Thursday, May 29, 2008

When Worship goes Bad

When I saw this I knew I had seen it before... in a nightmare.



(Note pet peeve: the congregation does not stand for the processional cross, but does for the priest.)

When I was at St. John's University (Collegeville MN) studying Liturgy, I observed that the same malaise can afflict worship leaders of many different backgrounds and preferences. That sickness is a self-centered attitude brought into worship. This self-centeredness is shown differently in different traditions. The video clip shows an multicultural/internationalist (think UN), liturgical, feminist, performance art approach to worship.

A different version of the same problem is shown in the pop-culture, non-liturgical, individualistic, sexualized entertainment approach to worship shown here:

(Note pet peve (at 1:41): teenage girls doing pelvic thrusts does not constitute worship.)

What is common between these two? Look again and see the dancers drawing attention to themselves as "entertainment worship." The liturgical dancer swinging around the gospel book and the break dancing teenager have this in common. Their actions (and also the music, setting, entertainment focus and whipped up emotional response) do not direct us to the Word of God. They direct us to individuals and, yes, into ourselves. This is the problem with entertainment worship no matter what form it comes in.

The same sickness can be seen more subtly in worship services where the preacher wears an academic gown to show his learnedness, or a suit to show his wealth and high social status, or a polo or Hawaiian shirt to show his easy to relate to personality, or a black gown to show his austere seriousness, or faded jeans to show his rebellious youthfulness (immaturity).



It is a continual temptation to a preacher or worship leader to direct the attention to oneself. A sermon that fails to preach the law to convict the hearer and fails to preach the pure gospel will often receive positive comments after church: "Good sermon! Someone ought to do something about those people." But if it does not bring the listener to the cross, grave and resurrection of Christ, it too has failed to direct the worshiper to the Word of God.

Beware, many forms of the malaise lurk in the shadows waiting to slide in and subvert the worship of the Lord in Spirit and Truth. We worship Christ, the Lord and Him crucified, though is be a stumbling block to some and foolishness to others. Let Milli Vanilli puppets, self-agrandizing preachers, Solid Gold dancers and David Letterman's band step aside. The Lord is present among us. Let all foolishness, entertainment and self-worship fall away.

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