God Is In the Details
I believe many times we think in such general ways about God and it causes us to miss the "details" of the life we are living and believe it or not, "God Is In the Details!" As a worship leader I have been smack dab in the middle of worship wars and worship wants by all ages. I have been the punching bag by which people, who are not thinking in a detailed way, have chosen to punch their wants and desires, and hit me with them. This is how it is for most who lead worship, and generally most ministers in all areas. There seems to be a lack of trust and belief when dealing with human leadership, which finds its beginnings in not trusting God. When we think in surface or "general" ways we miss the details as God sees them and get ourselves in an uproar over nothing.
I have a mac computer and if you go to system preferences there is "general" category where you can go there and it really doesn't have much in the way of help, because it is just "general" information for those who don't want to get too specific in learning their computer. In that same window there are many other specific categories that will help you "fine tune" what you can do to your computer. Like Privacy, displays, sound, bluetooth,and many others. These catergories are very specific for those wanting to delve into a more specific way of running things. If a person wants to just turn on their computer and type a little or send an email, or something, they will be happy with general things. But if they want to learn more of the inner workings of their computer they will open one of these other settings and did deeper into the workings of their computer.
An example, from my perspective, of a Christian living in the general area of church is someone saying something like "I miss the old hymns and these new songs sound terrible" . Or "I wish we would just use the hymnbooks and turn off those ugly screens." Or Why do we need a guy up there plunking away on a guitar? All his is doing is strumming like Elvis did!"
Those are general thinking comments, but there is a better and deeper way to look at things and to realize the reason for things and accepting them is a walk forward in growth. Answers -"There are multiple age groups who are worshiping, so we do multiple styles and it comes back to who we are trying to reach....and that would be EVERYONE! The screens get people's noses out of a book so they can look up and keep their mind on the words of the songs....focus. God gave us the instrumental talent we have and it needs to be given in honor to Him for His gift and strumming helps the congregation stay on the beat together, as well, as lead them in the key of the song. As you can see, there are many different ways to look at things, but "general" thinking will get you nowhere and smacks of personal preference, which is rooted in pride.
God is always moving us forward in our faith and Philippians 1:6 says being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Part of that good work is growing each of us in our faith and broadening our horizons and life goals and the focus is on Jesus and His way of thinking. Jesus took the Mosaic Law and did not let it stay in general terms based on human reasoning. He got in the details and exposed the mysteries of God in His teachings and that intimidated some leaders, but the common folk gravitated to Him. Jesus said in Matthew 13:11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. So we can know the mysteries of God, but be ready to have your apple cart turned over because this heavenly thinking is deep and holds nothing back. May our hearts and minds be receptive to the very specific ways God laid out His plans for each of us and look for God in the Details.
The Pilgrimage Continues........
David Warren