Worship

So what about worship?
Warning: This is an opinion post and can be quite long.

"Worship literally means "worth-ship". Giving worth to something.^[1] In its older sense in English of worthiness or respect (Anglo-Saxon,worthscripe), worship may on occasion refer to an attitude towards someone of immensely elevated social status, such as a lord or a monarch, or, more loosely, towards an individual, such as a hero or one's lover.

'Worship' is quite often used to refer to acts, expressions and/or a state of religious devotion typically directed to one or more deities." - Wikipedia on the term worship

"In Christianity, worship is considered the central act of Christian identity, the purpose of which is to give honor or worth to God." - Wikipedia again on Christian worship

So... That's the point right? or is it not?



Or is it just another form of soft emo pop-rock?

A question we must all ask ourselves, rather.

After leading worship in my local church for 2-3 services, some of the comments i received (which was all done in good spirit, ok!) made me think deeply: There must be something more than this. It wasn't because the spirit of God wasn't there, it was because there is something else present, something that limits God...

I mean.

First thing is the focus of the people who comes to worship. Is it so they can shout and scream and jump and cry till their lungs come out (like FOB's This ain't a scene, it's an arms race) in a 'clean' manner? Or just to have a emotional experience? Or attend a B-grade concert week-in, week-out? Aren't our purpose in life (which is one being Christian is about-having a purpose) much, MUCH more than this? Sure, the worship thing in church where everyone raises their hands, sing along is very communal, beautiful and emotional (who says having a relationship with God isn't emotional?), but the point should be much, much, deeper than just that.

Like when having a relationship is much more than just the emotions. Which explains why there are so many divorces and unwanted children (don't spam this on me, i'm also a sexual being). Same like all this, worship is much more. One thing is certain, worship is much more than just cool music. It is way much more.

The atheists will spam me right about now.

"We have, within a matter of 50 years, completely changed the entire concept of what is a worship service. We’ve adopted an approach that demands ridiculous levels of musical, technical and financial commitment and resources.

Diversity, generational compatibility, even simplicity are all being blown up. Worship is now a major audience event, led by skilled entertainers, aimed at a demographic and judged by the audience reaction.

God? God has been moved around to be things like a reluctant Spirit we sing down with our songs or a divine innovator always blessing as much radical change as possible.

Why do I call this a goof? Because there is no way for this to end well. This is like a NASCAR car with the throttle stuck open. We’re stuck on a roller coaster and we can’t get off.

Worship has now become a musical term. Praise and worship means music. Let’s worship means the band will play. We need to give more time to worship doesn’t mean silent prayer or public scripture reading or any kind of participatory liturgy. It means music.

Even singing is getting lost in this. As the volume and the performance level goes up, who knows who is singing?

And who can stand for 20, 30 or 40 minutes?" - Internet monk, a blogger.

That was my main dissapointment with rallies and mega-scaled concerts. That's why i'm now weary of Lakewood, Hillsong, Planetshakers, Passion and the like. It has turned into a big buck business, nothing else.

In fact, it has already been so for many years.

It's not that i don't like the songs or the way they worship (hey, i still use their songs). It's the point of it.

And please don't get me started on mega-churches.

Somebody prominent in the worship music industry (yeah, right) has mentioned that worship is a lifestyle. And i'm stuck just about here. Besides, having earache after 'worship' is... ridiculous.

So what is worship and what is it for?

Isn't it obvious?

So i say it again.

So what about worship?

"I definitely think that worship is broader than just with music. But I think that worship with music definitely has its place." -a response to Internet monk.