Helping Your Congregation Break Out of Its Comfort Zone

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

I recently watched the NBA finals and in Game 4 Steph Curry stepped up to the free throw line and knocked down 2 shots without batting an eye. He was in his comfort zone! In fact, throughout the finals he made 95% of the free throws he attempted. Steph Curry’s comfort zone is watching the ball go through the hoop.

What’s your comfort zone?

A comfort zone is a psychological state in which things feel familiar to a person and they are at ease and in control of their environment, experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress. In this zone, a steady level of performance is possible.

As a Worship Pastor, comfort zones may be one of the things I wrestle with the most! I take the story of Moses as an example and am encouraged that God is in the business of stretching the comfort zones of His followers. Moses, as most of you know, did not consider himself a great speaker… some would even theorize and say that he might have had a speech impediment, but God called him to go and plead with Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. God called a person who was uncomfortable with their speaking abilities to be the voice of a nation, a voice of reason, and the audible voice of God.

We see a similar charge to Abram, when in Genesis 12 God tells him to “leave his country and Father’s house to a land that he will show you.” Even though it doesn’t say here, I’m sure Abram was hesitant at first. Leaving the land that he had known his whole life for a place that hadn’t even been given to him yet. A land that he didn’t know and couldn’t see!

So, Because of these stories I know that as a Pastor challenging my congregation to step out of their comfort zones is important and Biblical. But how do I do that? It seems every time I start to think on this topic so many more questions come up. What is the current comfort level at? How do we stretch without breaking people? How fast do we move? Am I stepping out of my comfort zone? How do we develop a method? Do we move with our church or as a separate entity?

All of these questions must be carefully weighed and thought out before deciding what stepping out of a comfort zone looks like for your individual ministry.

I have been on staff as a Worship Pastor at New Hope Community church for three and a half years now. I have learned a lot, and have seen God move in ways I couldn’t ever imagine! How can we come along our congregations and encourage the “fearful” steps out of the comfort zone? Let’s think together!

Find Your DNA

One of the most dangerous things I have seen over and over again with Pastors entering into new “home bases” is imparting their home church, or favorite “model” church, into the direct vision and end goal of the church they are in.

Now don’t hear me say that it is wrong to take things that healthy churches are doing and trying to implement them into the life of your church. That’s not it at all! The problem is when you try to make another church’s DNA your own!

Ministry takes a lot of time to figure out what the church’s “DNA” is. By that I simply mean what is natural and comfortable for them. For me I have to explore and find out if there is there a song that has been the church’s anthem that everyone raises his or her hands to? Is there a mash up that has helped bridge the gap in styles? The DNA is made up of these unwritten rules, and what the church is passionate about as a whole.

I remember the first time I led a song that “flopped.” It was within my first three months here and it was almost as if the other vocalists and I were the only ones singing along with it. I quickly realized that at that current time that song was too far outside of the norm for the church.

So… what did I do? Did I force that song down their throats? No! I stopped singing that song, and songs like it, for a time while I figured out what our DNA was. Interestingly enough, as the church moved and grew and developed a trust in me (we will discuss that shortly) I was able to reintroduce that song with great success!

You have to find what has been done, what has worked, what was forced, and what was taken away that should have remained.

For some churches their DNA is in their direct community; for others it may be younger families, older families, singles, multi-ethnic, middle class, upper class, lower class, etc. Neither is better or worse, it is simply the door God has opened for you and caused your congregation to become passionate about.

Effective ministers find out what the church is passionate about and integrate it into the service and life of the church.

Earn Trust

My wife and I love the outdoors and love adventure even more! We love to hike and climb/ shimmy into places that others might not want to go. Now imagine that you want to do an exploration in a remote and dangerous area. You have money to find a guide and you get several ads and read through them trying to pick your guide. Are you going to choose the “new guy” or the guy that has led numerous successful explorations in the exact area in which you plan to go?

On the other hand, imagine that you need brain surgery. Do you want the surgeon who barely got through med school or do you want the guy who was at the top of his class and has done hundreds of brain surgeries?

Before people are willing to go somewhere new with you they must know that you won’t abuse their willingness and trust. To earn their trust, you must let them know that even in stretching them, they will not be forgotten or misrepresented.

In the story I told about the song that “flopped” why do you think the song went over better the second time a year or so later? Did the musical taste of the entire church change? Probably not. The congregation trusted me more.

How do you earn trust? You do life with the congregation. You get to know their DNA and become part of that DNA. You meet people where they are at, because that is how God treats us.

Go With Them

I remember the first time I went hiking with my wife. If you know Alaina then you know that she is all legs… and that became painfully obvious when we reached our first hill! Now that I have grown accustomed to hiking at her pace we both have to be mindful of our speed when we walk/ hike with others.

As an artist I have to be mindful of the pace of my artistry and creativity. It is so easy for my ministry to seemingly move faster than the rest of the church. I can do this by updating our song selection and modernizing our sound, our stage design or our atmosphere. All of these are valuable tools and should be developed, but if they are leaving the rest of our congregation in the dust what are we gaining?

I like the idea of meeting people at their comfort zones and taking them one step further.

In fact, that is the way Jesus modeled discipleship. Jesus didn’t point people where to go without going with them, or call them from a place far away telling people to find their way to Him. Jesus’ ministry was based around walking with people, teaching as they went.

Jesus led people to places he was going himself or had already been to! As a leader are you trying to lead from afar?

Keep a Clear Focus

Lastly, if we are going to ask and challenge our congregation to take a step with us, we need to be stepping out in ways as well.

Stepping out of your comfort zone demands that you yourself are constantly moving forward in your own walk with Christ. We must be showing the congregation that we are moving forward as well as worshiping in ways that are outside of our preferences or comfort zone.

That comes from being transparent through the process of stepping out of our comfort zones both from the stage and personally in conversations.

