Caught Between The Cultures?!

A weekend with a difference. Camping out at the office. Young ones filling the place. Questions galore. Theology at 1 am in the morning! Floor ministry ~ people sprawled in small huddles where they felt comfortable ... some in my quaint room ... chatting in soft tones ... all these DIVINE APPOINTMENTS!

This morning was a rush! A rush to wake up those who hardly slept ... bringing ourselves to church! Most hadn't been to this denomination. I was looking forward to introduce the young ones to a church entirely different to many of their cultures. We entered hoping, nobody would notice us. But who wouldn't?! We were a motley crew. Some with formal wear. Some with jeans and midriffs showing. One wore a skirt (I'm surprised!). One guy looked so creased, I wondered if he slept in that pair of t-shirst and pants. Hahaha!!! (I love them, ... those "cranky" kids). Sure enough, hands started waving at us, and faces lit up with smiles. Later an announcement was made that WE were in the church!! We stood sheepishly.

The worship was beginning ... and in the midst of worshipping, my mind kept going in and out of its reverie! I was trying to see how the students would take to the worship! It was certainly not what they were used to. It was certainly serious stuff for them. Then my thots went back to my own church at one time ... when the younger ones made a loud statement by introducing their brand of worship for almost a year ... where two thirds of the congregation were above 40, and were hymn singers. I used to watch them(the oldies) stand in the worship and not sing at all, cos the songs were all alien to them. Then I also thot of my darling nephews and what they renounce as outdated in our church ..... and ... WOW!! How we leave one another out of our cultures ... and it has become either this or that!

HOW WE WORSHIP
~ is a cameo of expresions
~ is a smeltering of emotions
~ is a variety of endearments
to the One we call our Lord and God; ... our Father & our Comforter! Yet, how often we leave each other out and treat each others as strangers just because we express our love in different ways, moods and offerings.

HE IS THE CONSTANT IN A CHANGING WORLD!! And because of that, as our generations change, as our cultures take on different forms, as our call to serve the generations become a reality ..... I think ....

.. We must RETHINK all that we are RETHINKING
.. I think in rethinking, we must not speak in terms of LEAVING ONE ANOTHER
OUT
.. We must learn to EMBRACE the old, the modern, the post modern and the
whatever next generations that come our way.

That to me is CHURCH! That to me is LOVING the brothers and sisters. That to me is HUMBLE SERVANTHOOD par excellence.

I want to thank the generations that have spoken into my life and left behind a great conversation, ... the generation of my grandparents and parents who laid the loving foundations, the seriousness of my faith; my generation who first became the voice for "expression"; the generation after who taught me what really is "celebration" and for all three-four ... who lived out in reality what it meant to love the Lord in your own style, and who in vulnerability shared your pain.

To me it is precious, cos I have learnt to be serious, to be expressive, to celebrate, to share my pain and to be real because I HAVE BEEN CAUGHT IN BETWEEN THE CULTURES ... in a good way!!!!!

Kudos!!