| THIS IS AN ARTICLE THAT TAUGHT ME SOMETHING ABOUT WORSHIP...
Where’s Waldo?
by Gregg Matte
Last night I thought of the "Where's Waldo?" books for kids. The pages are filled with interesting "distractions" from the main character. Then, finally, there he is sandwiched between a couple of different scenes. We celebrate our finding, move on to the next page of distractions, and look for him again. After we have been successful on one page we can easily find him the next time. The first time through is the hardest. Then we become used to the clutter and smallness of Waldo's image, and we easily point him out.
Here's how it applies. Mature worshippers know the pages and can handle the mess of the rest of the images. We know how to find Jesus in the commotion. But then we hand the book to others, and they can't figure it out. The distractions are overwhelming, inviting, exciting, and Jesus is drawn too small. So church becomes about attendance, music is just the precursor of the sermon, and the sermon is just “pie in the sky” with no relevance to 2003. Jesus is on the page, no question. We would never leave Him off completely, but He certainly isn't primary.
The goal of spiritual leadership, especially from the platform, is to make Christ primary. Magnifying Him so that He is the largest thing on the page; literally a pop-up book of truth. “HERE’S CHRIST IN FULL 3-D!” But the typical worship service is incredibly distracting. At Breakaway we have almost come to expect the first two tunes to be the “settle in your seats and say hi to your friends” background theme. Unfortunately, as the service continues musicians in the crowd are distracted by watching those on stage, the type-As are wondering if we will go too long, and someone else is wondering how did that lady make her hair look like that. SO…it is the leader’s responsibility to call us to free our vision from the distractions. To identify more than Waldo, to magnify Jesus! God incarnate, the Lion and Lamb, Alpha and Omega, your Savior and Reward. Let’s worship.
My desire and yours is that the church would turn to the page asking, "Where's Truth?" and see a huge picture of Jesus with all of the distractions small and distant in the backdrop. SO, I'm praying for God to remove the distractions, even the ones I like, the pit bulls that are now my pets. That anything that is keeping Him small on the page and hidden in the mumbo jumbo of my world would fade.
How do we do that? How do we remove distractions for people and highlight Christ?
- Are you personally distracted? Is your leadership about “doing good” or worshipping God? I’m embarrassed to say I have worried about my performance instead of His power as I have spoken. Galatians 1:10
- Are you prepared enough to be able to worship instead of being concerned about the logistics of leadership? Preparation is extremely godly. We often are too lazy or busy to prepare and then try to spiritualize it by saying the “Holy Spirit will take care of it.” Yes, He will and at the same time no, He won’t. Be ready, have vision, and then move forward. Matthew 25:1-13
- Lastly, does everything in the worship service point to Jesus? I’m amazed upon amazed at how distracting we intentionally make the page of worship. EVERYTHING must point to Jesus: the lights, the screens, the songs, and the leaders. Don’t misunderstand me. I’m for the cutting edge of creativity. We have a ton of technology at Breakaway each week, from a web cast to video clips. But they all point to Jesus and are done for more than “just cause they’re cool”. Luke 10:41-42
What would you add to the ‘How to’ list? I’m sure you have tremendous ideas I haven’t thought of. But I really believe a leader that is undistracted, seeking to please the Lord, prayerfully prepared, logistically ready, and pointing to Jesus is the kind of worship leader that does more than sing songs or speaker that just hops from one illustration to another. That kind of person reminds us of the importance and honor of worshipping Jesus in the midst of a distracted world.
Where’s Waldo? Who cares! I’m here to worship Jesus!
“And the things of earth will grow STRANGELY DIM in the light of His glory and grace.”
Founder, Speaker, and previous Director of Breakaway Ministries at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX. Breakaway continues to be a strong and vibrant ministry to college students, with over 4,000 in attendance each Tuesday night, as well as countless viewers on live-feed via the internet.
Gregg Matte has also used his spiritual gifts to preach and teach at conferences, camps, and retreats. He is the author of The Highest Education: Becoming a Godly Man and he is the executive producer of numerous praise and worship CD’s for Breakaway Ministries.
As Pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church, Gregg Matte has five areas of focus: Preaching/teaching, Vision-casting, Personnel leadership, Shepherding, and Public Relations. |