Be real with people. If you aren’t a naturally expressive person, show your congregation that you are trying to move outside your comfort zone by raising your hands in worship. If you aren’t comfortable singing, then sing. If you aren’t comfortable with leading a prayer out loud, then pray for all to hear. Show your congregation that you are stepping out with them.

It is healthy for us to worship in ways we are not comfortable with!

If we practice worshiping in ways we aren’t comfortable with then we will get more comfortable stretching our comfort zones in all aspects of our life.

But change, stepping out of your comfort zone, isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon made up of consistent steps forward.

Meet people at their comfort zone and take them one step further.

Heart Check

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Recently my wife and I moved to a new house. If you’ve ever experienced the “joy” of moving, you know it can be a long and stressful process. All the boxes, the packing, and the aimless strolling through your home every morning to find the box that contains your socks and underwear… it can add up to pure madness. I know that I personally have doubled the amount of gray hair in my head over the past two months.

Packing up a house can also reveal unwanted surprises. Like when we moved our couch for the first time in two years only to find a variety of bullets in varying calibers (you have to understand my home for this to make sense), a plethora of candy wrappers, and a very questionable half-eaten Chick-fil-A fry. During our move, I constantly was asking myself, “Are we really this messy?”

Then comes the worst part… when everything is out of the house and all that’s left is cleaning up the aftermath. After scrubbing and sweeping with the help of extended family a realization finally set in: with more maintenance, the house would have been in much better condition. Now don’t get me wrong! I’m a tidy person! I like things to be clean and in place… but when you live in a space long enough all of those hard to get places get gross and you even become used to a certain level of mess.

As we transitioned into our new home I immediately felt the urgency (maybe even a little too much) to maintain our home and its cleanliness. I vowed to be intentional on a daily basis to faithfully steward our home, even in the things that aren’t visible. Mowing the grass, sweeping, mopping the floors, and dusting are now a regular thing that I treat as preventive maintenance, so that maybe next time we are moving and things get shuffled around we aren’t left standing in a messy room asking ourselves, “how did things get this bad?”

This same illustration can be applied to the heart of a Christian. Intentionality is important in maintaining the health of your own heart! There’s a reason Jesus stresses the importance of the heart so much in the Scriptures, because it’s the life and breath behind everything you do. Sadly, you may be able to fake things on the outside with the right answers or charisma but I believe that the Christian whose heart is far from God is of no value to the kingdom.

Take a moment to ask yourself a few questions:

  • What is your life like underneath the surface?
  • If you stripped away the surface, would your life reveal a heart that has a zeal and passion for God?

Nothing is more vital for our churches, our families, our spouses, the people we serve, and ourselves than for our hearts to be healthy. Here are four vital practices we must have in order to make sure our hearts are constantly chasing after God. These disciplines may seem simple, but they are crucial if we’re to avoid the pitfall of “talking the talk” without “walking the walk.” Matthew 15:8 puts it this way,

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Let’s think together!

Drink from the Well

Psalm 119:105 says,

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Be in the Word daily! While this discipline seems to be a no-brainer, it’s often overlooked amongst the many tasks, emails, jobs, and chores we have on our daily plate. In the hustle and bustle of your work life and home life often the importance and value of a daily intake of Scripture is lost.

To have any strength and maturity in your walk with Christ, our days have to start with the self-care of being in the Word. It’s truly that simple. The inspired Word of God is “living and active”

Hebrews 4:12 says,

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Daily Scripture gives us a constant and consistent reminder of who Jesus is, and what He’s done for us. Run to his Word daily, and drink from the well that never runs dry.

Sit at His Feet

When is the last time you stopped and just meditated on the Lord? If you are like me then you might struggle to recall when it last was. Sometimes we can get so caught up in serving the Lord and “working out our salvation” that we lose sight of what it is to be a Child of God all together.

We see a story that portrays this exact thought in Luke.

Luke 10:39 says,

And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.

Most of us know the context of this story of Mary and Martha. Jesus enters the house of Martha and while she is consumed with serving, Mary just wants to sit at Jesus’ feet. It’s a familiar passage to most people but it’s easy to overlook the simple concept that sitting at the feet of Jesus through prayer is everything!

While God certainly calls us to do good works, he wants us to remember that we are his sons and daughters first. He wants us to spend time with him; he wants us to know and rely on him more. One of the ways we can pastor our own hearts away from self-reliance is by spending time with him through his Word and through prayer.

Stop and Listen

Exodus 20:8 says,

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

One of the greatest detriments to our ministries and the people we lead is failing to rest from our work. I remember early in ministry I felt like I needed to be “on” at all times, even the weekends. This drove my wife insane and certainly didn’t help out our relationship or even my relationship with the Lord. Taking a Sabbath day for rest each week is not only a good practice but is a command of Scripture. You must have it… God designed it to be this way!

Use this day of rest to disengage from “work” and to refocus your heart and soul back on the Lord. Take time to stop and listen. This day of rest will recharge you, and remind your heart that whatever ministry tasks you have are under the sovereign hand of God. Pastor your heart well by obeying the regular rhythm to Sabbath.

Be in Biblical Community

Galatians 6:2 says,

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

One of the best ways to grow as a believer is by being in a solid Biblical community. This may look different in your context, but you need to surround yourself with people who will walk alongside you in the Christian life. This includes people who you give permission to call out sin in your life and see your blind spots. Being in Biblical community is about being with people who know everything about you… your strengths, weaknesses, sin struggles, and pitfalls. It’s about constantly being “gospeled” by other people so that you’re growing in Christ-likeness. Take care of your heart by surrounding yourself with godly people and living in Biblical community.

While this is not an exhaustive list, these four practices will help to maintain a healthy heart and prevent the cobwebs that apathy and neglect create. Our churches need Christians who are diligent in pastoring their own hearts. May we be Believers who strive toward these disciplines with hearts aimed towards glorifying the risen Christ.

