My friend Joël is a creative songwriter. But as I told him yesterday, his song writing motto seems to be, "Why be simple when you can be complicated?!"*
Yesterday for Palm Sunday, Joël wrote and performed an amazing song called, «Il arrive» / "He's coming"
The fourth church navigational principle, developed by the French Evangelical Alliance for churches attempting to be fully biblical and full witnesses in this perpetually fluctuating world, is simplicity and creativity.
Reminder: these navigational principles are found in David Brown's book: «Servir à nos Français».
Principle #1: doctrine of warm welcome
1/ “We believe we need to bring together the biblical convictions of a professing church with warm welcome toward those who come in contact with that church.”
Principle #2: incarnation and reflection
“The church is as much the church when she is dispersed in society as when she is assembled.”
Principle #3: truth and coherence
"A major part of the work of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, is therefore to give form to the 'reality' [the Truth of God's eternal story] by providing a concrete expression of its existence and that through the life of its members."
SIMPLE SPIRITUALITY
"We seek to encourage a form of piety and spirituality that allows Christians to develop their relationship with God. In this stressful modern world that molds us into activists, we all feel the need to take time to kneel before God, not running into his presence, but allowing ourselves to be invaded by his grandeur, his love, his patience and his grace.
"Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." John 17:3
Admittedly, I have never been part of an event-oriented church where every Sunday is an extravaganza. I have been to churches like that and I have found certain aspects very edifying and thought provoking. But…
Two weeks ago in our local church in Dijon, I finished up a three-week series on roles within and without the church. At one point I asked people to prayerfully reflect on a list of spiritual sacrifices found in Scripture to see which ones the Spirit might want to develop in our lives. Then later I projected a movie of the "one another" verses, scrolling à la Star Wars, for us to reflect upon.
«les uns les autres» αλληλων "one another"
Now prior to giving the message, my activist self wondered, "Should I really do this? They could reflect at home. After all, am I not there to teach and expound upon the Word?" But Saturday night as I watched the verses go by on my computer, their potency was clearly far superior to what I might share about them. So I thought, "Ok, let's see what happens."
PROFESSIONALISM CAN STIFLE CREATIVITY
Joël's song, "He's coming," was far from the oft cited standard of "excellence." All four musicians — drums, acoustic guitar, myself on lead guitar, and Joël — messed things up. It didn't matter. It was creative, beautiful, heart wrenching, probing, and a gift to the Lord.
NOT our church :-)
(Please understand that I am not defending mediocrity. Joël gave us the song Saturday afternoon, so we only had time to rehearse it a few times before Sunday. It was either do as best as we could with Joël's complex creativity, or hold off for a year so as to perform the song more professionally.)
Simple spirituality, says the French Evangelical Alliance, "will engender creativity among its participants. Mindless repetition, memorized phrases, and platitudes do not constitute an authentic relationship, either with God or with others."
As we all know, while simple spirituality and creativity can bolster the soul: the innovative can be shoddy; tradition can be profound; teaching can be pedantic; the simple can be shallow. "We are constantly torn between prudence and daring, tradition and innovation, form and reformation."
"Mr. Creative lightbulbman" by Zomaa
http://fav.me/p21957863
So to my friend Joël, to myself, and to whom it may concern, keep it simple Mr. Creative.
* Joël is a classically trained French horn player who grew up playing metal guitar. So he wrote out the lead parts he wanted my to play note-for-note 8-)
