A Worship Family

This week was a great one. I spent 40 hours under the teaching of two great professors. The class was Christian Leadership.

After much discussion about church leadership, one of my fellow students was commenting on his appreciation for the structure of The Salvation Army. He noted, after 3 or 4 presentations of Salvation Army officers who did interviews with various Salvation Army leaders, that his church was missing something very vital.

He said that he is a part of a new and thriving church that is reaching out to a new population of normal people (non-Christians). The worship in his church is very contemporary and exciting. He also said that he enjoys working in this church.

The one thing he misses and is envious of, in regards to The Salvation Army, is the valuable asset that we have in our heroes of the faith. He spoke of a longing for a church with a history, which had people who had been around for decades to share their stories and their wealth of experiences and insight for ministry.

What immediately came to my mind was the picture of a Christmas feast. I very much miss being home for Christmas. It’s not the presents, the tree, the food, or even the traditions that I miss most. For me, it’s the family that I miss.

I miss grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, cousins, brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces all being together in the house, enjoying each other, no matter who we are or what we bring. It is the family that I miss more than the festivities. I especially miss the great stories that my grandparents would tell while we would drink coffee after dinner.

For me, this is a picture of worship that should never be lost; a picture of people of all ages coming together with all that they bring of themselves. I appreciate the young and the old, the fast and the slow, the traditional and the contemporary.

Worship should always be with family—the whole family, with everyone enjoying the company of one another. I am grateful for our heroes of the faith. I am thankful to God for those who have worked hard to set the stage and bring their rich heritage, experiences, and passions to share with those who are in great need of a sense of history.

I give thanks to God for placing that student in my class to give me a reminder of what it means to share my faith with those who have lived it for nearly an entire lifetime.

It has been wisely stated that you can’t head into the future without knowing where you are right now. I would add to that by stating that you can’t know where you are right now without knowing where you’ve come from.

Praise God for the elders of the church. You are loved, appreciated, and greatly respected.

Forever Learning,
Johnny