Kingdom First

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Let me ask you a question…

What if the members of our churches started sharing their faith, but it wasn’t in a way that brought more people to our church? Would we celebrate and encourage that?

If not, we may not be as much about kingdom growth as we think we are.

We hear a lot today about church growth… and church growth is good. A healthy church should be growing just like a healthy person should grow. A healthy church cannot help but grow! Like any revival draws people from all over to it, genuine Spirit filled believers are drawn to a movement from the Lord.

A lot of churches are starting to evaluate every program and decision according to how much it helps the church grow. Are we too traditional? Too contemporary? Is our music too loud or too soft? Do we need a coffee bar, a younger more hip worship pastor, a funnier preacher?

Evaluation is good and healthy as long as we look at the big picture. The big picture that I am talking about is the Kingdom of God. Matthew 6:33 says,

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

We do not seek his kingdom to get what we want, but as we seek first the kingdom of God our lives and ministry cannot help but grow.

Church growth cannot be the only reason we do what we do in our local churches. There is a much higher calling to grow the kingdom of God.

In the book Externally Focused Quest Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson have a great discussion about the Kingdom. Here’s some highlights that may challenge your thinking:

How important is the kingdom? The word kingdom is mentioned 152 times in the New Testament and 116 times in the Gospels. By contrast, the word church is mentioned just three times in the Gospels – all in the book of Matthew. The first public words of John the Baptist and Jesus were to announce the kingdom (Matthew 3:2, 4:17). The first prayer request that Jesus taught his disciples was “Thy Kingdom come…” (Matthew 6:10). The first priority for the believer was to seek God’s kingdom (Matthew 6:33).

 

What is the kingdom? The kingdom of God is any place over which God has operative dominion. The kingdom is where the King is reigning. So if Jesus is reigning as king in your own life, “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).

In the book Liberating the Church Howard Snyder writes,

Kingdom people seek first the Kingdom of God and its justice; church people often put church work above concerns of justice, mercy, and truth. Church people think about how to get people into church; kingdom people think about how to get the church into the world. Church people worry that the world might change the church; kingdom people work to see the church change the world.

The church does not exist for itself. The church exists to proclaim and demonstrate that the kingdom is near.

So… what’s the difference between church thinking and kingdom thinking?

  • CHURCH: local, internal, evangelism the goal, programmed, gospel explained, Sunday, growing MY church.
  • KINGDOM: global, external, evangelism the starting point, organic, gospel lived out, Every day, growing THE church.

Jesus said in the great commission to go into all the world and make disciples. Those people that need to be reached and discipled in all the world don’t just include people from our local communities that will attend our local churches.

As people use social media to make new relationships and keep in touch with friends who have moved away, more aspects of our lives are happening without regard to geography. From crying with a friend going through a divorce, to celebrating the joy of childbirth, many of our most intimate moments are being lived through Facebook Live, Skype, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and FaceTime.

More people who share their faith are doing it online, too. Which means that the friends and family members they’re sharing it with are becoming less likely to be able to attend church together.

These recent nuances in connectivity and communication provide great potential for our church’s participation in kingdom growth, even if it doesn’t always result in the numerical growth of our local congregation.

I love the mindset of the senior pastor I work under. When he is asked about programs we could add like youth sports, Celebrate Recovery, etc… he normally redirects the conversation to a local church in our area that does that particular ministry with excellence and says, “Why would we try to compete with another ministry in our area instead of just sending people to that ministry to be nurtured?”

Sometimes our evangelism and discipleship can end up with us encouraging someone to follow Jesus to another church!

In the western church world, we have become so used to tethering evangelism to our church’s programming and attendance that we can forget they’re not the same thing.

NEWSFLASH: Church attendance isn’t the goal of evangelism. Following Jesus is the goal.

What if a church was teaching and practicing evangelism in such a way that people shared their faith in Jesus at work, in their neighborhoods, with their families and online, not only as part of a church program, but as a natural outgrowth of their faith? We must always remember that, while church attendance is a vital element in our spiritual growth, church attendance isn’t the goal of evangelism. Following Jesus is the goal – even if it means they attend a different church than ours!

We must remember that Jesus didn’t call us to make congregation members… He called us to make disciples. Making disciples comes first!

Let’s focus on the Kingdom and be just as happy when someone comes to Jesus and attends another good church as we are when they attend ours. It’s great when a church member invites an unchurched friend or family member to come to church with them. But it’s even better when that person invites someone to follow Jesus with them. People need to know we’re concerned about them more than our church’s bottom line. The kingdom of God is always bigger than our little corner of it.

 

Set the Table

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

A couple of months ago my wife and I got to do a couple of longer hikes in the Rocky Mountains. To save money and time, we decided to pick up Subway sandwiches on our way each day and eat them in the car before hitting the trails. It was so much fun eating sandwiches and other, primarily unhealthy, snacks picnic-style because there was fresh air, a beautiful view, my wife, and no real expectations or civilized rules regarding how or what I ate. I didn’t have to eat my sandwich before my gummy bears, keep my elbows off the table, or use my forks in the correct order… I mean how many forks can a person possibly need to eat a meal?

Another memorable meal was when I was in college. As a Public Relations class heading towards graduation we went to a conference to rub elbows with some possible future employers, and “professionals” in the field. After that conference there was an elaborate meal with waiters, multiple courses, fine dishware, and tons of utensils. The etiquette and expectations were high and completely different than my previous example.

As a kid we didn’t get out the classy dishware often, probably because my mom was afraid we would break it, and we would, or maybe because we didn’t have any? I’m not sure… but both of those examples paint a picture of my point, the way the table is set can determine the expectations for the meal.

Think about it! The dishware is not the reason you sat down at the table… the food was! But the place settings can determine the context and direction the meal will take.

