I have mentioned before that I am a self-labeled "Bummer." That is, if you track the sort of things that track this sort of thing, you will see that my age (44) has me on the line that separates "Busters" and "Boomers." So, the Buster part of me is almost technologically giddy at the toys, gadgets and opportunities that abound in the ever-changing worlds of communication and information. The Boomer part of me is more inclined to be intimidated and frequently frustrated by the reality that my 11 year-old daughter knows more about or can pick up any piece of technology far more quickly than I can...and often need to.
So last week I was trying to come up with some kind of a multi-media gimmick that would underline the point that I was trying to make in Sunday morning's service. The following is a rewrite of part of the message, which sets the stage for the "gimmick" that I came up with after almost nine hours of wrestling with technology!

EFC is an international, intercultural and interdenominational church that is truly and visibly in the process of transformation. On any given Sunday, we have people from all across the spectrum of faith.

Some of our people have been around long enough to remember that our first service used to be called “contemporary.” The second was called “traditional.” The challenge with labels like that started to become pretty apparent a few years ago.

Some people would come to the contemporary service with a picture in mind of what “contemporary” is, knowing that the word means “up-to-date; modern; new.” They found the music and the whole “feel” of the place not exactly what they would consider contemporary.

People like me who didn’t grow up anywhere near a church would get to the traditional service and hear song after song that we had never heard before. For us, it was “new” music. I did some research and found that some of the “contemporary” songs were older than some of the “traditional” ones.

Then we started trying to do what many churches have – and “blend” our services. In many churches that has basically meant a mixture of “choruses” and “hymns.”

Then we started getting into trouble if someone led what was considered a “hymn” with what might be considered a “contemporary” beat.

One morning, four high school girls sang Acapella and made a “contemporary” song sound pretty darn “traditional” (and they did it quite fabulously, I might add!)

Then it really got tricky when we started singing some songs in Spanish. Many of the songs seemed totally new to a lot of people (aka: gringos) yet they were well known to a growing number of the people that were finding their way here.

At that time, someone loaned me a book that turned a huge light on for me. It talked about how what is generally considered “traditional” church music has as its primary feel (or theme) awe, reverence and amazement.

What is generally considered “contemporary” music has celebration and joy and freedom as its main flavors.

So we decided that rather than trying to mix music styles, we would seek to bring together awe, joy, reverence, celebration, amazement and freedom.

Not long after we started doing both services the same, I talked to a first-time visitor after the first service and found out he was from a pretty big “C” conservative and pretty big “P” Presbyterian church background. In a rare moment of honesty, he asked if our services were always so wild.

Then we did the second service…the same as the first. Afterward, I talked to another first-time visitor who had come from a pretty big “C” as-in-charismatic background and he wondered if our services were always so dead.

Some of the people that make their way to EFC are from churches where the man in my place wore a robe. An organ was the only instrument.

Some come out of churches where I could wear shorts and flip-flops…and had never seen an organ like ours before coming here.

Some come out of churches where women often stand where I do and teach. Some come from churches where a woman could only come up to announce next Friday’s bake sale.

Some feel uncomfortable if someone says “Aaaamen” out loud. Some think it is a little strange if no one says it.

Some would appreciate it if we would hand out cotton balls with the bulletins (for their ears); some wonder why we keep the music turned down so low.

Some are longing to worship like King David in 2 Samuel 6 and strip down and dance through the place.

Some are still so new to the whole “church thing” pretty much everything is kind of weird to them.

Yet I am increasingly convinced that authentic worship happens when we respond freely and genuinely after having seen or been reminded of the Living God; it is what happens when I respond freely and genuinely after deciding or remembering who Jesus is to me.

There isn’t a formula or model of what it should “look like” each and every time it happens.

For some, being led in a liturgical reading that they learned as a child stirs it.

For some, being reminded of the Living God leads them to bow their head or silently close their eyes.

For some, it is all they can do to keep their body still.

Things like mutual respect, concern for being a distraction, sensitivity to those around us, need to play a part in what happens when we come together.

At the same time, the leaders of EFC long to see us continue to nurture an environment that allows for genuine responses when people encounter the Living God.

Spending an hour or so together once a week, trying to remember and respond to the Living God really should be a time that draws us together…yet I don’t know if there is another time of week where the enemy tries as hard to pull us apart! (It can be really easy to treat a church service like your iPod or radio dial: tune in to the songs you like and tune out the ones you don’t.

I thought about all of that after the previous week’s service. The song we used as we wrapped up the message was “Because He Lives.” It got me thinking about my favorite version of that song; one that brings together two very different traditions and styles of music.

I spent a full day pulling pictures off “Google Images” to try to visually illustrate the way that song blends music—and worship.