This video shows exactly why I have always disdained what churches are trying to become nowadays, and why I feel like Sunday mornings are often largely unimportant to a genuine life of faith. Much of my blog has been devoted to issues that this video so clearly and scarily satirizes. For those who are interested, those posts are:
September 11, 2009: How To Do Church
September 29, 2009: I Find It Hard To Worship When…
October 3, 2009: Churches Who Duel
October 24, 2009: What Doesn’t Impress Me About Your Thriving Church
October 27, 2009: New Worship Song Tops All Charts!
January 24, 2009: Truer Worship
March 19, 2010 How Much Have You Been Forgiven?
April 11, 2010: Does The Gospel Really Have Any Power?
BTW, this video was produced by one of the more famous modern/contemporary/relevant churches out there, North Point (Atlanta, GA)–perhaps to poke fun at itself, and other churches who try to model themselves off of churches like North Point, because they think this type of worship service is the silver bullet for growing an awesome church. This ludicrous notion is something that I have tried, most of the time unsuccessfully, to convince others (especially those in church leadership) that this kind of stuff is largely over-rated, and we shouldn’t be spending our time, money, and energy trying to mimic, reproduce, or even produce it. Perhaps this idea will gain more traction as time goes on. It’s the MESSAGE OF THE GOSPEL that makes the church meaningful and worthwhile!!! Enjoy this HI-LAR-I-OUS video!
Wasn’t that great and so telling? Come on, Church, give it up, and start being who you REALLY are!
5 responses to “To Everyone Who Couldn’t Understand Me Before:”
It could have been more over the top, but it was just too true. The sad thing is that I think most Christians would just want to cut out the “buy my CD” part and think that if they just made it a little better, it would be a great service.
The video is hilarious. I think there’s a further point to be made, though. The key is that the priority should not be placed on style over substance. This does not mean either that a modern style (like what is spoofed in the video) is not inherently wrong or that a more traditional style is inherently right. It just means that too much focus on a specific style is wrong.
That sort of video could be made about pretty much any style of church, including those who are genuine in their desire to worship God above all else. The takeaway should be that our priorities ought not to be in the form of the worship but in the sincerity of our worship.
I agree with you. I think the biggest drawback for me regarding contemporary worship as a style in and of itself is how much money, staff, and time it seems to require in order to pull off “well.”
I guess our God is a very demanding God, and requires all of this in order for Him to be pleased in our worship…or is this all for our own gratification?
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