As worship leaders, we set the mood for what is expected for the worship experience for the majority of the congregation. Obviously, there will always be those who are bold or mature in their faith who we don’t need to bring to the throne because they are already there. But for the majority of the church, we set the table and the layout for what is generally expected during a worship service. We can be the examples of what kind of worshipers we are called to be. I know that a meal with fine china versus a picnic will have two different moods… both are fine and enjoyable, but different. In the same way, a small group setting with an acoustic guitar has a much different feel than a Sunday morning service with a full band. Both are great and both can be incredibly powerful times of worship, but they are different styles. The table for each scenario is set differently.

As Pastors and leaders we are called to do the prep work through prayer, devotion, study, and thought to find out what message we want to convey to our congregation, what place setting and context we want to put before them. I once heard a quote that went like this,

Worship ministry is not about telling people where to go, but about leading them as you go there yourself.

Every week I try to encourage this mindset in the way our team leads. Whether the position is deserved or not, if you are onstage or have a role on the worship team, you are seen as a leader. What you do dictates to the majority of the congregation what is acceptable or inappropriate for the service.

However, as worship leaders, we can’t make the congregation do anything they don’t want to do. Just like a table-setter or host of a meal, I can bring you the finest dishes and cups, decorate the table extravagantly with candles, and set out fancy silverware, but I can’t make you eat the food or even like it, and I shouldn’t try to… that is not my job. If our goal is to lead people to worship and we begin to judge our services based on how many people raise their hands, we will become very effective manipulators. If we take a close look at Scripture, however, we can see that isn’t our job. In Psalm 23, God Himself does nothing more than prepare a table for David in the presence of his enemies, and it is David’s choice whether or not he will partake in the “meal.”

That Psalm says,

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

What good is an elaborate meal with a way to eat it? Table-setting is about giving people the tools to eat the meal. Likewise, it is our job to prepare the setting for worship and then get out of the way.

I imagine that our experiences are often like Moses’s after he came down from Mount Sinai in Exodus 19.

Exodus 19:7-17 says,

So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.  And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”

 

When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, “Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman.”

 

On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

In Exodus 19 Moses had a literal mountaintop experience with God and was told to go down and tell the people to prepare themselves for worship… to prepare to have an experience with the Almighty God. Then on the third day, he led them up on the mountain so they might worship God.

Do we realize that when we worship we do so standing before an Almighty God?

One time I was exploring an old train tunnel with a buddy and once we got inside we were immersed in total darkness. As we trudged through the mud and water trying to catch a glimpse of the light emerging from the other side time seemed to drag on and on. After an hour or so I asked, “Have you been here before?” My trust had wavered over time and my primary concern was that he was experienced in the path we decided to take.

As many worship leaders, Pastors, or “creatives” do, we put a lot of time, prayer, and effort into our weekly services. We map out the flow of the songs so there aren’t any distractions, and we tie them together with the topic or theme we are trying to convey. As Moses did, we lead people up the mountain. But do you think the Israelites would have trusted Moses and followed him up the mount had he not gone before them already? He was experienced… he had been there before!

I highly doubt that Moses would have held the trust of the Israelites had he not first been to the mountain himself and stood before God. You cannot lead someone where you have not been yourself.

It is easy to gauge a service by how well the band played, how the tech team did, and if the congregation sang loudly or only a few people raised their hands. I fall victim to this mentality quite often, but leading worship is centered around trust in God. Craig Groeschel once said,

If we blame ourselves when things go poorly, then we will be tempted to credit ourselves when things go right.

The act of table-setting can be scary.

But we can do nothing more than that. So as you plan your service this week, think about what table you are trying to set. We lead our congregation to the table, not by pointing a finger, but by saying, “Come alongside me as we go together.”

Selah

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

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There is something magical that happens when you crest the top of a ridge only to see the landscape outstretch before you. It’s breathtaking, overwhelming, consuming, and rejuvenating. It makes you want to take it all in, to know all of its beauty. It’s impossible to convey in words and capture in an image. All you can do is pause and try to take it in.

There is something wonderful that happens when you walk into a bakery or a coffee shop. The sounds, smells, and atmosphere invade your senses with such delightful goodness. You usually stop to catch up and adjust to the tidal wave of feelings and sensations that pour upon you.

What do these moments have in common? I believe that what they have in common is that to be truly appreciated we have to pause for even just a moment to allow or thoughts, sensations, and emotions to catch up and synchronize.

These pauses are meant for us to understand the beauty of life unfolding around us. These pauses are meant for us to digest the information alerting our minds and hearts. These pauses are meant for us to consume the moment in its fullness. These pauses are known as “Selah.”

“Selah” is part of God’s Word and it surrounds lyrics in Israel’s worship material. Being a follower of Jesus who is trained in music, I was excited to find out all I could about the word. To have a Selah can mean to have a pause, a musical pause, or a moment to understand. It can be brief or it can be forever. This pause occurs 74 times in Scripture (71 in Psalms, and 3 in Habakkuk).

In the Old Testament “Selah” is uses twice as often as “Amen” and three times more than “Hallelujah.” But all around the world, those two Hebrew words have become common terms… all while “Selah” is little known, used, or understood although being used three times as much in the Old Testament as “Amen” and “Hallelujah!”

Proverbs 30:5 says,

Every word of God is flawless.

It is safe to say that “Selah” is definitely a word worth understanding! 

To take a pause… Selah puts our focus on the things God wants us to think about. Selah gives our Spirit time to catch up, to understand the power and beauty of God and His Word.

Psalm 24:10 says,

He is the King of glory. Selah.

Biblical scholars suggest other possible meanings of “Selah” to include: silence, pause, interruption, accentuate, exalt, or end. Reflecting on those words and putting them into action can help us to take a “Selah” moment to pause and worship God during the day.

