Plateau...

This is an article I wrote for our 'Heart Head Hands' regional newsletter which is sent to worship leaders in our region...... it has bits of other things I've written on here.... thought you might tolerate it.


Plateau


Plateau; we are all tempted to do it. We want to reach a point where we can stop; where there is no cold wind blowing or storm brewing; where we can take stock and enjoy the view across the road we’ve taken upward, grateful we’re not where we were.

It can be a good thing - to take in all that God has done in our church family - but before we know it, the people will set up camp and begin to build tents and lay foundations. ‘Hey, this is a comfortable spot - much better than where we started from – let’s stay here for a while.’

A while becomes a year. A year becomes a decade. A decade becomes a generation or two. A couple of generations become a denomination. What began as a movement ends up as a monument and, before you can blink, the Church across a nation is in decline.

There is a little myth developing in our sphere of the Church - that churches who want to grow need to make one important leap; from hymns, organs and choirs to songs, bands and worship leaders. And then everything will be alright again and the metaphorical pews (because they are now padded chairs) will be filled once more. Although this a simplification of a great intention - for churches to have culturally accessible and relevant worship - it is still a little myth because this is not a one-way-fix-all journey - what is more important is that those changes signify a new intention; to keep moving forward.

We all face the problem of trying to move our churches forward in worship; it is not just the concern of those whose worship originated in a different decade (or century). It is incredibly easy, if your church is stuck in an older model, to envy those churches that are doing a newer thing. And it is just as easy, for churches that have made steps forward in their recent history, to pity those who have not made the same progressive strides. Both are missing the point.

We need to ‘press on towards the goal’.

How quickly have many churches swapped one tradition for another? Drums, Keyboard, Guitar, Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Worship Leader, Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Repeat Chorus Ad Infinitum..etc…etc…etc…

We cannot stay where we are - we have to keep moving; keep creating; keep expressing our worship in new and different ways. And often we may get a sense of where that might be - a new sound or instrument or song that is out of our ordinary - and we know that some people won’t like it. They just won’t. They may even make a fuss. They may even leave the church and curse you for your new and careless ways. But that doesn’t really matter - what matters is that we still have to keep moving. You cannot ‘plateau’ and ‘grow’. (I just made that up - it rhymes and everything!)

“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them.” Jeremiah 1:17

As leaders we cannot be terrified of the people because He will terrify us before them!

There will be a time when we have to encourage His people to pick up their tents, leave their camp and press-on, up the mountain again, because even though the view here is good, there are better vistas to be found.

At some point we will have to make a stand. We will have to take a risk. We will have to risk failure and embarrassment and disappointment. We cannot press on without risking something - maybe even to risk losing some of the good work we have established. But if God has called your church to push on in worship, then you have to push on in worship.

I can’t tell you how or when your church needs to move forward - I have a couple of ideas for our church, but that’s our business! - and I cannot tell you the best way to make those changes happen. I can only tell you that you have to do what God calls you to do; to step into it with confidence that He loves your church way more than you do; confident that He wants His worship way more than you want to give it to Him; confident that He always keeps His promises.

Our churches can plateau or they can end up going in a hundred directions but the Kingdom of God only goes two ways - onward and upward.

dg