Worship is NOT Entertainment
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Tue, April 01, 2008
- Viewed 59
- (96) comments so far
People are evangelized, not by a juggler, but by the presentation of the Gospel. And while evangelism may occur in worship as the Gospel is faithfully proclaimed, the purpose and focus of worship is that those who believe in Christ should gather and meet with God.
--Robert Godfrey, quoted on OldTruth.com
When will we stop trying to entertain people with the word of God? Why can’t we just meet with God like my grandpappy did?
I’m open to your comments (as long as they agree with me).
Todd
The call for entertainment in worship in our time is often cast in a particularly seductive form. Entertainment is often sold in the name of evangelism. We are told that we must make worship interesting and existing for the unconverted so that they will come to church and be converted. At first glance that argument is very appealing. We all want to see many brought to faith in Christ. Who wants to be against evangelism? But we must remember: entertainment is not evangelism, and evangelism is not worship...
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Suzanne on Wed, April 02, 2008
Dorothy Sayers says in her essay “The Greatest Drama” that the Gospel story is…”the tale of the time when God was the underdog and got beaten, when he submitted to the conditions he had laid down and became a man like the men he had made, and the men he had made broke him and killed him. This is the dogma we find so dull—this terrifying drama of which God is the victim and hero.
If this is dull, then what, in Heaven’s name, is worthy to be called exciting? The people who hanged Christ never, to do them justice, accused him of being a bore…”
threegirldad on Wed, April 02, 2008
This entire question is simple.
And so it is.
Is God fun?
No, He is not. He has revealed Himself in Scripture, and those characteristics that He has so revealed are all that we can be certain of. “Fun” isn’t one of those revealed characteristics.
I recommend Stephen Charnock’s The Existence and Attributes of God for additional reading and study.
Rob on Wed, April 02, 2008
threegirldad,
are you really willing to come out and say that God is no fun?
Wow…..only in Christianity is the word “fun” a bad word…wow!
No wonder unbelievers don’t want anything to do with us.
Enjoy (or don’t enjoy) your boring god. The God of the Bible rescued the Israelites from Egypt so they could celebrate a feast unto the Lord. (Exodus 5:1)
The original Hebrew word for feast is chadad, which means
to hold a feast, hold a festival, make pilgrimage, keep a pilgrim-feast, celebrate, dance, stagger
It would be hard to have a festival celebration, dance and stagger without having FUN—- there I said the “F” word for Christians.
lol….wow
Peter Hamm on Wed, April 02, 2008
CS writes
[That said, should people be entertained during worship? If entertainment is the goal in doing worship, where the services, activities, and things done in “worship” are being done specifically for the amusement of people, instead of the glorification of God, then the answer is, “No.” This type of activity would be something other than true worship. ] You are confusing the goal with the outcome. If I lead you in musical worship with the intention in mind of merely entertaining, and yet you enter into real true worship, then even though my purpose is flawed, the outcome is good.
But, I would rather lead you in musical worship that is done with passion and excellence, where I give all that I am to God in the process and you are moved to as well. True worship is giving my whole self to God, a la Romans 12. If you think it’s entertaining when I do it, it’s not a problem for either of us.
I hate to say this, but some are against “entertaining” musical worship because they are not capable themselves, or at least are not willing themselves, to do it as excellently.
threegirldad on Wed, April 02, 2008
Rob,
I just noticed that my link to the Theopedia article didn’t work—hmmm. I’ll paste the URL this time:
http://www.theopedia.com/List_of_God's_known_attributes
That article lists all the known attributes of God as revealed in Scripture. It’s all well documented and worth reading.
Regarding your reference to chadad, a quick Hebrew Lexicon check shows that this word actually means, “to be sharp/be alert/be keen; to sharpen; to be sharpened.” Consider Proverbs 27:17:
Regardless, do you know of a scriptural passage which either states or implies that God is like a feast, a festival, a celebration, or a dance? If so, please provide it.
And in your zeal to make your point, please don’t put words into my mouth. It’s quite bad manners. I never said that “in Christianity…’fun’ [is] a bad word.” Perhaps you have me confused with some other commenter.
threegirldad on Wed, April 02, 2008
Well, I’m note sure why the URL is getting mangled, but you will need to replace the ‘ampersand-pound sign-x’ string with a percent sign.
Sorry for the trouble.