To have a Selah is to take an account of the wonder and heavenly impact of the moment.

As worship leaders and Christians in general, we need to be aware of these moments as we lead and interact with people.

We need to provide the space necessary for wisdom and revelation to sink in and take root in the lives and hearts of the people. As we sing truth, this truth has to be heard, understood, and absorbed into the spirits of all those worshipping in order for true change to occur. When David wrote the Psalms, he included these moments not only for musical breaks, but for divine cultivation to happen in the people and in himself.

Psalm 46:10, says,

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Sometimes we move so quickly from one song to the next, from one conversation to the next, or from one moment to the next, that the seed of truth is lost in the stampede of the messages. So slow down. Pause. Be intentional. Allow the truth to take root, and allow the Holy Spirit to water it so that growth can happen. 

Selah.

Lead Worship… Not Songs

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

I’ve been playing and leading songs for as long as I can remember, whether it was in my bedroom on my first Fender acoustic guitar my Dad bought me, in the basement cranking out old-school Linkin Park tunes with my friends, traveling a large portion of the country playing in venues and at festivals, or standing on the stage in a church or youth room.

I’ve led SO many songs!

Let me ask you, in the songs that you’re leading where are the words pointed?

I would say that many of our song lyrics are more about the attributes of God, or how we relate to God, rather than being songs sung directly to Him filled with truth and praise/ adoration.

I look back and think about some of the first times I sang a song about God and truly felt the Holy Spirit move. I could literally feel something happen both in me, and on me, as I sang the words with purity and belief, and guess what… it didn’t only happen with me, but in the room! The chorus of one of the songs goes like this:

Holy Spirit you are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory God is what our hearts long for, to be overcome by Your presence Lord!

Does your heart truly long to give God the glory? Or just to lead another song and have some people sing along?

The acknowledgement of God’s presence in and during our worship leading should do something to us… in us. We aren’t just singing a song to the air. We are singing a song directly to Him!

At the time I didn’t know I could steward a moment like this or have the authority to release the Kingdom and lead emboldened and empowered by the Holy Spirit. I only knew how to be an excellent leader of songs. I had so many good things to discover as I grew from being a song leader to becoming a worship leader.

Who doesn’t love being in a room where a leader humbly, yet boldly, takes us into a place of encounter with Jesus. If you are anything like me, you want to lead with authority and partner with the Holy Spirit every time you worship. And even more importantly, I want to have confidence that it has nothing to do with my natural ability. Why?

Many people have a natural ability to lead people in songs, but it takes supernatural partnership to lead people into encounter.

In John 5:19 Jesus says it like this,

Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

Even Jesus was dependent to hear from the Father as He ministered to people every day! In the same way, we can do nothing in and of ourselves, it’s in submission to Jesus, in serving with obedience following the sound of His voice and leading that we shift the atmosphere, releasing faith!

You might be reading this and going “Yeah! Yeah! I want that. Where can I get that!” Well here are a few suggestions on places to start.

Worship before you lead.

I found that as I was growing as a Worship Pastor and in hearing God’s voice during worship, He would often speak to me as I would worship through the set at home or at rehearsals.

I often tell people that it is easier and more freeing to worship at rehearsals with my team. We don’t just fly through the songs. We worship as we practice and try to be receptive and obedient to the leading of the Spirit even in those times! Some weeks, I will see certain themes arising as I worship that I didn’t pick up on in all of my hard planning and praying. For example, this past week there was a real freedom in our worship during rehearsal on Friday and the theme of God’s authority and victory He has won for us made itself very clear in the songs we were singing and the way they worked together to usher us into the throne room of God. Maybe it’s salvation, physical/emotional healing, relationships, or even bondage.

I have found that in those times of true submission and freedom God will often give me a chorus (sometimes new), a scripture, or some type of invitation to present or theme to highlight.

Open yourself up to His leading by being “well-seasoned” on worship before you try to put yourself before others to lead.

Create a culture of feedback.

Isn’t this a scary thought?

But hear me out here… invite both your leadership and worship team to give feedback into what they sensed happening throughout worship. This will help you learn when you’re hearing well, as well as what you might be missing.

We won’t get it right 100% of the time. Some days my spiritual “well” is just running low and I have nothing else to give and I might miss a cue. But, these times don’t have to be a complete loss… if we open ourselves up to feedback and real conversations (not just someone telling you everything you did right and what you want to hear) then we can learn form those things and bounce back ready to follow.

Find some people you trust and give them permission to share their perceptions of each service. Trust me, it’s not easy to hear that we talked too much or missed a moment that everyone else sensed was happening. But if we don’t open the door to feedback, we won’t learn. This is where we practice humility. We serve Jesus and our congregation; we don’t serve ourselves.

Be willing to take risks.

There have been many times where God has spoken very specifically to one of my team members and I missed the signal. It’s a constant growth curve for me to be aware of what’s happening in the room and to what God is saying to me as well as checking in with the team. Be sensitive to what other team members might be feeling and when you invite them to take a risk, follow up with them afterwards.

Just this week my keyboard player took a risk and shared with me what she sensed as we ended rehearsal on Sunday morning and it confirmed what I was sensing and prodded me to go down an avenue that I hadn’t planned to right before service!

Don’t skip the view because you are scared of the trail before it! Encourage risk! Risk is faith in action!

The Kingdom of God invading Earth is very real, very powerful, and very tangible. The icing on the cake? God wants to advance the Kingdom through us! I encourage you to ask the Lord how to grow to a new place of trust with Him and a new place of faith in your activity as a worshiper. Maybe you already practice the points I mentioned and, if so, what is the next place of risk for you? How amazing is it that we have the opportunity to partner with the King of the world.

 

Seek Him and His glory first and the other things will fall into place!

