PUTTING AN END TO WORSHIP WARS - Elmer Towns

drive 30 miles to experience it firsthand. They like what they experience and come back every
Sunday.
People know (Internet) and people go (Interstate).
A retired man and woman used to drive 150 miles every Sunday to my church. I asked
them why they come so far. The wife said, "When you get over 70 years old and nothing else in
life matters, why not go 150 miles to a church you like, because your church is the high point of
the week?" When he died, she moved into a retirement home near our church so a van could
bring her each week.
Obviously, they never came back for Sunday evening services or Wednesday prayer
meetings when they lived so far away. But their reasoning is hard to refute. Why not do what
you enjoy in life? Since Americans have the money to travel, accessible freeways, and they
know what is happening in different churches, why not attend worship where you'll get the most?
SPIRITUAL MOTIVES
But in addition to the Interstate and Internet, there are spiritual factors behind the
emergence of these six worship and ministry styles. In the past three decades we have witnessed
an explosion of interest in spiritual gifts. At first the curiosity was about tongues. Everyone
seems to be asking, "Do you or don't you speak in tongues?"
While tongues do not seem to be as devise now as they were in the 70s, the interest in
spiritual gifts is still with us. The present drive to study gifts comes from the average Christian
who wants to know "What is my gift?" and "How can I serve God with my gift?"
Each of these six styles of worship has a dominant manifestation of a different serving
gift. This means that a specific spiritual gift is the glue that holds the worship and ministry
together. The Bible Expositional Church is driven by the spiritual gift of teaching. Many pastors
of this type of Bible Expositional Church sign their letters "Pastor-Teacher." The Evangelistic
Church is driven by a pastor who has the spiritual gift of evangelism.
GIFT COLONIZATION
In fact, these six styles tend to be colonies of like-gifted parishioners, a situation that has
been called "gift colonization." People with a dominant spiritual gift choose a church where their
personal dominant gift is also the dominant corporate gift. That's why they feel comfortable in a
particular style of worship. They are around people like themselves. This is not a selfish desire
to avoid people who are different, or who may make them feel uncomfortable. People just
naturally sort themselves out in life by arranging to spend time with those who make them feel
good and help them accomplish their goals. People feel free to worship with others if they are
comfortable with them.
True, the church is a hospital where sinners come for help. But the church is also an
island among the terrifying tides of life, a haven where believers can escape for safety and
solitude. Churches turn out to be different from each other because of this "gift colonization."