In Bangkok I took an hour to give five Thai Jesus-followers a guitar lesson. My students consisted of two men who pastor the Thai congregation I visited, and three women, two of whom have been rescued out of prostitution and are worship leaders. There were a few times during the lesson that I almost began crying. One of them was when I taught them an alternative chordal way to play Chris Tomlin's "How Great Is Our God." They were all intrigued by what I was showing them. They wanted so much to learn this new way of playing their instruments.
After showing them the chords I then played and sang the song. They began singing with me, in Thai. The guitar lesson had morphed into full-blown worship. I could have melted to the floor in tears and joy and worship. Part of what was going on inside of me was the remembrance of my own ongoing release from bondage and darkness. I'm a slave set free and being set free, worshiping with these two men-servants of Jesus and the three newly redeemed girls who (probably) had been trafficked to Bangkok from Northeast Thailand. This was real worship in real community. Real Jesus-Community is not a fellowship of the "perfect" who then waste their God-time on earth judging the rest of us. Real Jesus-Community is a bunch of slobs, loved by God, redeemed and working out their salvation in fear and trembling, obedience and worship.
