The author of Pilgrimage brings up a really interesting points on worship in todays reading:
"Is God more fully worshiped if I feel pleasure or satisfaction? Who is at the center of my worship? The worshipers or the One worshiped? Is the worship I offer worthy of God?"
In the last decade I have noticed mega-churches popping up around our area. These churches offer coffee, worship bands, slide-show presentations, and a miriad of other entertaining venues. I say "entertaining" because I feel that churches feel obligated to entertain the new, and very demanding youth/young adult population. The youth (30 and younger) are a generation of people that have always been exposed to computers; they are not just an MTV generation, but a must-have-it-now generation. ADHD has become more prevelant, and our society has made adjustments to every aspect of our lives - even changing the way we worship.
This desire to move towards a more "hip" worship service has, in my opinion, destroyed the simplistic and more traditional worship done in the small churches of yesterday. I have also noticed that churches can either "join them" or stay true to what they believe (i.e. not desiring a service based on entertaining the congregation). In either case, they are limiting the congregation: "join them" offends the older people, and "staying true" might limit the youth/young adults from joining.
Jim, the girls, and I attend a traditional-based church. Yes, it is small; but Jim and I are not comfortable with the new performer/audience idea of worship. There definitely is a skewed perception of "who" is the audience when the church offers such entertainment for the congregation. Who should be the audience? God. But is he in the mega-churches?
I know people that worship in the mega-churches, and in one case I know a praise leader. A praise or worship leader uses a microphone and sings with a worship band (praise band) and with the congregation. Basically he/she takes the congregation through songs and praise for the duration of the service. I have suggested before that he is doing "performances" when he leads worship. He says he isn't performing but worshiping to the Lord. If that were true, it wouldn't matter what his voice sounded like. It wouldn't matter how many times the choir practiced before a performance...ehem, I mean worship service.
Our western culture definitely has opinions on what type of voice is "good" and what type of voice is "bad". Most want to be entertained by a vocalist, so there wouldn't be a "bad" singer leading the congregation in worship...
I just started reading, "This is Your Brain on Music," by Daniel Levitan. He mentions his friend, Jim Ferguson, and his fieldwork in Lesotho. The villagers invited him to sing, which was a HUGE deal. Jim said he didn't sing, and the villagers looked at him and, "found his objection puzzling and inexplicable. The Sotho [villagers] consider singing an ordinary, everyday activity performed by everyone, young and old, men and women, not an activity reserved for a special few." It was as if Jim told the villagers he couldn't walk or dance even though he had both legs!
My favorite part of worship service is when the entire congregation sings to God - together. Yes, it is lovely to listen to others sing His praises, but coming in song together is what I love most about worshiping.
Have we become a society of shallow expectations that we'd rather be pleased than please our Maker? Of course one is attracted to a congregation that feels like family or friends; but is one also attracted to a congregation that creates Sunday morning entertainment? I have been told that the Easter and Christmas concerts at a local mega-church (which houses thousands) is standing room only most of the time. Have we begun to expect our worship to compete with the the likes of Queen or Kiss?
Today's Scripture:
Psalms 95: 1-6 (The Message)
Come let's shout praises to God,
raise the roof for the Rock who saved us!
Let's march into his presence singing praises,
lifting the rafters with our hymns!
And why? Because God is the best,
High King over all the gods.
In one hand he holds deep caves and caverns,
in the other hand grasps the high mountains.
He made Ocean - he owns it!
His hands sculpted Earth!
So come, let us worship: bow before him,
on your knees before God, who made us!
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