Without even realizing it, I had signed up for what would be one of my favorite classes in my high school career. When it came time to fill out my electives sheet for freshman year, I didn’t know which classes to pick. So I waited. It eventually came time for school to start and I still had yet to choose my elective classes. As I sat in the counselors office, the lady behind the desk gave me two options; home-economics or tech theater. I opted for the one that sounded less boring.
Upon my first semester of the class, I was falling in love with the whole “behind-the-scenes” aspect of theater. I had opportunities to work with pyro, power tools, and scene sets. Come opening night of a production, the people would flood through the doors, grab their butter saturated popcorn, and sit down in squeaky fold out seats. The tech crew wore all black in order to blend into the darkness between scenes in order to set up the next visual. It was exciting, intriguing, and unnoticed. No one knew all the work that went into just one play production, but I loved it.
Sunday mornings, people flood through the door, grab their routine bulletin, shake their familiar hands, and grab a spot on their desired pew. Opening announcements commence, followed by a prayer, and then the song leader gets up to lead the church in harmony. Things rapidly take a turn for the worse. One of the songs that is projected is out of order and messes up the congregational singing. The preacher stumbles over some of his sentences. Someone forgot they had closing prayer so there remains an eternal pause before someone gets up to fill the void. People leave that worship thinking, “boy, that was a wreck of a service!”
What a majority of members don’t remember, is the amount of prep work that goes into every single worship assembly. Worship coordinators have to hunt down willing members to participate in leading worship. Women volunteer to teach children’s classes with the absence of recognition or gratitude. Song leaders prep for hours to get a system of hymns in place. Audio technicians remain diligent to make sure the sound is just right. Various members of the congregation come in “after hours” to install TVs or projectors and to maintain the functionality to the best of their abilities. Janitors work to make sure the building remains tidy. Preachers wrestle with difficult passages to influence and inspire their listeners. Class teachers slave over material despite the long week they had prior to Sunday. This all takes place for every single worship.
The coolest part? Most of those involved in the preparation for worship aren’t paid. They do it because they love God’s assembly. Do you know what dampens that love? When people complain or whine about an unorderly worship. Perhaps there’s no tolerance when it comes to error in a play production. But worship is not a production. It’s a family gathering together to worship a perfect God. That means there needs to be a great sense of diligence in preparation but that can’t guarantee a seamless worship. I don’t about you, but my family was anything but orderly when it came to doing something together. I’d say the degree of order that we have in modern worship is quite a significant accomplishment, all things considered.
Notice all that went into a worship gathering in the Old Covenant. According to 1 Chronicles 23:4, 24,000 men were assigned for the work in God’s Temple. Even men like David and Solomon knew this was no easy task and it required a lot of work. In the following chapters, 24-26, you can read in detail all the effort that went into temple worship. Whether it’s Old or New Testament, there’s great preparation that goes into each worship. Most of which goes unnoticed and is hidden “behind the scenes.” Here’s the point: It just might enlighten one’s love for God’s assembly more, if an individual were to stop and recognize all the efforts that go into church service. This love can pull the family closer, and as a product, worship God more passionately.
Tyler King