Why Do We Gather?
Why do we gather each week as a church?
Your answer might be one of the most significant assumptions (and, therefore, the trickiest set of unspoken expectations) you have when thinking about the weekend service. It affects everything! What to sing. How loud it should be. What kind of songs to sing. Whether or not to use theater lighting. How to preach. How to “do” the offering. How long to go. Who’s allowed to lead. Who to invite. How big of a screen to use. And how many. Really…everything.
Well, let’s keep this discussion somewhat manageable.
I remember some marketing copy I read years ago for one of the best coffee shops in Lancaster: “When the world is swirling around you, find the way back to a simple & livable life – back to Square One.”
To my ears and heart, this is a great place to start when discussing why we gather. Even though (or maybe because) I get to experience such a wide variety of churches, I find it difficult to call all of us to a single reason (and therefore style) for our gathering. Honestly, this is my attempt to process through writing and open a conversation.
As a worship leader, I believe my role is to create a space to meet with God. (Thanks to Dan Wilt for that fantastic verbiage!) It seems to me there’s a lot of “Re-ing” going on when we gather.
These are some of the things I believe we should do when we gather each week.
Re-Orient
Life is disorienting. There are lots of things to look at, to want, to have to take care of, to understand. Gathering allows us to again “Set our faces like a flint.” (Isaiah 50:7) We look to Him, and our faces are made radiant. We say, “This is what I believe. This is Who I belong to. This is what’s true.”
Re-Imagine
Life is disappointing. Man, it’s sick out there—hurting, oppressive, ugly. I see the effects of sin in my life and the world around me. There is something transformational about meeting with the One who says “Go and sin no more,” who shows up where there’s a need and switches superb wine for tap water, who feeds half of LCBC (or your local megachurch) with my tuna salad footlong combo meal. He just sees in other dimensions, other realities, with another imagination.
Re-Position
Life is pushy. Usually downward. I’ll never get over the reality that, in one moment, I was dead in my transgressions, stuck in sticky, smelly muck. And as an 11-year-old on my Noah’s Ark bed, the extraordinary happened. I was re-created, a new creature, and suddenly I was home…seated in the heavenlies with Christ. #canyoubelieveit?! We celebrate this.
Re-Define
Life is ridiculous. Why would we work so hard to define who we are by what we do when He’s already named us? It’s like I’m Jarrett all week…except for the 60 minutes on Sunday when I remember I’m actually David. As a son, there’s no earning. Intentionally listening to the Father together powerfully sets us back in the right context.
Re-Connect
Life is frenzied. We rush. Especially on the way to church! We’re over-connected online and under-connected when we’re in the same room. Beyond just a shared experience, we get to respond to God and each other in the same space. Touching God-with-skin-on has a similar effect that the Ezekiel-37-dry-bones experienced.
Re-Direct
Life is idolatrous. Our charge as disciples is to bring an offering that is not for us. To acclaim, honor, magnify, worship, bless, praise, extol, love…Him. As Christ-followers, we need a place to once again, as a set-apart group, express love and devotion to the Center around which our lives satellite.
Re-Believe
Life is challenging. It should be faith-draining. Or said differently, it should require faith. We need the belief-fuel of faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Hearing it in the company of other witnesses emboldens our faith.
Re-Enact
Life is forgetful. We get wrapped up in the latest song, outreach program, and small group system. It’s cool stuff. But the Church has been doing its offensive on the gates of hell for a very long time. Sacraments, liturgies, rituals, and ceremonies connect us to the Church throughout history. We need that context. His body broken. His blood poured out.
Re-Interpret
Life is…not always as it seems. When someone has received truth from Truth and gives it to us, our moments get interpreted. The lies thriving in our heads are exposed and shrivel in the Light. It’s beautiful. Whether in a sermon, a prophetic prayer, an encouraging word, or a song lyric, the power of Truth translated in the language of love always sets us free.
Re-Glorify
Life is dusty. We, the created, stand up in our wonderful earthiness and begin to act, to do. But let’s be honest. It’s not that impressive. We're empty without the glory, the breath, the life of Jesus, full of resurrection power. Flat. A punctured bladder, vapid and limp (Psalm 37). Let me be clear: Two or more gathered aren’t the Church until we encounter the revelation of Jesus. He is central. He is everything!
I started on this written journey, in part, to see if a more “missional” or “attractional” or “believer” or “seeker” or “traditional” or “contemporary” or “blended” or “un-church” gathering was more fitting for “Today’s Church.” At this mile marker, if we’re all doing the “Re-ing,” the other labels become pretty unimportant when describing why we gather weekly.
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Why Do We Gather? (Nº 23)
