Are You Being Held In Tension?
“What if where you feel the tension you discover God’s intention for you?”
Tauren Wells drops some fantastic perspectives and questions in twelve short minutes. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/51W3UXdaJ4s?si=SeulF6s8nogh9Nbu&t=2133.
(O en español: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7m7iJ9Ms0w/)
Or, if you'd rather read the transcript:
These are guitar strings. I have to tell you that they’re guitar strings so you understand the context for their creation. There are a lot of strings, but these were created with a distinct and definitive purpose. The interesting thing about these strings is they didn’t come connected to what they were made for—they’re free. Wouldn’t we all agree that these strings are free? They respond when I twirl them. They could be used for different things. I’ve got four kids at home and an imagination, so if I needed just 10 minutes by myself in the pantry with a candy bar, we could find some uses. If I was balling on a budget and needed an engagement ring, I guess you could... If you’re a musician, this is about all you can afford. But these strings are free.
These strings are free, and they perhaps could be used for something, but they were designed to be connected. And when they are connected, they actually get to operate to the full potential of their design.
The interesting thing about these strings is that they have to be connected to something bigger than themselves to operate in the thing they were created for. See, so many of us want autonomy and not attachment because we think if I connect myself to this, it limits me, but it actually liberates me in my purpose.
A guitar has a headstock and a body. Much of spirituality, even in Christian faith today, is about people who would say, “I’m connected to the head.” Ephesians says, “For He has made Christ the head of His church, which is now His body.” So, in order for me to actually operate in the full extent of my design and my purpose, I have to be connected to the head, which is Jesus, and to the body, which is His church.
Much of spirituality is just “me and Jesus got a thing going on,” but if I’m only connected to the headstock, I am still not able to operate. I don’t know about you all, but I don’t just want to be out here doing my own thing, saying, “Me and Jesus got a thing going on.” I want to be connected to something greater than me. It’s when the head is connected to the body that we actually get to operate in the thing we were designed for.
Here’s the problem in our culture: we have elevated individualism to the highest value. So we will cannibalize one another to climb a ladder and build what becomes a prison of loneliness, then call it success. And that’s why you can be rich and lonely, popular and lonely, talented and lonely, successful and lonely—because we never got connected to anything bigger than us. Everyone was a resource, everyone was scaffolding, and we never had to sacrifice for someone else. That’s what the church is.
And here’s the amazing thing: when we get connected to the head, which is Christ, and to the body, which is the church, you know what we experience?
Tension.
The reason sound can come from that string is because it’s being held in tension. So many of us don’t want attachment because we don’t want tension. “I don’t want to have to show up and put my preferences down. I don’t want to have to consider the needs of others. I don’t want to be challenged to think beyond myself. I don’t like that church; I don’t like that the pastor wears a hat.” There are things about church we don’t like, but could I propose to you today that where you feel the tension, you discover God’s intention for you?
What if the reason you see it is that you have within you what it takes to solve it?
“I wish this church would have a prayer meeting. I wish this church cared about the poor.” Show up under a bridge and get some people to go with you. Where you feel the tension, where you see it, solve it. Where you feel it, fix it. Because if you’re willing to put your life in tension, you’ll realize that a beautiful song, a beautiful melody, a beautiful sound can come from your life.
And here’s what’s amazing. There are six strings on this guitar, and there are many other components. What if we were comfortable being in our lane? What if we were comfortable being connected wherever God connected us? What if we weren’t fighting over who gets to play which notes? What if we were willing to make space for the gifts of other people? What if we were willing to celebrate others and elevate others? Instead of coming to church seeing what we could get, we came to church seeing what we could give.
I still love the church. I’m praying for you right now, in the name of Jesus, that every wound, every hurt, every heartbreak, every place where our heart has been turned from the thing You died to create, I pray there would be a supernatural move and infusion of Your love, Your grace, and Your goodness, and that You would turn our hearts back toward You, Jesus, and back toward Your bride. May we find new friends, new relationships, and new opportunities to be used by You, God. I pray that You would tear down, in a moment, all the baggage and all the things we have carried. Lord, we lay them down at Your feet, and we are ready and willing to take the next step forward in pursuit of what You have for us. We don’t want to just go build our own lives; we want to see our dreams realized through Your dream, which is Your church. We are recommitting ourselves to it, afresh and anew, in the name of Jesus. And the church said, amen.
(this post is by Tauren Wells, originally housed at https://youtu.be/51W3UXdaJ4s?si=SeulF6s8nogh9Nbu&t=2133)
-Dave Helmuth
(purchase my book, "Worship Fertilizer: (the first hundred)" HERE)
Are You Being Held In Tension? (Nº 407)
