Monday, 07 May 2012
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Worship is Not Entertainment
The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. - 2 Samuel 6:11Worship leaders sometimes struggle to keep their hearts humble. God has asked them to lead His people into to worship, to be the lead worshiper. For six days they prepare their hearts, practice and organize with the band. Sunday comes fast and another and another.
Keeping their hearts humble and on Christ is not always easy, they have the troubles of the world, and church is not always a safe haven. It's not all their fault; the church has turned them into 'Sunday Superstars' -- stage, lights, loud instruments, big sound system. If it's a big church, add video cameras to the mix. If you take out the lyrical content we are left with ingredients of your basic rock show.
When did worship become entertainment?
There is a story in the old testament that address worship. David has just been anointed King over Israel. He has established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the center and heart of the nation -- this is David's home. He gathers 30,000 of his men to escort The Ark of The Covenant to Jerusalem. They don't follow the law of Moses and, instead of having priest carry the ark on their shoulders with wooden poles, they put it on a cart and have oxen pull it.
The sons of Abinadab, Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the cart under the sound of harps, tambourines, cymbals and other instruments as David and all 30,000 were celebrating the Lord with all their might in song. One of the oxen stumbles. The Ark begins to fall and Uzzah takes hold of it, God strikes him dead at that very moment.
Silence falls on their worship. David is angry and confused at first, but he soon understands they have made a mistake and refuses to move the Ark into Jerusalem. He leaves the ark with a Levite by the name of Obed-edom's and the Lord blessed that house and family.
The Ark represents God's presence, and the first act from the established King David is to bring the Ark home -- such a contrast when compared to Saul who simply ignored the Ark in his reign as King. What matters more than doing the right thing? Doing it the right way. David's heart is in the right place. He wants God in the center, but David's want is far from obedient. He worships in disobedience. It's true, how we obey does matter, and our hearts and worship reflect that.
So often what happened to Israel happens in church. When the worship leader strums the first chords, we take God's presence and place it on a cart made up of expensive lighting, entertaining graphics, concert like performances and solos from the band. While self-centered worship songs that focus on "me" and "I" pull this cart, when our version of 'God's presence' is about to fall we embrace it with earnest heartfelt tears. Like David, we can worship with all our might, even have emotional moments filled with celebration without ever entering God's presence.
Maybe you have been to a church like that, where you feel like you are being entertained. Every song has a huge climatic grand finale when the band sustains that last note, drummer goes nuts, guitar solos roar and they all chime in unison on that last chord. Somehow worship has become entertainment and in this an empty act.
The other side is that there are places that simply point to Christ. The worship leader is an ant when compared to the size of the font that voices the words sung to Him. You can hear the hearts sing, the chords come from a humble heart, simple, honest and earnest. We show our hearts to Him rather than put on a show.
Obedience is important for God, but just because we weight obedience does not mean He does. We have a tendency to only obey God on the big things and not on the little things. We can't chose to only obey Him at the end, when we set goals in line with heaven; how we reach them is as important as the goal itself. Here David is worshiping while in disobedience and God will have no part in that.
During the entire reign of King Saul the Ark was never moved -- this shows how different David and Saul were. When David tries to move the Ark, it has disastrous consequences, but when David realizes his mistake he stops, and he will remedy this very soon. Are we like Saul with an Ark-less empty act of worship? Or are we like David, trying, failing, learning how to place our hearts before God?
The Ark had stayed in the home Abinadab for over forty years. His sons Uzzah and Ahio had a long history with the Ark, yet there was no reverence in Uzzah's heart towards God's presence. While Obed-edom, whom David entrusted the Ark to, opened his heart, his house and was in complete reverence, and he welcomed the Ark and was blessed by it's presence.
Uzzah holding on to the Ark is the same as an unbeliever claiming Christ without belief -- eternal death. Obed-edom is the believer who welcomes Christ in his heart, his home and is blessed by it's presence -- his soul has eternal life.
Worship is more than a song and obedience is more than a goal. You can't have one without the other.
Do you think that worship has become more like entertainment? Is there a place in Christianity for churches who prefer the more concert-like atmosphere? Have you seen disobedience in the way that some approach worship?
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- From: Thebraziliandude@xanga
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Comments (24)
Some places now even do songs on the secular radio that have nothing to do with Christ, to draw people in. Um...yeah. Give me hymns and an organ!
I'm reminded of a quote from Zen master Dōgen.
"In ceremony there are forms and there are sounds, there is
understanding and there is believing. In liturgy there is only
intimacy."
In far too many Christian organizations the genuine intimacy with God that happens in liturgy has been gradually traded in for the forms and sounds of ceremony. Those forms and sounds are so much more accessible and don't require so much discipline; such is their benefit.
As a director for a church with an awesome band and multiple cameras/screens, I constantly feel the need to remind myself and my team that none of what we are doing is about us or the band-- it's about helping the audience connect with God and give to Him all the glory. Reading your post was a great reminder of the awesome talent God can bless us with, and how we are to humble ourselves before Him. Thanks for your insight about moving the Ark to Jerusalem; I never made the connection that moving the Ark with Oxen instead of on the shoulders of priests was outside of God's original design, and it makes for a fuller understanding.
I feel more often than not, worship leaders are the most genuine humble people I know. It's the audience (bad term, I know), it's how the scene has been constructed that gives a false impression that the focus is on the leader, and not on God. The architecture of the modern worship band is horrific.
In a world brought up upon entertainment we become conditioned to expecting to have others bring us to the point of true worship. Not good!
True worship for me is when the worship leaders and the music fades to the point of my forgetting they are even there. I'm focusing on God at that moment.
