This is mainly written for those who lead worship or participate in worship leading, but all are encouraged to read on.I'm not a big fan of movie prequels - usually because they try to explain a great movie's background. My contention is that if a movie is a great movie then the background is already in tact and no prequel is needed.
"Butch and Sundance: The Early Years" is a great example of a terrible prequel that was not needed because the original film, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," was already a classic. It almost ruined the brilliance of the great western starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
But there is one prequel that I recently fell in love with. It's everything that leads up to one of my favorite passages in scripture: Acts 2:42-47.
After learning a ministry lesson the hard way about 10 years ago, I have been trumpeting the need for churches to honor their leadership, love and serve one another, pray, worship and have a united fellowship in their gathering because, according to the above verse, there is a natural blessing that occurs when we do this - church growth!
Up until recently my push for this in churches was primarily as a process of "choice." We CHOOSE to honor our leaders. We CHOOSE to serve and pray, etc. We DO these things and God blesses us numerically.
While I do think the above is something we are called to follow, what hit me recently was the prequel to all of this happening in the early church. As it turns out, it is not simply a man-made CHOICE. It was actually a RESULT.
The result of what?
In Acts 1, the resurrected Jesus appears to his followers and tells them that the gift of the Holy Spirit will come soon and empower them to take his message to the ends of the earth. Then, he leaves.
At the beginning of Acts 2 we read about the amazing account of the Holy Spirit falling on those gathered from various parts of the world (Pentecost) which manifested itself as speaking in tongues in such a way that all present understood what was being said. Amazing! However, some felt that those expressing this gift were simply drunk on wine. Peter quickly corrects them and goes on to offer a bold sermon about Jesus, the gospel and the need for repentance, all of which was foretold by the prophets long ago! At the end of that message, delivered in the power of the Holy Spirit, the Bible says that 3,000 were saved!
The next section is the Acts 2:42-47 passage sited above. This is how the early church, those first believers, put into action what they had just experienced. The Holy Spirit empowered them to honor, love and serve in unity. They did what they did BECAUSE of the Holy Spirit. They gladly welcomed and allowed for the moving and the power of the Holy Spirit to transform their lives and their gatherings.
This Holy Spirit prequel seems to be missing in many gatherings today. Often times we treat the Holy Spirit like an "ad-on" to a computer program. We think, "Oh, cool, Christianity comes with The Holy Spirit. Neat." But it is so much more than that. The Holy Spirit is not a simple add-on to our faith. The Holy Spirit is the power, the driving force of our faith!
We live in a time when the presentation and performance of church music is attempting to do the work that is set aside for the Holy Spirit. We rev up congregations with well-practiced performances of God-themed music, supported by media, lights, choreography and other theatrical elements as a way to generate excitement in the room. Sometimes this works and people are dazzled. But it does not last long - it can't. Because it is human-driven. And in the process we set the Holy Spirit aside forgetting entirely that He is "the worship leader" of our gatherings.
So - I encourage you to go back and read the prequel to the start of the early church. Check out what Jesus actually says about the promised gift and power of the Holy Spirit. And take that into your next worship gathering as you lead your congregations into transforming worship encounters.
