The Behind the Scenes Christian

These days when you walk into churches, it can come across as more of a production than a worship service. The world around the church is changing and the church does have to keep up, but if the church wants to keep the attention of the world around it, they have to get that attention somehow. That is the reason behind many modern churches becoming more media oriented, because in a world of iPods and TiVo the way that people perceive the world around them is changing, so the church has to change. Traditionalists may argue that the church is losing its focus, but I disagree, the church is trying not to lose the attention of those who need to pay attention the most. No one disagrees when children are taught using the felt board in Sunday school so that stories from the Bible come alive to them in ways they can conceive and understand, but when the church is using projectors, video clips, and broadcasting their services people get in an uproar because the Gospel is being "watered-down" and losing its focus. It is those same traditionalists that refuse set foot in a prison or a foreign country, where a DVD could prove to be the only witness with the guts to deliver a message of hope where it is needed the most. This new generation of the Gospel has great promise and reward, but it also has a great cost, manpower.

There are many people who make up a church, some who work and some who chose to watch. Workers are a special kind of people; they are willing to sacrifice their time and efforts, for often no pay and little recognition for their efforts. There are many different reasons that people volunteer their time for a church, but the only reason that really matters is that they want to glorify God. If anyone works in church for any other reason, they do not belong there. These people are the soundmen, the cameramen, band members, projection operators, choir members and even preachers. These people are rarely seen and often forgotten, which can be discouraging to those with egos that need constant nourishment. That is the type of person that will not last long behind the scenes in the ministry. The people who sacrifice their time and efforts so that the Gospel can be presented in a new way, can also sacrifice their spiritual lives to accommodate the world around them if they are not careful.

During a church service, the people in the audience are able to interact and receive from the service because they can devote their full attention to worship or the message that is being delivered to them. The people who are videoing the services, running the sound board, or putting the scriptures on the screen cannot devote their full attention to the service and cannot receive from the service what everyone else can. They do not always get the chance to worship like everyone else or learn the same things from a sermon as the rest of the congregation. This is a reason that many of the people who work behind the scenes of church services regularly can become dry and spiritually drained because they feel that they are missing out on something. I disagree with this premise because I believe that a person can bring worship to God without being mixed in the congregation singing at the top of their lungs, doing their part to help during a church service can be their form of worship, if it is done correctly. In Psalm 9:1, of the King James Version, David writes, "I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvelous works." If a person works during a church service and does it from the perspective that they are jealous and dismayed that they cannot be a part of the church service that they are helping with, they are not worshiping, they are working. If a person decides to work during a church service and they do that work from a perspective that God gave them a gift or a talent that they are using to glorify Him and possibly even spread the word to places they will never go, that is as true a worship as the person on the front row singing along with the worship leader. The only thing that matters is the position your heart is in when you are in church, not the place your body is in.

It may seem that working for a church is pointless and will never lead to anywhere, especially if you are not getting paid and you know that you will never get paid for what you do. That could not possibly be further from the truth because if God places you in a position of ministry, no matter what that is, you are there for a reason. If God gives you a talent, glorifying Him is the sole reason that you have that talent. Your church is your opportunity to develop and grow that talent, whatever it is. If you ever feel like you are not getting anything out of church, then you are not putting enough into it. If God gave you a talent that can be used for a constructive ministry, then you should be using it. If you are frustrated because your church does not have a ministry that you feel like you would like to be a part of, then take it upon yourself to start that ministry because there cannot be a fire without a spark. Chances are there are other people like you with a talent or ministry idea that they have, but are too scared or do not care enough to use. You may never be called to full-time ministry, very few members of churches are. Do not ever think that just because you are a small part of a church in the larger scheme of things that you are insignificant because every person counts in every way whether they can see it or not. You have the tools and the gifts inside you to change the world, it is up to you to use them and plug yourself into a ministry and help reach the world around us. This generation of media ministry is calling for a new generation of media-savy Christians who are willing to work to spread the Gospel to the world. With the invention of the DVD, the internet, and cable broadcasts it only takes one to reach thousands or even millions, will you be the one?