Connection Points
I love worship. The lifestyle, yes, but I’m particularly talking about the event here. I’m one of the people in the room that would be totally fine with a two hour, nothing-but-worship-music event. The 15 minute, spontaneous, you think it’s over four times, but it isn’t song? Yes, please.
If you know my pre-Regen story, you know that I used to play guitar on a worship team at a pretty good sized church, and before that, I attended an even bigger church with multiple bands and all the lights and fog my little heart could desire. Worship, and then playing the guitar, was the main way that I connected with God.
When I first started considering Regen “home,” I struggled to find the kind of connection I felt like I had before. Don’t get me wrong, I love our worship team, but it was different. Ultimately, I had to find a new way to connect with God during worship (and no, I don’t really mean switching instruments and playing the drum).
Gary Thomas has a book called “Sacred Pathways,” and in this book, he talks about 9 different “spiritual temperaments” that he’s noticed. Basically, they are 9 different ways that people tend to connect with God. For those who are curious, the 9 are:
Naturalists (loving God out of doors)
Sensates (loving God with the senses)
Traditionalists (loving God through ritual and symbol)
Ascetics (loving God in solitude and simplicity)
Activists (loving God through confrontation)
Caregivers (loving God through loving others)
Enthusiasts (loving God with mystery and celebration)
Contemplatives (loving God through adoration)
Intellectuals (loving God with the mind)
We all have unique combinations of how we best connect with God in our current seasons. You might be comfortable expressing yourself in worship - that's great! You might not be, and that's great, too. I'm reminded that we can press into the event of worship, through varying levels of comfort, because God has called us to corporate worship. At the same time, we can explore what our primary temperaments might be and press into those, too. No guilt, no shame, just as many points of connection we can find.
- Heather
Heather Garrett leads Regen's Prayer Team. She and her husband Holden live in Girard with their daughter Chloe and dog Myles.
