Entertainment=Ministry…Worship=Relationship
I agreed this week on a lot of what Carson said this week about worship. I loved how he defined worship as being a lifestyle and how edification was is basically a branch off of corporate worship. He talked a lot about how we have confined corporate worship to take place only on Sundays when were at church but worship is a lifestyle. This was interesting, because lately we have been discussing a lot in class about how worship is involved in everything we do. One thing that Carson said that I agreed on him with was “Corporate worship has taken the form of something done for an audience as opposed to something done by a congregation.” (p.148). this goes back to worship or church all together as being mere entertainment. The church is always trying way to be safe through worship. Actually when you think about it church is the last place where we need to paranoid about being safe. We are called to be set apart but I believe because we are so focused on be safe and not offending people church has become boring all together and that’s why were not attractive to the un church. (Just my opinion). (Back to entertainment.) Carson stated in one of the pages we read that the church has been focused on entertainment to bring in the un church. I know that as our human nature we all liked to be entertained and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, but my solution for that is you can use your gifts in church to draw the congregation to God, which in the world could be considered as entertainment but to the church is used as an effective ministry tool. My question is do you agree with that? So basically entertainment and being creative in the church to draw the un church in isn’t wrong as long as you don’t loose focus on the purpose which is God….this also falls under the line as true worship.
ALSO I HAVE ONE MORE QUESTION.
Carson said, “The notion that you can come to church on Sunday and bend your knee in worship when in fact you have not done so during the week is a delusion. Such “worship is a spiritual impossibility” p (159). I TOTALLY AGREE! This being so does the intense of our worship…when we are whole heartedly worshiping could that be a reflection of the relationship we have with the Lord?
One of the harder things for me here at CIU is being so intent on doing my best at my classes, that I have a hard time being in honest communion with the Lord. Last year, reading through the bible took so much time, I didn’t get much bible study in. This year, I am herming everything I read. That is why I am so grateful for my Sunday nite bible study, Sunday morning worship and our daily chapels. To have a time each day to stop being academic and just rest in the Lord, enjoying singing praises to Him in communion with all my friends, helps me to remain in daily fellowship with a personal friend. It’s weird how much harder it has been to maintain that friendship at bible college! But, just as I have to be intentional to maintain my relationships with friends back home, I have to be intentional in worship as well. I am so grateful for these built in ways to help me remember, every day, what my true focus is.
I like the idea of the ‘entertainment’ being a sort of a ministry, but at the same time just because we have skilled people playing music and then skilled actors in the drama or even an amazing artist who draws different things for the different themes of the week. Does that make it entertainment for ministry or is it just excellence in the gifts that God has given us and turning around and worshiping Him with it? I think that we keep looking at big churches who have big bands or cool skits or media skills as showy and something to just attract people. However, the more I think about it I keep thinking about when Dr. Lewis talks about excellence. Doesn’t God deserve for our worship to be as excellent as we can make it? Nothing short? I’m not saying that the small churches and with no skits aren’t worshiping God with excellence but maybe everyone in the church just hasn’t been giving the opportunity to put THEIR worship into the pot of the church’s corporate worship. Maybe big churches are big because EVERYONE gets to incorporate their gift of excellence to God and therefore their ministry and expression of worship is so much more broad then the Sunday morning music.
It seems to me that if your focus in the church is primarily on God, then drawing the unchurched will not be a purpose, but a happy benefit. If the unchurched are drawn to Christ-centered worship, fellowship, teaching, etc., then it sounds a lot like the church is operating healthily.