I’ve really been going through something lately and I feel like I need to document it here for other pastors and perhaps just for myself.  So, here goes…

I’ve always been a very visual person and as such I’ve always thought the church should be creative and visual too.  It just makes sense to me that the greatest message in the world, the Good News of Jesus Christ, deserves the greatest forms of communication and expression.  Subsequently, we’ve always used feature songs, movie clips, graphics, bumpers, and other creative elements at Fusion.  I even made salsa one time while I was preaching to try to make a point.  Lately, however, something has happened to me and I just couldn’t care less about the normal list of creative elements that typically go into a series package.  Don’t get me wrong.  We still have a bumper and a matching program and such but it all seems so very unimportant to me at this moment.

All I want to do right now t is preach the Word of God.  I want to preach it with every fiber in my being and I don’t care about all the trappings we normally wrap around it.  I feel like God is asking me to strip it all down to just worship and the Word.  He’s burning that into my heart like you wouldn’t believe.

With all my heart, I want to be anointed more than I want to be witty.  I want to be clear more than I want to be clever.  I want to communicate the heart of God more than I want to be creative.  I want to point people to Jesus through every part of His Holy Word and I deeply desire to make Him known in ways that truly connect with the hearts of those that hear me.

No, I haven’t given up on videos, bumpers, feature songs and graphics but I am aware, more than ever before, just how inadequate they are compared to the power of the Holy Spirit and the very Words of God.

I guess it’s just like having money.  We tell people that God doesn’t mind them having money as long as they are willing to lay it down when He says so.  If they aren’t willing then there’s a problem.  The money has become more important to them than God and in a way it has become their God.  The Lord will not tolerate that.  I think having all these creative elements are great normally but for me right now God is asking me to lay them down and just let the Spirit do His thing without them.

I’m not putting this out there to say that creative elements are wrong.  Instead, I’m just suggesting that God might, MIGHT, be asking some of you to do the same thing.   Regardless, I pray that we all do everything we can to connect God’s people to His Word and to the Risen Christ.