I do not like this who non-denominational mega-church thing. Worship how you want. That's all personal, but I don't like how these mega-churches won't admit that they're a business. Take the Methodist Church for example. Ever heard of Southern Methodist University? Or the Presbyterian Church. 1st Presbyterian Hospital... The Catholic Church - Norte Dame. All profits made from denominational churches are partially sent to schools, hospitals, and whatever else. They also pay taxes. Why? - Because they're admitted businesses. Non-denominational mega churches just keep the money to make their services more epic. It's just kind of wrong.
Worship has always included entertainment every since organized religion got off the ground and running. Once compulsion came to an end in the more civilised countries and people had choices of what to do on a Sunday, boring sermons and services became a serious problem. Building high cathedral to lift the spirit is entertainment; Great classics on the organ is entertainment; so is using any artefact to make a point in a sermon. Anything which does not rely on the ability of the speaker and the power of the sermon he delivers, is entertainment. All my life I've seen "modern" attempts by churches to draw people in, especially the young. That the young swarm to entertainment that uses media and music which reflect the particular fad they find compelling, should not be a surprise to anyone.
There are always going to be groups that take something too far.. in the case of this article... groups that make the music too much like entertainment. Yet, the first 40 years of my life I went to very traditional liturgical services. I see and understand the beauty of the liturgy, but often felt as if I was in an English class reciting back to the teacher what I was told to recite. At home, when seeing videos of people with their hands raised in worship and praise (during the worship music), I wondered, "What does it feel like to get so lost in worship that I can't help but lift my hands in praise to the Lord?" In 40 years I'd never felt that and in many churches it would have been frowned upon. Yet, I craved to know what that felt like. At first I thought my heart was in the wrong place for not connecting to God in that way. And then during travel we ended up at a relatives church out of state that had the contemporary worship. They did the music right... and all four of our family members walked out of church chattering with excitement how much more we connected with God that day. We have since then have gone to a non-denominational church with a contemporary music band and leader who does it right. And for the time being... I'd never go back to the traditional way, even though there is great value in it for other worshipers. I want to connect with God, not just be told that following steps A,B,C repetatively is "worship". So we need to look at it one church/music group at a time and not lump all contemporary worship into one catagory and assume they are all "entertaining" and not legitimately worshipping.
I'm not well versed in all things Christianity however I attend a "mega-church" with multiple screens, an incredible band, and an incredible message every single weekend. If it wasn't for this contemporary, or "entertainment like setting" I probably wouldn't go. My church welcomes everyone with open arms, in an incredible environment where we can all worship. This church has absolutely changed my life so as long as people are worshiping God and getting the message in that particular service does it really matter how they're getting it?
Since we worship an invisible God we need icons of some sorts. Doesn't matter whether it is paintings, stained glass windows, hymnals, sermons or rock music. They point to the reality that is God but are not themselves God. I say whatever works for you do it.
I believe it can be both. According to Google:
en·ter·tain·ment/ˌentərˈtānmənt/<table class="ts"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="80px">Noun:<td valign="top"><table class="ts"><tbody><tr><td><li>The action of providing or being provided with amusement or enjoyment.<li>An event, performance, or activity designed to entertain others.
I enjoy worshiping, I believe that is the same as entertainment. If you enjoy it, it can also be a hobby and/or entertainment. The word 'worship' sounds like a chore.
Totally agree. Services like that are not reverent. My husband says all the time that he goes to church to be in "awe" and "wonder" of the Creator...a rock concert doesn't induce that kind of atmosphere...at all.
If the worship leader is about what God wants, then the rest will follow. Also if you don't have worship during the week and you wait until Sunday to get any, you are missing the point.
The point that God wants us to worship him in every thing we do. Not just in song on a certain day of the week. So if you like the all out worship time and that is you style then go for it.
If you style is hymns then you love him in that way.
Bottom line, is is about giving Him you best, all week long, not just Sunday.
Intimacy with God is knowing that Christ is in you, which is the hope of glory. So whatever way you release your worship doesn't really matter. If you have to have an organ playing your favorite hymn to feel close to God, you have missed the point. If you need to go to a huge conference to get a spiritual high, you have missed the point. Christ is in you. Think about it.
BTW
Revelife is never encouraging. It is always trying to stir up controversy.
@NaomiWhite@xanga - Good thoughts. People are too religious.
@Lovegrove@xanga - Good thoughts.
@umweirdithink@xanga - nice to get a response from someone on this site. I was beginning to think revelife devotees only spoke to each other.
I don't like people bashing large churches or small churches. God can be glorified in both. He can also be pushed to the side in both. While we may not like certain songs or styles or lighting, I think we step into a dangerous place when we start to judge the hearts of those worshiping and leading worship based on things that aren't inherently evil.
@umweirdithink@xanga - I seem to drift here despite myself. If you heard people in the street talk like some of them, one would cross to the other side.
@Lovegrove@xanga - hahaha, yea. I am happy to be in a church that is full of grace.
@umweirdithink@xanga - They like to think so
Sometimes I wonder, If the power went out, would the church still know how to worship God?
Would the preacher still be able to preach?
And if all the songs would glorify God, would the place still be filled?
Satan is crafty....Here we have people arguing over music instead of seeing the big picture...if it brings you to the Lord and lifts you up in a LOVING way, it isn't bad. No matter where you go in life, you can always find something wrong if that is where your heart lays. If the music is spreading the Gospel, it is not wrong. If a Worship Leader has thoughts of being a star more than sharing the Gospel through music, then it is up to God and that individual, not us. Don't let Satan enter you with passing judgement on each other. I love all of you. Keep your faith in Him.