The Portable Chancel

Third.


Lately I have been lucky to have a friend who enjoys discussing our different beliefs together. He worships at a much different church than I do, so when we talk about our faith and dive into apologetics, we will often come up with differences in opinion.
I learn a lot about myself when I have to ACTUALLY say out loud what I believe and why I believe it. When you're in a position to explain your reasons for your faith, being vague and ambiguous is just not an option. Sometimes I go looking for the debate.
I recently read a blog post about how people tend to get too touchy about some of the language used in the church. The post was centered around calling the chancel a stage instead of a chancel. The argument stood that Christians are too busy worrying about whether we are using the right terminology and not dealing with more important issues. To that blogger, I say kudos to being real -it's a mundane argument when there's much more to worry about.
HOWEVER, there's a reason we have a different word for it. Say a professional dancer comes into church for the first time and sits next to you in your usual pew. She leans in and says 'where are the pastors?' and you say 'they will walk in and sit on the stage" From her perspective, you may have just told her that this worship service will be constructed like entertainment and that the people up there are performing. By calling it a chancel, this gives that space the credibility it deserves that its only purpose is to be a place of worship, not human glory.
I was a vocal performance major in college, so I have been on my fair share of stages. I decided a long time ago that my talent is a direct gift from God and that every time I sing, the performance belongs to Him.
Considering the blog post about chancels and stages, i was lead to think that I never stand on stages. I only sing on chancels because EACH performance belongs to God regardless of the subject matter in the performance. We can put chancels beneath our feet all day long. Give God glory while you walk the dog -walk on His chancel down the street. Give God glory when you're at work -send emails from chancels. Give God glory when you are at the pool -swim in chancels. Give Him glory when you sing in a recital hall -sing on chancels.
In the end, labeling chancels are monumentally important because if we don't, we miss opportunities to glorify our Lord in our practical lives on whatever ground we walk on. Put His chancel beneath you and stand firmly on it.