Ushering

Ushering
Dave McGhee 9/2/2007

I just started reading the book “The Dangerous Act of Worship,” by Mark Labberton. I’m only through Chapter 3 and it has been very enlightening! The whole premise is that we play it safe when it comes to worship. We’re looking for the comfort food. Worship, and here it’s defined as our everyday relationship with God, should be an outward looking affair. Not just between each of us and God, but between all of us.

Now this is a bit tough for an introspective like me to comprehend! There are good things about places of comfort, and introspection, and meditation. Why do we have to mess that up? Then it struck me, it’s all about ushering!

This whole point of being a Christian is following Christ. It is therefore a journey. We all like to stop and take a rest in the comfort zones but we are not supposed to stay there. The other point about this journey is that there is a long trail of folks on this journey. We are all at different points in that journey. And we are all called to help usher those that come after us! And accept ushering from those before us!

This concept of ushering makes more and more sense as I look back over the latest developments in our church.

• Missional Church - I'm starting to get the idea of the outward or missional nature of worship and service. However, I still wrestling with whether a lot of mission work is done from a sense of helping "those" people vs a sense of community or ushering.
• Sunday School - A good bit of the Sunday school discussion has been about what "I" need. There has also been a good deal of "what do others need" or there wouldn't be discussion. I can't help but think a sense of ushering would add a thread of continuity to the chaos? I think its starting to creep in.

I'm getting more excited about a sense of journey now! This is going to be interesting!

Peace, Dave