one Sunday morning

it's the first Sunday of the month and that means it was my turn to teach Sunday school. my dear fourth & fifth graders--they never leave me with a dull moment. i've mentioned here before how intelligent and intuitive these kids are. so i was a bit miffed while preparing my lesson yesterday--the online curriculum completely glazed over the significant controversy mentioned in the lesson's Bible passage. We were to study Colossians 3:22-24, and this passage opens with, "slaves, obey your masters..." the curriculum (which i hardly ever follow exactly because it's created for a group with much larger spaces, numbers, and resources than our own) had the leader saying something ridiculous like, "we're not slaves, though sometimes we may feel like it (?!), ...." i decided to just ask the kids what they thought about this verse. in return, i got a mini-report on sojourner truth--okay, so these kids might be a little young to weigh the full significance of such a controversial statement against the principles of their faith, but i hardly want to shy away from it or disrespectfully mention it in passing.

we need to stop taking kids for granted. as a preschool teacher, i know that it's easier to just spoon-feed the Bible stories and to not worry about leaving out chunks because it's too hard for little minds to understand. but this can't become a pattern. we need to encourage children to think, to challenge them with the tough issues, to hit them with the confusing and contradictory stories. if we start this at the elementary level, i'm willing to bet that the likelihood of these kids chucking their faith in high school or college will decrease. they won't have to wait for a skeptical teenage peer or a disgruntled professor to drop the controversial mess on their heads--they'll have already gone there with their parents or Sunday school teachers. even if they don't come up with the answers, at least they'll know the questions are out there.

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after teaching my lesson and taking a brief respite at home, i decided to do Sunday Mexico-style. which means i went back to church. i finally decided to check out this progressive church in Charlotte that's been making all sorts of headlines and growing so fast that its busting at the seams of all three campus locations. the church offers a 1pm service, which i can attend without missing my home church.

i need your opinion on this, though is two-timing on your church a bad thing? a couple of months ago i wrote a post about my points of contention with my current church and my decision to look around a bit (which fizzled pretty quickly). at that point, I was focused mainly on the lack of fellowship with people my age. that's still true, but now i've been pushed to action again because i've lost my heart for worship. i haven't really met God in worship in several months. actually, the last time i was consumed in worship was when i did visit another church for just one week. and that's what i need. i recently went back through my journal from last year, when I was attending Bible Church and IV meetings every week, and the girl who wrote those passoinate entries is unrecognizable--and that saddened and scared me. so i've decided that it's not selfish to seek an atmosphere where I can meet God. of course, God is always there, inside and outside of every church. but i've had a hard time showing up. i've just been singing, going through the motions. and that translates into an unfamiliarity with God that rolls over into quiet times and prayer. and that really starts to hurt--to leave a gaping hole. it's not a lack of desire for relationship with God, but it feels like I've been confusing the time when we were going to meet--showing up too early or too late.

today, i felt like i was on time. i was shuttled into this high school auditorium and made to sit directly next to the person who filed in before me--there are so many people that they can't afford an empty seat. i also ended up only a few rows back--right in the middle of the action. and the music was LOUD. i love loud worship music--i like to close my eyes and not be able to hear my own voice, even though it's practically screaming in praise. i like the unison and the pulsation of one body in worship. it's like the music consumes you and wraps up your soul and you have no option but to respond to God in a mighty way. and this morning, i didn't know one song, not one. and yet i was singing along with more passion and meaning than i have in a long while. it's the heart behind the words, and the hands raised in true devotion, and the teenage kid jumping up and down in front of you. this church is alive. and it's becoming a huge movement in charlotte--the pastor announced this morning that several thousand people came to Christ during their services last year, 400 of those at their Christmas Eve services alone.

i might should save a lengthy commentary on the pastor for another day. so let me just briefly say that the man is extremely charismatic. and he's a little bit offensive. i almost decided that i didn't like him and wasn't going to give him my time of day, but then i realized, he's grinding on the status quo and calling people out in what i imagine would be a similar manner to our radical Jesus Himself.

but is it fair to go to both? i don't want to leave my home church. you already know that I love teaching Sunday school, and i love knowing all the faces, and my pastor is awesome--his messages almost always speak directly to my heart, and this is where i grew into my faith, etc, etc. but like i said, i'm seeking that vitality. that meeting with the holy spirit. that intense atmosphere of worship. i'm not denying that those things are present for people at my church, but frankly, i haven't been meeting God in worship there. and i've decided to stop blaming myself for that and instead go out & seek God. is that okay? please comment, i would really value your opinion.

if i do continue my two-timing ways and do attend regularly at this church, i know I need to give back and not just show up there to feed and consume and take. because i could do that. it would be easy to just show and participate in worship, maybe even join a fellowship group and participate in other member events. but i don't want to be a church moocher as well as a two-timer.

Elevation Church