Don’t Settle for the Substitute

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

We have discussed the question, “What is Worship?” numerous times before here on the blog. To be honest we could attack that question from a different angle every week and end up barely scratching the surface of all that encompasses worship.

So today I want to discuss what it means to worship? Or more specifically, is there a right way or a wrong way to do it?

Is it singing, clapping and/or raising your hands at your local church on Sunday… or is there something more to it than that?

The question of “what does worship look like” is extremely important. Far too many arguments have been had over what is and is not a legitimate form of worship. Whole denominations have formed and churches have split over the nuances of this question! Preferences can too easily become elevated to precepts if we’re not carefully grounding our understanding of worship in what we see in the Bible.

Worship is singing… but not only singing.

Many Christians today understand worship as singing. When we talk about Sunday morning, we refer to congregational singing as “worship.” When we say, “I really enjoyed the worship,” we almost always mean “I really enjoyed the music.”

This isn’t entirely wrong… it’s just incomplete. There are clear examples of singing as worship found in Scripture. Exodus 15:1-2 says,

I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Judges 5:3 says,

Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the LORD I will sing; I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel.

2 Samuel 22:50 says,

For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.

Psalm 5:11 says,

But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.

Psalm 7:17 says,

I will give to the LORD the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the LORD, the Most High.

These are just a select few of the vast examples of singing out of worship that we can find in Scripture, and as you know I could go on and on. The point is… we’re admonished to sing to the Lord and to encourage one another with hymns and spiritual songs.

So singing, biblically, is a part of worship.

However, we must be careful not to equate worship solely with singing and music.

The word “worship” at its most basic level means to ascribe worth… or “worth-ship.” This is helpful to keep in mind, especially when you consider the words translated as “worship.” The two most commonly used words in Hebrew and Greek that we often translate as “worship” are ḥā·wā[h] and proskyneō and refer to bowing or kneeling down, both to God and to men.

They describe an act of reverential deference.

This is the important thing to understand, then, about worship. It’s not merely about singing, but it’s about reverence. It’s about having a biblical fear of the Lord. At its most basic level, then, you could define worship as the humbling of yourself before the One who is your better. This, naturally, has serious implications.

Worship is not primarily about how you feel.

First, if worship is about humbling yourself before God, we have to consider the place of our feelings. Many today seem to equate fired up feelings with genuine affection for the Lord. The louder the music, the higher the hands are raised, the more our hearts must be inclined toward God… right? We all do it! We leave an energetic worship service where the atmosphere and mood was just right, the music struck a chord deep within us, and we feel as if we have “taken” something away and out of worship with us.

But this understanding places too much emphasis on feelings. We must always remember that while emotional expressiveness can be a sign of genuine affection, It’s what is in the heart that really counts and those things aren’t always demonstrated fully in a 25 minute worship set on Sunday.

Jonathan Edwards put it this way,

Nothing can be certainly known of the nature of religious affections by this, that they much dispose persons with their mouths to praise and glorify God.

His point is simple: people can fervently praise God with their mouths and still be far off from Him. This is much the same warning Paul gives when he tells the Corinthians that you can have a great outward show, but without love, it’s worthless. You can see that in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3,

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Is it any wonder that Jeremiah reminds us not to put too much stock in our feelings in Jeremiah 17:9?

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Worship is what you do every moment of every day.

Second, in the Old Testament, particularly once the nation of Israel is established, there’s a definite connection between place and worship. God’s people were to worship in a specific place (first the Tabernacle, then the Temple). This was the meeting place between God and His people. At the Temple, God’s people would offer sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin, peace offerings to God, and numerous other offerings and acts of service.

It can be tempting to take the imagery of the Temple worship and place it upon the local church. However, the New Testament doesn’t allow for this. Instead, starting with Jesus, the New Testament presents a definite shift away from “place and time” worship to “every moment, everywhere” worship.

In his discussion with the woman at the well in John 4:21-24 Jesus tells the woman,

Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

Romans 12:1 says,

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Hebrews 13:15-16 says,

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

While I’ve only included a few brief examples, the general thrust of the New Testament, while never neglecting the importance of believers gathering together in corporate worship, drastically broadens our understanding of what worshipping God truly is. It’s not a matter of getting together on Sunday, singing songs, giving money, listening to a sermon and heading home for the rest of the week to do whatever we want.

Every moment of every day is to be an act of worship to God.

This brings us to the most serious implication of the New Testament understanding of worship: our need for the Gospel.

The reality is: the Gospel perfects our worship.

On our best days, our efforts are half-hearted, our motives conflicted. The flesh is constantly at war with the spirit. If our worship were up to us alone, we’d be utterly lost. None of it would be pleasing and acceptable to God. But this is where the good news of the Gospel aids us in our worship… Jesus is the perfect worshipper. In His incarnation, He obeyed every command of God without flaw or failure. His devotion is unwavering.

He gives us His perfect worship to cover our imperfect offerings of songs, service and sacrifice.

The Gospel gives us reason to stand before the throne of grace, imperfect as we are, because we have an Advocate there who has completed the work for us, one who appeals to us to rely on Him increasingly to purify our motives, and perfect our worship. Hebrews 4:16 says,

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

That’s what biblical worship looks like. Don’t settle for a substitute.

Fight or Flight – The Story of Your Life

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Psalm 45:1 says,

My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.

What would you like the story of your life to look like? What is the theme of your heart and the story of your tongue?

I watched a man chiseling on a rock once while I was in college. After a bit he turned and I asked him what he was making. He replied, “The state of Kentucky!” The rock looked nothing like the state of Kentucky… in fact it looked more like a log. He then said something that I have remembered and thought about since. He said, “It may not look like it now, but the state of Kentucky is in there… I just have to get it out!”

What an idea! The artist knew that what he wanted was attainable, but it just was going to take some effort to get it exposed.

