I’m currently reading The Gospel According to Starbucks: Living with a Grande Passion
Sweet has a way of taking an analogy and s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g it a bit thinner than I think it should go. But I do the same thing so maybe that’s why I like reading his stuff.
The center of his book on what the church can be is built around the acronym EPIC:
- Experiential
- Participatory
- Image-rich
- Connections
In the section on being image-rich, he talks about the need for church cultures to be Imax, not iPod and comments on how Starbucks minimizes words and maximizes images.
As I read that, it hit me, VCW 1.0 has been text heavy. Despite our desire and vision of being a place for artists, having murals or art on the walls, and using all our senses in our worship service, we’ve been basically preaching and singing. We even podcast the sermon.
The walls are still bare. The building’s exterior, embarrassing. Word heavy, image lite.
But I want to be part of a church that attracts people skilled in painting and sculpture as well as word and song. I have no desire to lighten up on the teaching and worship singing. But in VCW 2.0, I certainly want to expand our understanding of worship. I want the giftings of Bezalel and Oholiab to be a reality in our midst.
If you’re of the praying variety, please pray that I’ll be the kind of leader that can release these God-given gifts in our midst. And that I’ll also be able to identify the giftings and release them in people.
The Protestant Church prides itself on being a talking-head-church. But Jesus didn’t seem to hung up on preaching only. He engaged entire human beings, not just their brains.
That’s the kind of people I want VCW 2.0 to be.
