Dear Worship Dude // The Third Letter
Hey. It’s me again.
Thanks for the offer to have coffee with me the other day.
Sorry if I offended you by saying no.
I just don’t trust you yet.
Or maybe it’s the jeans.
I just figured if one of my friends saw me having coffee with a dude wearing chic jeans, well, you know.
I don’t want them to get the wrong idea.
So.
We sang this song the last 2 Sundays.
The one about standing with arms high and hearts abandoned.
Lo and behold, when you sang that I got a little choked up.
Everyone around me suddenly started singing louder and lifting up their hands.
I’m not even a Christian but I felt the energy and vibe in the room.
I gave it a shot.
For about 3 seconds I lifted my left hand to my hip.
I would have made it to 4 but I swear I saw you looking right at me.
That killed it.
I mean. I don’t know why I was lifting my hand besides the fact that, well, it just felt right.
And I think that “feeling” I got, that is that thing you keep talking about every week.
That ghost guy.
Holy Spirit.
So this is to let you know.
While everyone else around me was stretching their arms out like there was a holy foul ball about to hit our stands,
I was doing the arms high and hearts abandoned thing too.
But for me high and abandoned equals my hip right now.
I hope that is OK.
Just wanted you to know that just because I did not fall into the worship pose the song was asking for, does not mean I was not stretching higher and farther than those around me.
Sincerely,
Dude Who Just Came Back To Church After 10 Years Because Church Sucks.
Read his first 2 letters here.
And Here.
RAIN IT DOWN
This just about made me cry. I can’t tell you how it affects me when I see someone come to Christ. I know “Dude” hasn’t yet… but I see where this is going (I think). I love to watch people pray and be baptized. It seriously makes me cry. No, it’s not the hormones. It’s real tears of joy and wow there’s another one. My heart thinks “Welcome to the Family, my friend, welcome”.
I need to hear from more “dudes” in my life. I have been a Christian for 21 of my 27 years. I forget what it is like not to understand the jargon or to get the lingo.
Dude,I hope you find our Lord but man how awesome that you share so freely.
Los,thanks for letting us see these – perspective.
I lead at a smaller church (around 400-500) so I actually have the opportunity to know personally many in our congregation. I love it when I see someone obviously being stretched just a bit. It means alot to me to be an eyewitness to a moment of glory…..a holy intersection. To me, that’s the great privelege of being a worship leader. I get to see God at work and it’s magnificent.
> But for me high and abandoned equals my hip right now.
Stop reading my mail, dude [-:
> Just wanted you to know that just because I did not fall
> into the worship pose the song was asking for, does not
> mean I was not stretching higher and farther than those
> around me.
Another way to say this, if internal growth were always visible on the outside… it would be called external growth.
peace|dewde
http://dewde.com
Brilliant!
Book!
Love You!
H
Looks like dude is starting to come around! I gotta meet this guy.. oh wait he’s in our church every week.
Sorry, can’t help thinking of “The Big Lebowski” when I hear anyone referenced as The Dude.
I can only imagine what Jeff Lebowski would think of in church.
LOS, these letters are great and so real I can’t wait for “dude” to come into a full relationship with Jesus!
Also as I read the letters they really burdin my heart to go find the “dude’s” in my church and encourage them and be a friend that they can go to.
this is great stuff. its real life.
This “person” is exactly who is in my head and heart when creating worship elements.
I keep trying to get others on our team to “see” this person.
It’s all I think about, all I talk about…
When I ask “what about the “skeptic” I get the same old response. But, what “I hear” in that response is “if we design for things we like (cause we are 80’s cool and hip) then God’s mighty power will transcend and touch the hearts of those skeptics that happen to be there…”
It so reminds me of the mentality of “we want new young people to come to our church, BUT we are not willing to change. They should learn to worship our way.”
I’m going to be really blunt here,
When I hear someone say “at my old church”, I cringe. I know that whatever comes out next will be something antiquated like “we did James Taylor’s “Shower the People You Love”-esque…
I agree God is that great; but I contend that it’s doesn’t hurt to design elements that give Him and the Holy Spirit a fighting chance.
And I have to say (because someone always brings it up), it’s not about doing Christianity lite…
Please, I am a Christ follower just like you. It’s still about worshipping and glorifying God, telling the greatest story ever told and preaching the Word.
It is such a fine line…
I say, as long as our first goal is to design everything to worship and glorify God; why not design for the skeptic and dechurched frame of mind. For God’s power is mighty and He is able to transcend into the heart of the “lukewarm believer”.
If we design something that is cutting edge, culturally relevant it gives “that person” something that is familiar to connect to.
Do that and then genuine hearts of worship will touch “that person”.
One of my very favorite quotes “I never liked jazz music, because jazz music doesn’t resolve. But sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself…I used to not like God, because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.”-Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz)
So, entice the skeptic, challenge the lukewarm, and thrill the believer to new levels of passion…
Thanks for adding this and bumping the others. I’m new to Ragamuffin and haven’t had a chance to pursue many of the previous threads…
I think that is just about my favorite song in the whole world.
We sang The Stand this past week in church. I love that song. I love the line “This life to declare Your promise, my soul now to stand.”
–ash
About 2 years ago, my husband and I led worship for a small (30 families?) rural church. The pastor held a weekend conference on worship–not just music but what worship means as a whole. During the Friday night music session, I kept looking at a young(20s) girl who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else. Pensive look on her face, furrowed brow. No singing, no movement. After the evening event ended, she approached me to say she was so moved and felt overwhelmed. She hugged and thanked me. A few minutes later she prayed with the pastor to accept Jesus. By her actions, I thought she was bored or angry. You can’t tell what’s going on in hearts. The waver/jumper/clapper may very well be disengaged spiritually. And the still/hands at the hip/frowner may be processing some very intense heart issues. Worship leaders, be faithful in the work you are given to do and trust the Holy Spirit to do his work.