Every Tuesday at my school we have a campus-wide chapel service. This is a chance for anyone who chooses to come and have a time of worship @ 10am, every Tuesday. I've been helping to lead the music for a while. It's one of my favorite things about school, and jamming with the guys at school every week has gotten me through a lot.
The reason I say all this is that i've seen lots of chapels in my (almost) four years of school. The first Tuesday of every year is always....the first chapel! The funny thing about the first chapel of the year is that usually people are required to go. First year freshman and most of the athletic teams are required to at least show up. This is when you see the most pairs of headphones in chapel, the most people asleep, and generally the most confused or disgruntled faces for being there.
So the band started the service off. As we were playing I realized I don't think I had ever seen that many people at chapel before. It's a little scary to play worship music for people who don't listen to worship music, nay, can't stand worship music. Part of me was thinking: "wow, i'll bet some of these guys think i'm a total tool standing up here singing about God".
I started to be bitter about people being forced to attend chapel: "if they don't want to be here, they shouldn't be" started ringing in my head. At first I was enthused by so many people filling the pews of the sanctuary on campus, then I turned elitist because some people there might not "understand" anything about worship.
But then I prayed that God would use the time there to speak to people's hearts. I realized that chapel wasn't about me, or my guitar, or the powerpoint slides, or sport teams. The attention should not be on me, or the band but on God. For it is not my business to change people's hearts, but God's. Who was I to think that I had a monopoly on worshiping. How could I think that I was in a position to judge the hearts of the people who filled those pews? I asked God to help give me humility, to use me for his will.
Then this scripture came to mind....Even if people weren't Christian maybe chapel could be a time where they could encounter God. And ya know what, even if no one made any big life commitments or "saw the light" that doesn't mean we don't keep trying. Read this:
Matthew 13: 1-23
Or if you prefer to read it right there on your computer screen:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2013:%201-23&version=31
This is from biblegateway.com a crucial website for all things biblical.
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