The Cringe Factor
Mark & Nicole Conner from Citylife Church in Australia shared in the Thursday afternoon session at A2.
Nicole said they try to remove what they call the cringe factor. I think most church goers know what the cringe factor is intuitively. Here's my definition: it's something you do that is totally out of touch with culture or you couldn't get by with outside the four walls of the church.
Nicole said we blame alot of the things that make people cringe on the Holy Spirit.
True dat.
I think our gatherings ought to have miraculous and mysterious elements that aren't understandable to people without spiritual intuition. But those things don't make people cringe. They produce awe.
We need to be diligent in removing human stumbling blocks. We need to do what we do with excellence. You know what makes people cringe? Misspelled words on worship slides. Sound problems. A irrelevant sermon. Off-key voices or off-rhythm instruments. Cut and paste graphics. Weird hairdos.
I sure hope our services drop jaws instead of making people cringe!
I think I Corinthians 14:25 is the holy grail for spirit-led-seeker-sensitive churches: God is really among them.
Nicole said they try to remove what they call the cringe factor. I think most church goers know what the cringe factor is intuitively. Here's my definition: it's something you do that is totally out of touch with culture or you couldn't get by with outside the four walls of the church.
Nicole said we blame alot of the things that make people cringe on the Holy Spirit.
True dat.
I think our gatherings ought to have miraculous and mysterious elements that aren't understandable to people without spiritual intuition. But those things don't make people cringe. They produce awe.
We need to be diligent in removing human stumbling blocks. We need to do what we do with excellence. You know what makes people cringe? Misspelled words on worship slides. Sound problems. A irrelevant sermon. Off-key voices or off-rhythm instruments. Cut and paste graphics. Weird hairdos.
I sure hope our services drop jaws instead of making people cringe!
I think I Corinthians 14:25 is the holy grail for spirit-led-seeker-sensitive churches: God is really among them.
3 Comments:
Here's an honest question from a lot of our younger pastors, "How do you deal with speaking in tongues and prophecy?" For them, they view this as a cringe factor. Is it or is it simply part of the mystery and awe?
Glenn,
Great question :)
In a perfect world, the gifts produce awe rather than causing people to cringe. I think the key is the way we as leaders "frame" everything that happens in the church. If we frame those things the right way we help people understand and appreciate the supernatural. What makes people cringe is unexplained phenomenon.
That is the very short answer, but a huge issue for spirit-led and seeker-sensitive leaders.
Worth a roundtable discussion :)
Mark
Amen to that. I'm the kid who proof-read her yearbook in high school and corrected other people's mistakes...
rebekah king
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