I was watching a worship leader recently, and I thought back to the days when I would criticize people in that position frequently (but I’m perfect now, y’all hear?). They couldn’t sing perfectly, they didn’t choose the “right’ songs, their relationship with God didn’t go deep enough, they weren’t up to date on the newest worship, yada yada yada.

But as I watched this time, I saw a circle of invitation around this person, the same one that is around every other Christian in existence.

His circle of offering, his invitation, was open.

He was inviting every one of us to step in, to join him, his talent and skill, and his relationship with God, in the NOW. He wasn’t putting on a show, he was putting on a party.

When I chose to worship together with him, I chose to accept his offering, to receive it. I worshiped as one with him. That can happen every week. And when the whole church joins in, we are all worshiping as one, with that flow of giving and receiving maxed out and sending shock waves of glory through the atmosphere and straight to the heart of God.

Let’s stop being climate-controlled, singular storage units and start participating in the parties instead of judging them. That’s how unity happens and love becomes powerful.