labels

All my life people have been trying to label me. 

First by my tribe, then by the economic status into which I was born and by the color of my skin. 

Labels have been put on me based on the country in which I grew up, the schools I went to, the jobs I have had, the things I have achieved and by my monumental failures. 

Mukiga, poor, black, Ugandan, educated, full of potential, programmer, advocate, director, immigrant, visible minority, lacking in canadian experience, brash, loud, insensitive, driven, relentless, ambitious, worship leader, pastor, musician

On one hand the labels I have received have allowed me to see myself in a positive light through the eyes of those that would assign the label and yet on the other hand, I become very aware of the limitations that are placed on me by those who would seek to label me. 

I am also very aware of the fact that I have imposed labels on myself. 

Even though we may parrot the fact that we are not defined by the labels that are assigned to us, the truth of the matter is that many of us, like myself, have allowed our identity and character to be shaped by the labels that we receive from other people, or the ones that we create ourselves. 

It is incredible to see how one person can assign a derogatory label to the same individual that another person has assigned an affirming label. And even though we may try to ignore the labels that bring us down, their negative influence on our life can be extremely hard to shake. 

And so the more we allow our identities to be defined by external labels, the more the labels become powerful, self-fulfilling prophecies - the cycle of which we may sometimes feel powerless to break out of. 

When Jesus came and poured out his life in an undeniable demonstration of love, he proved that God saw us differently than we could ever see ourselves. 

God sees enormous potential in people that society has discarded and labeled as useless. 

God saw incredible worth in each one of us that he spared no expense to save us

God’s word of affirmation to each one of us is a clear picture of how he sees us and how we should identify ourselves - not as people bound by the constraints, ideas and labels that the world places on us, but as a people for whom nothing is impossible through Christ who strengthens us. 

This morning, therefore, as we stand before the Lord in worship, let us trade any label that we may have... any label that has been assigned to us, by others or by ourselves, that is not from God. Any characterization that we have intertwined with our identity that causes us to see ourselves as less than the truly precious person that God sees. 

Let us turn a corner in our worship this morning and allow the truth of our identity in Christ to become our primary identity and not a secondary identity that would be nice to have, but we really cannot accept. 

Let us make this time more than just a song, but an acceptance of the righteousness, sanctification, and salvation that is made possible only through Jesus 

Let us approach God’s throne boldly - as his precious children grafted into his family and standing in our identity as joint heirs in His kingdom. 

You Cannot Generate Worship!

Back in the late 80’s and Early 90’s, our small university church was one of a handful that found themselves on the cutting edge of the contemporary worship music scene. There was a group of brave university students that agreed to partner with my father to create a worship service that was meaningful and filled with authentic worship, liturgy and prayer. 

The leader of this group who actually stayed on till I joined university in ‘97 used to say something to us all the time when we were on retreats building our spiritual muscle... he used to say, “You cannot generate worship!” 

What he was really trying to tell us is that you cannot transform yourself into an authentic worship facilitator on the platform in front of an audience when you are not an authentic worshipper in the privacy of your personal life. He taught me that while you may think that you are doing a good job trying to channel something that you are not familiar with, the audience that you seek to inspire in worship can see through you - either consciously or subconsciously. 

He was the first person that helped me see that I could in fact tell when I was being led in prayer by somebody that did not have a well visited prayer closet. He helped me see the times that I was being led in liturgical worship by a person for whom the liturgy held no meaning and it was through his example that I came to realize the importance of congruence between my personal worship time (if any) and the moments where I facilitated worship during the weekly services or fellowships. 

It is no secret that I place a high premium on authenticity as I seek to facilitate worship at woodvale and my prayer and hope has been that this would become a cornerstone value of all the worship facilitators at woodvale. My charge to the worship team members that have been at recent practices is to re-discover on their own their passion for worship and a desire to meet with God. This is not so that Pastor Paulo is pleased with  us and what we have done, but that the worship experience that we seek to engage the congregation in is something that flows easily from within us and not an act that we put on when we find ourselves on woodvale’s massive stage. 

About a month ago, I was having a chat with the choir and one of the guys in the choir spoke up and said that it is not right for us to be two different people; one week an expressive exuberant group when we are standing on the choir risers and another week a disinterested and sedate group when we are sitting in the pews. His charge to us that evening was a stark reminder of my team leader’s words to us back then: 

YOU CANNOT GENERATE WORSHIP! 

All of this comes into sharp perspective when you realize that God cannot be mocked by our lack of authenticity. Our worship falls flat and it is reduced to flattery,  meaningless repetition and babbling because of the disconnect between the people we are pretending to be and the people we really are. 

Let us therefore be exhorted by the words of John 4: 21 - 24. 

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

blogus interruptus ...

... the medical sounding term that my sister who is a wordsmith coined for the dry spell that bloggers go through in which they are unmotivated to update their blogs or unable to come up with any posts that articulate anything of sense... 

Blogus Interruptus! 

The gathering 2008 - Citywide worship and prayer

I'm a firm believer in doing everything to promote the unity of the body of Christ in the National Capital Region of Canada. I have become convinced that through the local churches and congregations, God intends to do a great work in our city - Ottawa - but before we see any progress in the "natural", there must be movement in the "spiritual". This week, we get to gather with people from all around ottawa for one purpose - to worship with passion, pray with conviction and unite with purpose. 

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