This month’s edition of Multnomah Magazine* has an interesting article on worship. Written by Benjamin Tertin, it is a rather thought-provoking examination on the connection between current trends in worship and entertainment. The crux of the article is based on a historical teaching (as exposed in Dr. Jon Robertson’s class): Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi. As glossed by the author, “how we worship is how we believe.” I love any article which finds its central point in Dr. Robertson’s class.
Reading the article took me back to my freshman year at Multnomah, to the all school retreat. We went to Wildhorse Canyon (now going by another name) in central Oregon. The very first night of the retreat, we were lead in worship by an excellent band. However, there was one particular song which made me quite uncomfortable. That song was “My Glorious,” written by Delirious. I’m not a particular fan of the content of the song, and neither am I a fan of the presentation by Delirious or the band that night at the retreat. Simply stated, I felt like the song was manipulative. That is probably unfair and overstated, but it was (and remains) my personal observation. The entire presentation of the song, music, lyrics, vocal style, etc. seemed aimed to produce a massive emotional response. I didn’t like it. It didn’t feel right. I perceived that most other people there had no problem with it. This was uncharted territory for me, since relative to my own church experiences, my home church was pretty rock-n-roll (especially compared to my grandparents’ Christian church worship). In retrospect, that experience probably contributed to the fact that I never quite felt at home among the Multnomah student body. The other contributing factor was of course that I lived off campus (as a senior I once had a sophomore ask me if I was new).
All this is to say that I think Tertin makes a good point: sometimes I think worship can come too close to amusement. We have to discern the difference.
* It seems as though only the most recent edition is available online.
I really appreciate this observation. It seems to me like there’s so much entertainment these days masquerading as worship, and so many people can’t tell the difference. Seems like so many people approach worship with the mindset of “What can I get out of it?” rather than “What can I give to God? How can I maximize what He gets out of it? How can I bring the most glory and honor to His name?” (Of course, the answer to that last question is: by worshipping Him in the way He says He wants to be worshipped.)