Arise! Shine! Your Light Has Come!

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. (Isaiah 60:1-2, NIV)  

I preached on this text on Sunday and decided to share some thoughts on this passage for today.

Darkness Covers the Earth

It doesn't take much to see the darkness covering the earth in our day. Evil seems to get all the headlines: Ferguson & New York killings and response; ISIS continues to kill almost everyone that isn't ISIS; the lost girls of Nigeria are still lost. Even the natural realm seems to be corrupted: Ebola, Cancer, Alzheimer's, Hurricanes, first drought and now flooding in California. This is to say nothing of spiritual darkness: Robin Williams committed suicide; domestic abuse in the NFL; the continued attacks on Christianity and Christians across the globe; waning church attendance; and a general spiritual malaise and apathy even in many congregations.

The world can be a pretty dark place at times. It can seem overwhelming. If you look at it long enough and closely enough, it's hard not to conclude that hopelessness is the only rational attitude.

It was into a world as dark as ours, and in many ways even darker that Jesus was born. Jesus is born into the Roman world, an empire run by thugs, by intimidation, by public torture and execution and by mercilessly putting down any real or imagined rebellion. They took money in large amounts in the form of taxes and tribute from wealthy and poor, robbing nations of their own inheritance, their own means to thrive.

There was terrible corruption in the Jewish religious system on the day Jesus was born. The high priest was now named for political reasons and not without the approval of Herod. Of this Herod it was said that you would be better off being his dog than his son, since his dogs had a better chance of not being killed by him. This is the Herod who rebuilt the temple. He made it beautiful on the outside, but all of temple worship was tainted by the corruption of compromise with Herod and Rome. While they managed to keep out idols and gentiles from the courts, they allowed the influence of Rome and of Herod in they way they led the people.

Even the Pharisees, who saw themselves as preserving pure Judaism, as opposed to the compromisers, exchanged the intent of the writings of Moses for mere laws and rituals that they believed were required by God for His blessings. They were severe in their devotion to the Bible they had (what we would call the Old Testament), but they had missed the point of turning their hearts to God, and became insistent on mere outward obedience.

Into that world, in an oppressed country, in a small, obscure village, in a barn (because there wasn't any other place for His parents to spend the night), Jesus enters as a baby. Small and helpless: Savior of the world. Before He was 2 years old, that corrupt king (Herod) tried to kill Him by killing all the boys in town.

Into our own personal dark worlds, Jesus comes. He still enters our world, so full of hopelessness and cynicism. He enters through the Spirit, Who still hovers over the dark places, where no one can really live. He enters lives damaged by bullying, by hurtful speech, by prejudices, by abuse of all kinds. He enters our darkness, sometimes unnoticed.

Jesus Appears

Into this dark world the Light begins to shine. Jesus came, not as in idea, not as a projection of hope, nor an apparition. He could be seen, heard, touched (1John 1:1-3). You could shake His hand. If you were close enough, you could count the whiskers on His chin. If He spoke, you could hear his accent. He became a human being, with all our limitations (though He never stopped being God). 

One of the craziest things you'll ever hear is: God was born as a human baby boy. If the Bible didn't say so, and I suggested it, you would have every right to reject the notion as both lunacy and heresy. The absurdity of this--of Jesus being the very Son of God--is one of the things that eventually got Him crucified.

The message Jesus brings is summed up by John in 1John 1:5: This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. When Jesus, being God enters our dark world He brings the light of God with Him. Into this dark world, so full of death enters Jesus: In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (John 1:4–5). Jesus brings life and light and the darkness doesn't have a chance.

A New Day Dawns

The Lord Himself rises upon us! In Isaiah 60:1 we read the glory of the Lord rises upon us and in verse 2 we read the Lord rises upon us. God's glory and His presence in the Bible are often two ways of talking about the same thing. When God's glory rests over the tabernacle or fills the temple, it is God Himself, His presence resting over the tabernacle and filling the temple. This rising glory is the rising of God's presence upon His people.

His glory rises like the rising of the sun. It signals a new day. The night--the time of darkness--is over! The light chases off the darkness and we can see things as they really are.

The glory of the Lord rises upon us, His people. It doesn't rise over the whole earth (yet). But it does rise upon us. There may be (and is) darkness in our world, but there is supposed to be light among us.

Jesus birth signals the dawn of that new day. History pivots on that point in history. Our calendars reference that point in history (even though, through a miscalculation--Jesus was probably born about 4 B.C.). We who live on this side of Jesus birth, live in a new era. The impact of His birth, His life, His ministry, His death and resurrection, are still felt today.