I am a perfectionist, which often restricts me as an artist. I get frustrated when what I have on canvas or paper doesn’t match what I had in mind in my head. That frustration restricts my ability to be artistic, whereas I watch my wife work, whether it is drawing or painting, she allows the work to transform throughout the process. Like a sculptor allowing the piece to take form with every hit from the chisel bit. She has a way of allowing a piece to take shape itself, and you are able to watch it take shape and detail as it transforms and evolves throughout the process of her work.

The Psalmist gives a valuable reminder that everyone has a “canvas” on which to “paint” the story of his or her life. If you were to paint yours, what would picture you create? The story of your life is determined by the overflow of your heart. Are you like me as an artist? Do you get frustrated and want to throw in the towel when the story you had in mind from the start isn’t taking shape just right? Or are you like my wife or the sculptor I mentioned above? Do you allow the story and art to unfold and transform as you pour yourself into it and work?

We must remember, transformation is always progressive, always changing and moving forward.

The Apostle Paul knew all about transformation first-hand. From murderer of Christians to Apostle of the Church, the canvas of his life underwent radical change. In Philippians 3:12-14 he admitted,

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul was well aware that he had some changing still to do but he understood that it wasn’t about perfection, qualifications or credentials; it was about Christ’s righteousness. He was committed to pressing toward the goal of transformation into Christ’s image.

Paul didn’t allow the first chapters of the story to determine the ending.

Paul refused to flee from the struggle and suffering involved with change. He was passionate for the Cause of Christ and his passion oftentimes involved pain… sometimes the change doesn’t come naturally but instead it takes work! In fact, the Latin word for passion means pain.

1 Timothy 6:12 says,

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

In our fight for change, we must realize that a certain degree of pain and work is involved. Putting to death the old ways of thinking, feeling and behaving is uncomfortable at best, and often painful! Don’t be passive, but instead be committed to pressing on.

Life is filled with situations where we are faced with a “fight or flight” decision. If you run, you’ll have to face the same fight again. You want to change your life? You have to fight for it. But take heart – you are in good company!

Be like Paul. Be like the sculptor we discussed above. Live righteously and know that what God wants for you is attainable, but it just might take some effort to get it exposed!

A Wealth of Resources

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

What is your dream team? For a basketball coach it might be a star guard who is good at feeding a wide-bodied seven footer. Maybe like Kobe and Shaq? For a bank robber it might be made up of someone who is the brains, someone who is the brawn, and a wheelman? For a Navy Seal unit it might contain a comms guy, a sniper, an ordinance expert, and a squad leader? What makes all of the team makeups similar?

A good team draws from a wealth of resources from people with different gifts and specialties.

Are any of these specialties, gifts, or resources more important than the other? Well no… they work in tandem to accomplish a goal. Community allows us to put together our team and function towards a goal together. It widens our abilities and opens us up to new resources.

1 Corinthians 12:14-26 says,

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part! Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.

We have been talking for the past several weeks about the importance of having a faith community. We have determined that a Spiritual community is key for us to grow and persevere in the Christian faith, and we have also established that we are safer when we are operating together… meaning that we have the confidence and support to defeat sin and live a God-honoring life. This week we are going to talk about the wealth of resources available to us when we choose to life in Christian community.

Gifts

I like tools. For some reason there is nothing more satisfying than having the right tool for the job and being able to solve a problem yourself. When I first moved out on my own I started to put together a tool box. I’ve got a hammer, a variety of screw-drivers, assorted wrenches, needle-nose pliers, channel-locks, socket sets, files and rasps, wire strippers, a drill, nails, screws, etc…

Most of these tools came from necessary purchases. What I mean is there came a point in a task where I realized I was not equipped for the job. I had to go get the right equipment. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are God’s tool kit. To keep us spiritually healthy, God gives various members of the body specific tools, specific gifts. There are times we just can’t fix ourselves. We need someone whom God has specially equipped.

When we’ve hit bottom, we need a listening ear, a word of loving counsel, a friend who will affirm God’s forgiveness. These are the spiritual gifts of mercy, exhortation, a word of wisdom. When our faith is ebbing, we need someone who possesses a gift of faith to pray for us. When we are confused, we need the gifts of a teacher or a Pastor.

These gifts seldom operate in isolation. The fellowship of believers is the context where the gifts flourish. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:11,

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

In a Christian fellowship we equip ourselves with the tools necessary to build our Christian lives.

Role Models

Who has impacted your life the most? Your parent(s), a friend, a mentor? How did they do it? When thinking about these questions we will most likely all have something in common… the people who have and are impacting our lives the most do so on a personal level. We all have celebrity role models, whether they are movie stars, rock stars, or celebrity pastors/ authors is irrelevant, because these people can only do so much… they can instruct from a distance on an impersonal level but that is their limitation. What about the average blue collar guy who lives life beside us and speaks wisdom into our heads and hearts everyday.

What makes him special?

The thing that sets the important people around us apart from others is the personal interactions we share with them. They live life beside us… they are in the trenches beside us everyday. We know that when the going gets tough that they are the ones who will stand strong beside us through it all. They truly care.

I remember the first time I met my friend Zach. His big smile, loud laugh, and the way he bounces around and lights up a room can’t be missed. His genuine interest and care for people is apparent and I have seen him go way out of his way to help myself and others out. Ever since, I’ve wanted to care and serve others like he does.

When we’re around people who clearly portray Christ’s character we are stimulated to grow. When we see the fruit of the Spirit fleshed out before us we are eager to try it out ourselves. Hebrews 13:7 urges us,

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

Being around Zach inspires me to emulate his strengths. Being part of a whole body of Believers keeps me balanced. In a Christian community you will discover a well-balanced menu of role models who will protect you from developing flat spots in your character.

Emulation changes lives and congregations. Look at the chain reaction at Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians 1:6-7 says,

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.

Fellowship gives us exemplars in the faith to spur us to growth.

