Lessons from the Outside: "Superbowl Sunday"

Inside the ministry, life can often be dominated by Sunday. Every week revolved around Sunday with a new worship experience to create and countless volunteers to schedule, train, equip, and resource.

So much time and energy is spent getting ready for Sunday that when it finally arrives it is often like taking the 100th step in a 100-step journey. That last step is a bit more special than the others because it marks the completion of journey. But, it is not all that different because it often repeats many facets of the steps taken before it. And, there is always the nagging reality that as soon as the journey ends, another similar journey begins.

This last month on the outside has created a large shift in my Sunday experience. I spend all week looking forward to Sunday, not just planning for it. Sunday is a huge day on our calendar, not merely the last step of a week-long journey.

Perhaps it is the newness of "getting" to go to church rather than "having" to go. Say what you will, but when you work on a staff you have to go to your church. You may also get to go, but there is a definite expectation for you to show up regardless of your desires; and that can affect you over time. You can begin to believe that just showing up is your main responsibility.

There are a few things that I want to remember if I ever do end up back on the Inside:

1. The weekend worship service is not the end of a required journey, it is the culmination of a desired destination. I want to be at church now, even multiple churches some weeks. That is something I don't want to lose even if I have to be at church again in the future.
2. New does not equal Fresh. When we were constantly planning Sunday Experiences, one thing that often came up was to "keep things fresh". What we would do is add a new song or perhaps a special media piece. Other times we might change the order of service. I find that those things do not matter as much to me now. The fact is after a week of living out "in the world" I don't really remember the exact order of last week's service, or even all of the songs we sang. I just expect to hear a Fresh Word from God today... I don't care if you take the offering at the same time as you did last week.
3. The experience of being united with dozens (or hundreds) of other believers to celebrate God is unique in my weekly schedule. This is the one time a week where most believers get to celebrate their God in the midst of many other believers... make it special!
4. Take care of my kids! Everyone told me this was a big deal when I worked on a church staff. Now that I drop my kids off at other churches each week I know... this is important!!

I think it would be very healthy for staff members to take a week "off" from their church on a regular basis. There is something very refreshing and revealing about stepping out of our weekly tradition and into a worship service with no other plan than to worship God and hear from His Word.