Tips from Lausanne World Pulse:
Tim Keller suggests three “practical tasks”5 which can help us in providing an accepted and meaningful worship for unbelievers.
First, get unbelievers into worship. In many psalms, we encounter the repeated message for the pagan nations to join the people of God in rendering homage to YHWH (Psalms 2:10-12; 22:27-28; 47:1-9; 57:7-11; 66:1-4, 8-9; 67:1-6; 68:32-34; 72:16-19; 86:8-10; 96:1-13; 98:4-9; 99:1-4; 100:1-5; 111:1-4; 117:1-2). With such a renewed message, it is unavoidable for the Christian worship to involve those who are far away from Christ. A worship which includes believers only and closes the door for others will prevent these very believers from inviting their families, neighbors and friends to attend the church. Therefore, it is the role of the pastor to put in his or her mind while planning the worship that some unbelievers will be present the next Sunday. He or she must then ask the question, “How would I communicate with them?”
Second, make worship comprehensible to unbelievers. Through avoiding unnecessary theological or evangelical cultural jargon, explaining the service as the preacher goes along, directly addressing and welcoming outsiders, using aesthetics, celebrating deeds of mercy and justice, presenting the sacraments in a way that makes the gospel clear and preaching grace, the worship conductor makes the worship more tangible and comprehensible to unbelievers.
Third, lead unbelievers to a commitment. This would come in one of two ways:
During the service. As the Lord’s Supper is distributed, the nonbeliever can be encouraged not to take the elements, but rather to take Christ himself as savior. The next time the Eucharist if offered, he or she can participate. Another solution is to have a “prayer of belief” after the sermon. This prayer can be conducted by the pastor to help the unbeliever express his or her faith reaction toward the word of God.
After meetings. This can be fulfilled through an immediate follow-up meeting with the pastor and his or her assistants. During this time, the pastor or staff can answer difficult questions and clarify obscure theological or spiritual points.
2 comments:
what's a worship conductor?
Good question: it is usually the person who, in an evangelical or charismatic church, orders the musical worship and prayers on Sunday morning, or whenever people are present.
They will choose the music, lead people in prayer, perhaps invite people to make some sort of commitment to God, like conversion or renunciation of sin, and in general try to foster an emotional connection to God.
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