The light He brings is an everlasting light (Isaiah 60:19). Light bulbs burn out. The sun will eventually burn out (in about 4 billion years or so). Nothing tangible lasts forever. All the light and enlightenment we humans find on our own is fading and temporary. But the light Jesus brings won't go out. It is still shining today. It shines in us who follow and believe in Him. It shines through us.

We can arise and shine, rather than merely arise and reflect, because the God's light is in us, through His Spirit. According to Jesus, we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14-16). We have a light to shine in this dark world. It is the light of God's glory, God's presence among us and within us.

This is the day of Emmanuel: God with us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). And while we might think of Jesus as up in heaven, His promise is to always be with us (Matthew 28:20). He does that now through His Holy Spirit, Who is God with us and God within us.

So Get Up and Glow!

Arise and Shine! In every way the light of God has come into you, shine! In every way His light has transformed you, shine! Remove the bowl and let your light shine (cf. Matthew 5:15). Shine! Blaze! Glow! God Himself is with us and within us. Let Him shine out!

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. (Isaiah 60:1-2, NIV) 

Worship as a Basic Value

A recent blog post (Is Evangelical Worship Headed for a HUGE Crash?) shared on Facebook got me thinking. I responded to that Facebook post and in thinking about this week's blog, thought I'd write some of my thoughts on worship in the church.

Worship as a Staged Performance

I'm going to be harsh here: worship transitioned from congregational singing to staged performance (in some churches) because Evangelicals and those in the Reformed stream* do not value worship per se very highly--especially in comparison with teaching/preaching. In my experience in visiting some evangelical churches, it would not be difficult to conclude that they don't value worship per se at all.

What we have are songs performed with excellence, sometimes great songs with a great message. Yet, while on a sabbatical a couple of years ago, I often watched the musicians as they performed and got the distinct impression (against my assumptions) that the were singing and/or playing instruments, but not worshiping. They wanted to do a good job for the pastor and those gathered. But I can't help but think of this verse ...don't be like [those who] love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full (Matt. 6:5). I know that's harsh. But if we're singing to impress the pastor or people, and they're impressed, we get all we were after.

The shocking thing is that in some of these churches I visited the lack of participation by the people gathered there, was not a topic of interest to the worship leaders, the teachers, or anyone else that took hold of a microphone. No one said anything like "Join us in the next chorus," let alone "Let's worship our great God through song this morning...," or anything of the kind. It seemed fine that the people there weren't there to worship.

The height of irony came when in a few of these churches they would repeat the contemporary mantra: "Christianity is not a religion but a relationship" but then give neither evidence, nor model of doing any relating to God in the service! In at least one of those services where that mantra was spoken, there wasn't a single prayer said from those leading meeting. How can we relate to God without talking to Him, singing to Him, or even just waiting in His presence?! Despite the claim, the experience was religion without relationship - at least that's how I experienced it (and I was trying not to!)

What is clear to me as I visited those, and many other churches, is that while singing might be valued somewhat (if the lyrics have some important theological meaning), what's called "the worship time" is often just the warm-up act for the real reason we're there: the teaching (AKA message, AKA sermon). Judging only by what happens, the worship of God is not the main thing; teaching about Him (and what He wants, expects, or offers) is.

What Do I Mean by "Worship?"

For many, particularly among Evangelicals and Reformed, we have fuzzy ideas about what we mean by the term worship. From a practical perspective, it may mean: "what we do on Sundays' when we gather as God's people" - whatever that is, we call it 'worship.' In other words, worship = the Sunday service. Worship then is--and I hesitate to use the term, anticipating objections--a set of rituals called our "order of worship." (Charismatics and Pentecostals are not immune to this temptatation; it's just a different set of rituals.)

Here's my definition of worship: Worship is the heart directed toward God in adoration. Therefore, worship is primarily vertical: God directed. Even corporate worship, as we encourage each other is and should be much more vertical than horizontal. Worship is something that comes from within us, from our spirit, our heart. It is primarily an internal thing expressed externally.

Jesus said the kind of worshipers the Father seeks are those who worship in spirit (or the Spirit) and in truth (John 4:23-24). I don't think God is interested in musical "excellence" nearly as much as we are. What He is interested in (more than we are?) is what is going on in our hearts, the hearts of His people, as we worship.

We Reformed and Evangelical tend toward the intellect, much more than the heart. We're sort of suspicious of emotions and other heart stuff, and while we give it lip service and say things like "believe it with your heart, not just your head," we are still usually speaking to the intellect when we say it. I think that's why we tend to emphasize teaching so much, and also why we tend to devalue worship, or just not think about it as something to value.

