too long to make a decision. And, if they make a decision it seems like they never take any action…at least it looks like that on the surface.
So, I married a logical thinker. Once I stopped to understand, ask questions, and find out why she thinks this way I saw it as a blessing. I don’t say that as much as I should, but it’s true.
I tend to make decisions too fast and figure out how to what I shouldn’t done differently later. I still process things this way, but I do more time now to weigh my options.
Lesson…
As multicultural worship leaders we are seeking to understand our brothers and sisters. Our own arrogance and pride can blind us from truly knowing someone’s heart.
If you find yourself judging someone, stop, and get to know their heart.
Have you found yourself judging someone only to find out you were wrong? Share your comments below.
Share your story and your life…
Sincerely,
Peter Park
Blogger/Worship Leader/Speaker
peterpark@redemptionboulevard.com
(800) 453-3284
Reading the bible accurately
Are you reading the bible accurately or are you bias?
Have you ever been bias for someone? Recently I was telling a friend of mine who lives in Portland about a problem I was having in church. He listened and he gave me some advice.
But he pointed out that he was bias for me, meaning he could only base his advice from my perspective. There would be no way he could know the full picture unless he interviewed people in the church or he spent some time here in Minnesota.
Reading the bible accurately with a commentary
If you haven’t heard, I’ve teamed up with a friend of mine from church to do an in-depth study on 1 & 2 Corinthians. Grant is going to balance me out a bit and help me develop some solid bible studies for our E.M.W. Training Program. He went to school for biblical studies after all.
When we met about a week ago he gave me some advice as we were talking through our plan to develop this bible study. Grant told me to make sure I read both the bible and a commentary on a regular basis as we proceeded on. It was help with reading the bible accurately.
How is a commentary going to help with reading the bible accurately?
Well, he went on to say that when we look for themes in the bible, like the multicultural church or multicultural worship, we can end up reading into the text. Meaning…we end up interpreting the bible the way we want to see it.
I can see the danger in that. When I’ve taken the time to develop some other studies I have several people take a look at it. I do this because I don’t want to be bias towards multicultural worship, even though I’m very passionate about it.
What else does reading the bible accurately have to with multicultural worship?
It is so important to take the time to find songs from different cultures and find musicians from different cultures. But we can’t forget about the other stuff that’s in the bible.
I mean things like making sure we are putting good solid people on our worship team with biblical standards versus putting certain people in because they can play a different style or are ethnic.
I just want to encourage you to be careful when you pursue multicultural worship to make sure you’re reading the bible accurately and are reminded of what else there is to living out the gospel in your life.
Are there some good bible commentaries that you enjoy using while reading the bible? Let us know about it.
Share your story and your life…
Sincerely,
Peter Park
Blogger/Worship Leader/Speaker
peterpark@redemptionboulevard.com
(800) 453-3284
Recommended blog post, which goes along with reading the bible accurately:
Do not judge