Sidekicks

Did any of you ever grow up watching wrestling? I always liked the tag team matches. It’s where a 2-man team squares off with another 2-man team… but only one person can be in the ring from each team at a time. In order to get your break… your backup… you had to slap your partner’s hand and “tag” them into the ring. So as the match went on inevitably one partner would get his tail whipped. He would start to crawl towards the ropes and his partner’s outstretched hand, and the other fighter would do everything in his power to drag him as far away from his teammate as possible. You see… his help was dangerous and just needed a simple slap of the hand to turn loose!

There are plenty of famous 2 man teams that we can all think about. Batman and Robin. Abbott and Costello. The Lone Ranger and Tonto. A good team has to include more than one person! Who is walking beside you? Who is gonna reach out and allow you to tag them in when you’ve just about had enough.

It’s easier to face down your problems when you know you have an army behind you. The fellowship of a church at its best is people watching out for people, not in criticism but with love. We help one another through the unpredictable turns of life. When we are down and out and getting our tail whipped we all need a community of partners reaching out their hands waiting to be “tagged” in.

In Galatians 6:1 Paul writes,

Brethren, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

When you get sick, your community rallies behind you. When you fall into depression, your brothers don’t let you lose touch. We are all needy at times. You’ve been lonely, discouraged, or depressed. There are times you’ve longed for somebody to show he or she cared. In Luke 6:31 Jesus said,

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

The help we give to members of His body is, after all, given to Jesus Himself.

Matthew 25:40 says,

Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

In the fellowship of Christians we work out Jesus’ command to love one another.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says,

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

The Christian fellowship is a mutual aid society of believers pledged to build each other up, to watch out for each other’s good. The fellowship is even designed to help the hapless and the careless.

Paul urges in Romans 15:1,

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

Yes, Christian fellowship is indispensable. The community reinforces our faith. Its spiritual gifts heal and build us. The body’s godly members serve as role models. And our Christian family supports us in time of need.

Believers can curl up and die without fellowship. At best they become stunted, never growing to full, healthy adulthood. But it’s amazing what can happen when we reach out and touch someone.

Get in fellowship. Join a community. One cannot stand alone.

Safety in Numbers

Posted on by Tanner Royalty

Do you like scary or suspenseful movies? I do… but my wife just can’t watch them. I always try to convince her to watch them by telling her why they aren’t scary and how you can predict everything that is going to happen from the start. How predictable are they? A group of young adults venture off into the woods… maybe they find a cabin? They begin to do their own things… breaking off in groups, making poor decisions, etc. Then like clockwork one ventures off alone because they have to go to the restroom or they heard a mysterious noise and BLAM they are got.

Like in a scary movie there are times when being alone is dangerous. We as human beings are the most vulnerable physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually when we are isolated and alone. Statistics back this up! Most people who are victims of a violent attack or encounter were singled out because they were vulnerable and alone.

You are most vulnerable when you are alone.

I chuckle every time I think back to a story a friend of mine told me about when he first moved out of his parents house and into his own home. He was excited to be out on his own and to begin to set up the place where he would start his family. Shortly after moving in by himself he had a scary moment where he began to choke on a piece of food that he had scarfed down. The panic truly began to set in when he started struggling to breathe and then realized where he was… in his own house… all alone! What a way to go! He ran around the home desperately trying to cough up the food and finally had to resort to hurling himself down on a kitchen chair in a makeshift Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food from his throat.

As funny as that situation is now, it definitely wasn’t then and it could’ve been even more serious if he had lost consciousness.

How much easier would that whole situation have been if there had been someone else there to help my friend? A person he could trust to take care of him in times of weakness or distress. Not only were we as humans, and Christians, created to be in community but we also need community. There is safety in numbers.

This week we continue our discussion on the importance of developing and maintaining a faith community to be part of and invested in.

I like to hike, and a few of the places I enjoy hiking have the potential of putting you in the same area of a bear or two. I never worry about it too much because I have a partner, my wife, that I typically hike with. When we are together we make more noise and allow more time for a bear to avoid being startled by us… therefore making us safer together.

Though there aren’t bears out there in everyday life, there are other things that pull at us and seek to destroy us physically, spiritually, and emotionally. False theology abounds at every turn. Satan and his legions try to distract us with temptations. Our own sin leads us astray. We need Godly brothers and sisters to watch our back. Like a “band of brothers” that collide in a war zone and are tasked with completing a mission and keeping each other alive, we too need to be connected in community where we can all be on alert together for the dangers that are all around us. Now we know we are never entirely “safe” form sin… but safety does come with accountability to another. Safety is greater in numbers.

The truth is, we need each other. We need to trust, rely on, and depend upon other believers. God gave us each other to walk alongside, encourage, and spur one another one in the faith. The writer to the Hebrews says in Hebrews 10:24-25,

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

James 5:16 says,

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

So… despite the fact that running into a bear could be a possibility I hike anyways. I am safer with my wife by my side… watching my back while I watch hers. The same can be said about Christians as well, we are safer together in the community of the Body of Christ than we are out there trying to “hike” on our own. Though society might tell us that we can do life on our own, God’s word tells us that we simply can’t function without each other (just read 1 Corinthians 12). We need each other and we need community!

Don’t allow yourself to be the soldier lost behind enemy lines all alone!

Instead live out Galatians 6:2 where it says,

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Join a community that fights for each other, protects each other, and takes care of each other. Romans 12:13 says,

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Hebrews 13:16 says,

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Like a battle buddy or hiking partner your community can warn you of dangers ahead… or even better, of dangers within. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 says,

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

Are you safe? Could you be safer? If you aren’t currently in community with other Believers then you definitely aren’t as safe as you could be. Don’t open yourself up to attacks from the evil one; instead surround yourself with soldiers fighting for the same army as you!

There is safety in numbers.