But worship involves our entire being, not just our intellect, but our emotions too. They include the emotions of gladness, joy, gratitude (Psalm 100), and as I read the Psalms, it's hard to think of a human emotion that doesn't get caught up in worship somehow. In fact, worship must involve our whole being--all of who we are. Worship that is merely intellectual is as impoverished as worship that is merely emotional, or merely ritualistic, or merely music. It is supposed to involve heart, soul, mind and strength.

Intellectually-centered 'worship' will tend to raise the value of those things that address the intellect and devalue those things that don't. And this is, I think, what has happened in many Evangelical and Reformed churches. Even if we resist the tendency toward a performance-centered worship band, the songs sung are not always seen as of central or primary importance. Sometimes the opposite problem surfaces where congregational preferences replace authentic worship with mere singing of favorite Christian hymns and other songs. It happens because church leaders don't value authentic worship nearly as much as good, Biblical teaching, and so let it slide.

Worship as a Basic Value

Let me just say it: We value worship to the degree that we value the presence of God.

Now we believe that God is present with His people when they gather, whether we sense His presence or not. Right? If that's true, then what is the proper response to God's presence, if not worship? Is it not improper, if not offensive, to fail to worship God--in spirit and in truth--when He is among us? I mean really, truly, and from the heart worship Him. I don't mean sing 'peppy songs' or, grand and glorious hymns, or get all emotional; I mean worship as discussed above: hearts directed toward God Himself in adoration.

If the people who gather on Sundays don't know how to worship, we need to teach them, show them, help them, and lead them into authentic worship.

This is why I think we should just kill the role of "worship leaders" and resurrect in it's place the role of "lead worshipers." Just as there are those prayer warriors who embody prayer in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests... (Eph 6:18), there are those who embody and model worship in spirit and in truth. They should be encouraged and empowered to lead God's people in worship. I don't mean that they should worship in front for the people, but lead the people in worship. If they're not following, you're not leading (you're just out for a walk). Lead in a way that others follow.

The worship crash in the article above will happen, unless lead worshipers begin to focus on the worship of those who gather. The gathered should not be seen as the audience, but as the gathered worshipers. The band, the singers, the organist, pianist, guitarist, or whoever and however it's done in your church, should be there for the sake of helping the gathered to worship in spirit and in truth.

BTW, if we just change titles (worship leader to lead worshiper) and don't change expectations (of those leaders and the congregation), it won't help. I hope you understand that I'm not talking about new names for current ideas. I'm talking about changing job descriptions.

It's Not Just the Evangelicals and Reformed Who Are in Trouble Here

These same issues are also found among charismatic and Pentecostal groups. I've been to charismatic gatherings where worship was not highly valued; where good teaching and power-ministry were the center of focus. I've been to Pentecostal gatherings where the worship seemed more about the worship leader getting the gathered to respond in a certain way, than in focusing on God's presence.

The worship band, as performers for an audience, has not left charismatics, nor Pentecostals immune from its insidious influence. Let me suggest that the larger the church, and more professional the band, the greater the temptation to shift from God-focused congregational worship, to something having more to do with musical prowess and crowd-pleasing. (However, smaller churches are in no way exempt from this either!)

Two Concluding Questions for Worship Leaders, Lead Worshipers, Pastors, Preachers, etc.

1. If God showed up on a Sunday morning, would you notice, and would it matter?
2. Since God is always present in our Sunday gatherings, are we looking for Him?

I hope those questions make a positive shift in your preparation for Sunday and your leadership of God's people on Sunday.


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*I have many Reformed friends who would object to the term 'Evangelical' as applying to them. Not based on theological objections, but for historical and stylistic (emphasis) reasons. So I will continue to distinguish these two streams, understanding 'Reformed' as that group that emerged primarily from Calvinists in Europe, and 'Evangelical' as those that emerged from American Fundamentalism, when that movement needed to turn outward toward mission and evangelism. These terms are sometimes used in different ways by different people; even some Pentecostals see themselves as Evangelical, despite the distinct ways those movements came into being.

Leadership in the Kingdom

There is really a lot more to this topic than what I'm going to write today. But I wanted to write about the heart of Kingdom leadership, because it's a topic that is widely misunderstood not only among Reformed, charismatic and Pentecostal leaders, but the western church in general (IMHO, of course).

Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. (Luke 22:24–26)

This is Jesus' clearest teaching on leadership. Yet we often miss what He is saying to us in it because of our assumptions. Hopefully what follows will clarify some of this for us.

Magisterial Leadership

In the church today there are some common assumptions about leadership that have crept in over time that actually do violence to the passage above. There is an idea of leadership that assumes, without reflection, that leadership means getting other people to do what the leader wants. This is the model for leadership that most often comes to mind when someone talks about "strong leadership skills." A strong leader is someone who, through force of personality or skills of persuasion is particularly good at getting people to do what he or she believes should be done. The model of church leader as CEO, which crept into the church from the business world, is what we're talking about here.

Some people like these sorts of leaders and are attracted to them. They want this kind of "strong leadership" because it feels so good to be under such a confident person. It meshes with our assumptions about humility and submission to authority, and so we justify it on spiritual grounds as well. But I think we like these kinds of leaders because they absolve us of responsibility for our own decisions: we let them make our decisions for us.

Such leaders do not think of themselves as abusing their authority at all. As in the quote above from Jesus, they call themselves 'Benefactors' and believe to the core of their being that they are leading for the benefit of those they lead. It may be lonely at the top, but that is a burden they are willing to bear for the sake of those who need to be led (and by led, they understand: telling them what they should do). But I think these sorts of leaders are actually serving their own vision for the Church much more than than Jesus' vision for His people.

I believe that such a view of leadership, as it exists in the Church, is directly connected with one's view of God. For those who understand God as One who holds His power over people in order to get them to do His will, that God rules and reigns over everything by enforcing His authority through His power, believe that this is the way authority works and is supposed to work in the Church as well. For these folks the authority exercised by pastors, elders, etc., is authority delegated from the top down for the purpose of compelling, if not requiring, compliance and obedience to God's ways.

I also believe that such a view of leadership is connected to one's understanding of the human condition of those in Christ. That is, such a view generally assumes that people, at the core of their being, are sinful and their sin needs to be restrained.

This is called the Magisterial View of church leadership. Church leaders then are seen as magistrates who rule on behalf of, and under the authority of the King of the Church for the purpose of maintaining order and discipline, and administering the laws and will of that King.

Those living with these assumptions about leadership, about believers, and about God will often think of themselves as servant leaders, considering their willingness to lead--in all the ways that isolates them from others ("it's lonely at the top")--as a kind of selfless service they offer others. Many under such leadership would agree.

By now, you may assume that I'm not supportive of that view of leadership, nor that view of God or who we are in Christ. You'd be right.

Servant Leadership

So, if leadership in the Kingdom isn't "telling people what to do," what is it? Let me state it briefly using a definition I heard, and then explain further. Leadership in the Kingdom is not about holding authority over people but under them.*

In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul explains the purpose of leadership and authority in the Church as the preparation of God's people for works of service (v.12). Paul goes on to state the ultimate goal being that believers attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (v.13). That is leadership exists for the sake of body of believers, not the other way around.

Now that word translated "prepare" in the NIV(84), is better translated as most other modern translations have it (including the NIV2011): "equip." To equip someone is to give them what they need to accomplish something. Now what's clear here is that what they are equipped for is works of service. It does not mean, and cannot be translated "equip...with works of service," that is: give them a job to do. The Scripture assumes that they already have one, probably given along with their spiritual gifts.

The task of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers is to give people what they need to do the works of service God is calling them to. This is quite the opposite of giving people what they need to accomplish the "works of service" God gave the leader.

To lord it over (from the passage above) is the verb related to the Greek noun for Lord (κύριος), which means "owner or master." When we lord it over someone, we become their master, their lord. Like a slave owner, it is the right of the master to tell the slave what to do. We don't want to do that! Jesus is Lord, not church leaders. And Jesus doesn't call His followers slaves, but friends!

...but not so with you...

In saying "not so with you," Jesus is telling His disciples that we should not take our cues about leadership from the world--not from government, not from the military, and (in our day, I would add) not from business. There is a temptation to look at how other successful leaders lead successfully (outside the Church) and follow their example. But Jesus says ...not so with you...

Our cues need to come from Jesus Himself, Who did not come to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45). He empowered those around Him with authority to do what He was doing, first the 12 (Luke 9:1-2, e.g.) and then 72 others  (Luke 10:1), presumably with the same authority, since they had the same assignment.

In Ephesians 5:23, the husband (acting as head of the wife, as Christ is head of the church) is to imitate Christ who, as head of the church, gave Himself up for her. That is, the sort of headship he is to exercise is the self-giving, self-sacrificing kind--in imitation of Christ. This is leadership in the Kingdom of God.

