Some of the most powerful worship experiences in my life have had some form of personal testimony given by another believer of how God has been working in their life or how he saved them from destruction or despair. As a practical application to our discussion about forms that accomplish the functions of worship, I want to spend some time on a particular form initiative that I’ve adapted from my church and have developed for the sake of showing how each form should be well thought out in how it accomplishes it’s function. It is also important in these discussions with your team on different forms to wrestle over how and what it takes to make sure that you can accomplish this form in excellence and genuineness. It may cost the church’s worship ministry budget a substantial amount to assure the best equipment or training needed to accomplish it well. Whatever the case, does the form accomplish a function of worship on the foundations of communication to, from, and about God? If the answer to that question is no, then humbly put that form to death and move on. Here is an example of a well thought out form initiative, focused on the function of testimony that I have begun to implement at my church after approval by the Elders.
In development at Harvest Bible Chapel Spring Lake is a ministry entitled “God @ Work.” Under the leadership of the Worship Pastor, and the production ministry, the premise is this: God is clearly at work in our church body-- let’s find out where and how, and capture it in media, sharing the stories during our worship times to distinctly draw attention to the greatness and mercy of our God!
Let me quickly describe some background and some clarification. The “God @ Work” concept is not new. Testimonies have been powerful ways that we worship God and ascribe praise to Jesus’ name. The testimony venue, however, in terms of realm, style, and form is accelerating in exciting ways. Spoken or written word has been the norm for testimonies in the past. Now with the availability and simplicity of computer programming and technology, we are able to add intensity and emotive influence to the story. What was spoken word can now be transformed into video. What is merely a video testimony can be transformed into an artistic depiction of the work of God in a person’s life or situation, utilizing still photography, artistic “b-roll” footage, and different settings in the midst of the story being told similar to that of a documentary.
The value of the “God @ Work” initiative as a worship service element is that people are drawn into a greater realization that God is real, he is working, and he is good, leading to a response that is worshipful. If you were to think back on some of the most powerful ways that you’ve felt the presence of the Lord in your life, or perhaps powerful worship experiences that you have had, more often than not, a testimony of how God has saved someone through Jesus Christ or how He has sustained them through a trial comes to mind. Why is that? It is because people are experiential and social beings. When it is very evident that God is working powerfully in the life of someone very close to you, it sparks an emotive response in your heart that is worship, “PRAISE GOD that He is sustaining you or has delivered you out of a life of sin and into belief in Jesus as your Savior!”
Another value is in the area of community. Surface level Christian community is sometimes more harmful than good. A quick way to make a surface level friendship into an intimate God glorifying relationship is in the sharing of your testimony. Maybe it is the testimony of how you first believed that you needed and received a savior in Jesus? Or maybe it is a testimony of how God is sustaining you through a serious health issue and you are being strengthened in your trust of an almighty and sovereign God. Testimonies quickly grip the hearts of the hearer because of our social nature, and the combination with modern technology, similarly to the addition of music to a lyric, heightens the emotive response of that hearer in a worship setting.
Another value is in the modern ease of duplication. The written testimony can be duplicated, yes, but the filmed testimony captures the tone and emotion of the one in which God is working so powerfully. This is a value that I wish was available in the time of Christ. Can you imagine if you had a video testimony of the man who was blind at birth and was given, not healed, but given sight by Jesus Christ (John 9)!? Or perhaps we had a recording of Lazerus reflecting on how he had died and was decaying when Christ raised him from the dead (John 11)? Or better yet, hearing Mary and Martha’s point of view about that amazing work of God?
Please hear me that the written testimony that we have in the Gospels (God’s word) is not in any way demoted in terms of not having the technology available at that time. I’m simply stating that modern technology and media allows us the amazing ability to distinctly capture and distribute how God is truly working even in the fallen world that we currently live! Whether this is in the form of a video in the middle of a worship song, or on a webpage or blog; the good news of Jesus Christ, as told through the voice of the sinner saved by grace is what is able to be distributed in powerful ways in our current times. Moreover, we are called to do this in the great commission.
In order to make this possible, we need the support of our church body. Simply supporting the idea of “God @ Work” media is easy, but challenging our church body to open up and consider sharing their story of their redemption in Jesus Christ is not. As humans, sin is very embarrassing and often times hard to want to talk about. As believers, the closer we are with the reality of sin correlates with our repentance and thankfulness of our Savior. When we can humble ourselves and open up to share our story, we encourage those who can relate to that story and then more fully trust in the Lord in their situation. In order to gain this support, it takes one person at a time to participate in a video being produced on their story. The more people see the testimonies of others in their recognizable church body, the more they are going to be willing to say, “hey, I have a story of how God is working in my life that I think may be able to bless someone in this family and give God all the glory.”
Not only the support of the church body, but of the elders as well as the senior pastor, who, from the pulpit, can encourage the congregation to see God at work in others lives as well as their own. The elders’ support may look as simple as being one of the first people to participate in sharing their testimony. A secondary benefit to that is a deeper understanding and trust of the congregation to an elder that is leading their church.
An initiative like this can get expensive. However, because of the availability of high quality equipment at reasonable cost, the quality of the media produced determines the cost. I would start this initiative at a reasonably high level quality. The highest-level quality would require Hollywood grade equipment, which is not a wise investment for a church of 200. The level we want to utilize would require a designated high-speed computer that will solely be used for video and media production. This computer would house a high quality video editing program. It would also require an HD camera. I want to get a full HD camera that is also a DSLR still photography camera that will be versatile in other ministry use and even Sunday morning live-feed webcam use. Another capacity that is needed is artistic and creative people in our church body to help with the creation and production of a testimony video: story boards, what parts of the testimony are most valuable, editing and cutting edge/current graphic expertise.
At the dollar level, we are looking at under $10,000 in equipment to achieve what would be considered a high-level quality production. But it is surprising how starting off, this initiative can be accomplished with almost no extra cost utilizing something like a simple digital camera’s video function and the free video editing software on most computers. Seeing how this form has already impacted the worship atmosphere and culture of worship in our church, I’m seeking to put more energy and assets into it to make it better, giving the highest glory that we can to God in our excellence.
This initiative works best when the testimony is indeed true and biblical. If the testimony is man-focused on how someone kicked an addiction temporarily through a program like AA, the Lord is not glorified. When David, in Psalm 71:15 declares that even though his accusers try to shame him, “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.” True and biblical testimony is man’s recognition of the work of God in his life that corresponds with scripture and is declared verbally.
I like these four designations of a good testimony:
• Biblical testimony centers on Scripture.
• Biblical testimony focuses on Christ.
• Biblical testimony results from God’s work in your life.
• Biblical testimony always requires response.[1]
[1] Kenneth O. Gangel, vol. 5, Acts, Holman New Testament Commentary; Holman Reference (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 438.
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