Don’t Let Sunday Morning Bite You On The Behind

I’m not always aware of it when it happens. But something happens when the service officially starts: Something sneaks up on you and bites you on the behind.

But you don’t realize it because you’re used to it. You think it’s appropriate, just the way things go.

It’s a formality. A pressure. A stiffness or rigidity.

I appreciate that reverence in worship is appropriate, and I take with proper weightiness stewarding the LORD’s presence.

However, many of us have learned to be passively boxed in by “Sunday Morning,” by what we expect in church meetings. And it’s far short of what God may want to do.

It’s not a call to manufacture something. It’s a call not to settle for the ordinary.

It’s not a call to think more of yourself than you ought. It’s a call to embody the fullness of your calling. Not as the slot-filler, detail planner, scheduler, rehearsal leader, pastor pleaser, or measly worship leader.

But as the true artist, shepherd, priest, educator, and producer. One who listens to the voice of the Father and is about His business. The leader who creates spaces where the people meet with God. The one who declares the emotions and voice of God. Walk in the full weight of “Christ in you the hope of glory,” of a “royal priesthood,” of “a clay pot carrying heavenly treasure!”

Am I overly concerned about pleasing…anyone but the LORD? Myself, my pastor, my team, my congregation, my viewers?

Is there more on the line than is appropriate? My status, my value, my self-esteem?

Is my lack of preparation harassing my freedom? The words, the chords, the groove, the tempo?

We all get into ruts. But a rut is nothing but a grave with the ends kicked out.

Yes, we have a plan, and yes, we’ve agreed to “stay in our allotted time.” But we’d be surprised what would happen if we took more risks, walked in greater faith, and expected more transcendence.

It’s faithful and routine, yet surprising and unexpected. It’s unglamorous and nameless, yet bold and brazen.

What if, rather than just executing the plan, cruising through our sets, and doing our best to wrap it up on time, we went out on a limb?

You guys, we have the possibility of making such a difference in the space we have been called to, in the moments we influence. Perhaps remembering that good ol’ Sunday Morning tends to bite, will help us kick that religious thing to the curb more often.

-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)

Don’t Let Sunday Morning Bite You On The Behind (Nº 336)