The view of God that drives this view of leadership is that God is a Father who loves to see His children succeed at what He calls them to. That God equips us with everything good for doing His will (Heb.13:21). That God is not so much over us as with us; not so much telling us what to do as inviting us to join Him in His work.

Such leaders understand that who we are in Christ is, at the core of who we are, good; that the old, sinful self has been displaced by the new self. Such leaders believe that God's Spirit is actually producing the fruit of righteousness in people, and while this is still a process, it is well under way. Such leaders understand that people don't need to be controlled as much as encouraged to be who we really are in Christ: God's workmanship [masterpiece], created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10).

A Few Practical Examples

What does this really look like? It's one thing to say what not to do, and another to show the alternative.

It looks like a pastor stepping aside from a favorite task, to make room for a member beginning to come into his/her own as a leader. It looks like a worship leader, passing the mic to someone with potential (but still less skill) who needs the experience of leading worship to come into their own. It looks like a leader encouraging a member to step into a position that they are nervous about, even though the leader believes they are ready. It looks like the seasoned leader counseling the new leader not to give up, even though they've just made a major blunder - not stepping in to fix it, but equipping the new leader to know how to "clean up their own mess."

It also looks like a leader who celebrates the accomplishments of those who are coming into their own, finding their own ministries, finding their own 'voice' in teaching -- even when the leader knows he/she could have done better themselves. It looks like the leader who comes to the defense of someone who risked stepping out, and became the object of someone's criticism (even when the critic has a point).

It looks like a leader cleaning up the kitchen so that the person who usually does it is freed up to step into a ministry better suited to his/her gifts. It looks like a leader letting a 'pet project' die, because those making it work with him/her are better suited for other ministries.

It looks like Jesus sending out 12 and later 72 others with authority, long before they really knew what His ministry was all about, and Who He really was. It looks like God empowering the frightened and ill-equipped disciples with the Holy Spirit so that they would become who they were destined to be. It looks like Paul encouraging a young Timothy to be true to his calling and his identity in Christ, reminding Him of what God had said about him and given to him -- believing in Timothy, when it seems young Timothy was not believing in himself. It's Paul refusing to tell Philemon what to do about Onesimus, while opening a door for Philemon to display what his faith really meant in the context of his relationship with Onesimus.

This sort of leadership requires that leaders believe that God's people are trustworthy in their deepest selves. The other sort of leadership usually betrays a belief that people are sinful in their deepest selves. To some extent both have a point. But the servant leader believes the One in us is always ultimately stronger than the sin in us.

Sometimes We Serve by Leading

There comes a time when a decision has to be made that affects the larger group, perhaps an entire congregation, or even a denomination. Such decisions come in times of crisis, and sometimes are simply matters of procedure or policy. At such times the decision may not please everyone, in fact it probably won't.

The point of servant leadership is not to please people, but to equip them for works of service. In those ways we lead by serving. But at times we need to serve by leading. Let me explain.

Leaders who are part of the governance structure of an organization need to make decisions that relate to how that organization functions. Will we baptize the children of believers, or believers only? Will we accept women as elders or not? Will we support this mission cause, or that one? Should the carpet be blue or red? Shall we meet at 10am or 9:30am? The list goes on.

Sometimes in these discussions a polarization can happen among the leaders, or among the congregation (or other members of the organization). The longer indecision lasts, the greater the potential for polarization.

As a former volunteer firefighter, one of the things I learned early on is that in a crisis situation it is better to make a decision quickly than ponder which decision would be best. We can always adjust the plan as we go, and we can always learn from our mistakes. In those cases, the officer makes a plan and assigns duties so that the task can be accomplished: the officer serves by leading.

In the Church too often we ponder and ponder... and ponder some more, trying to avoid making a mistake. But sometimes the bigger mistake is to do all you can to avoid making one! There are times when it is better to move forward and adjust as you go, than to only go forward if you're sure it's the best course of action.

I'm convinced it's better for those entrusted with making that decision, pray for God's wisdom and make a decision based on their best understanding of God's will. There are a dozen traps to avoid here, and discussing them all would require another post. However, let me say this: unless all the power to make the decision rests with those in the room, entrusted with making it, expect trouble. The servant leader will always refuse to be manipulated, since that just makes someone else a master, and we only allow for one master in the Church: Jesus.

This blog is already longer than I originally intended. There is so much more to say on this topic, but I really must get on with my day.

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*That's not original, but I don't remember who is the source for this quote.