Rob on Wed, April 02, 2008
threegirldad - I’m sorry the word was “chagag” not “chadad”—- I typed the wrong word. You can look it up in Exodus 5:1 - Feast means chagag…
Thanks for checking.
This text does not imply that God is a festival but obviously, God had no problem with the people celebrating a Festival in his Honor.
In regards to the “F” word = FUN, I was saying it to anyone that believes that enjoying themselves (being entertained) in worship is a sin, i didn’t mean it towards you specifically.
I don’t mean any personal offense, I’m just tired of people believing that Worship must be some boring spectacle. The God I serve is Alive and Well. He is Fun and the new life I’ve found in him is joyful and fun too. We ought to enjoy ourselves in worship.
What amazes me is that Christians believe that we must go to secular in order to enjoy ourselves (be entertained). This shouldn’t be. Our worship experience should be the most joyous and entertaining celebrations we participate in.
Like I mentioned before - if I kiss my wife, I do it for her, but there’s no doubt that I enjoy the experience as well. In fact if I don’t enjoy the experience you would be right to question my love and devotion to her.
I know the word “Fun” sounds simplistic but it’s really the best way to describe worship for me.
Rob on Wed, April 02, 2008
Exodus 5:1
And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.
“hold a feast” - Original word is festival (chagag)
A Festival is a day or time of religious or other celebration, marked by feasting, ceremonies, or other observances
Here are some Synonyms of the word Festival
Carnival
Feast
Festivities
Fiesta
Jubilee
Entertainment
CS on Wed, April 02, 2008
Peter:
“You are confusing the goal with the outcome. If I lead you in musical worship with the intention in mind of merely entertaining, and yet you enter into real true worship, then even though my purpose is flawed, the outcome is good.”
That goes back in part to the flawed, “means to an end,” pragmatic philosophy widespread in modern churches. The goal of entering into church for worship should be exactly for that—worship of God for His glory. It should not be for self-directed entertainment, even if it causes other people to engage in worship.
If we focus on the resultant and dismiss the cause, this can lead to all sorts of unbiblical deviations. By that logic, a stripper could be doing her business on stage and a man could find the spirit of worship in the process.
Now, if we focus on worship and some individual is entertained in the worship, hey, no biggie—it’s a bonus. Or, if the goal is worship and some individual fails to worship, that happens, too, but the focus remained on God, He is glorified, and the purpose of worship is fulfilled.
—
CS
Suzanne on Wed, April 02, 2008
By concentrating so much on making worship fun, we are backhandedly saying that the whole Gospel message is so darn dull that we must spice it up a bit, or no one would want to listen to it. I can’t think of anything more exciting or fulfilling than being allowed in the presence of the Almighty God, and hearing His word. But by our actions, we say that’s not enough. We have to add fun and cool stuff, the latest in music trends, technology, video screens, pyrotechnics, and who knows what else. As I quoted Dorothy Sayers in my previous comment “If this [Gospel] is dull, then what, in Heaven’s name, is worthy to be called exciting? “
Leonard Lee on Wed, April 02, 2008
Worship is all we do, all we say, within our hearts and minds. It is about reverence, it is about celebrating, it is about declaration and adoration. It is when we brag on the size, character and track record of our God. If that isn’t fun then I don’t want to do it. Sometimes it seems we keep splitting hairs on stuff that when we get down to it we are assuming what is in the heart of another. IDK crazy if you ask me.
Rob on Wed, April 02, 2008
Suzanne,
Psalm 66:2 says
2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!
By the defenition of the word glorious, this would mean to make God’s praise delightful; wonderful; completely enjoyable.
This means we can use the latest in music trends, technology, video screens, pyrotechnics, and who knows what else. Not because of how dull the gospel is, but rather because of how Great it is.
As I recall, the temple Solomon built for the Lord was glorious. So much so that it overwhelmed the Queen of Sheba. Think about it – Impressing a Rich Queen to the point of overwhelming.
I Kings 10:4-5
When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, 5 the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the LORD, she was overwhelmed.
King Solomon built God’s house with the very best this world had to offer, why can’t we? I believe his Temple would’ve had everything you mentioned if he were building it today. Furthermore, Jesus allowed a woman to worship him with an extremely expensive perfume. All this points to the very best we’ve got to offer.
If we worship a small god, then mediocrity is acceptable. However, if you worship an extravagant God, then nothing but the best should do.
Psalm 33:3
3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
(That sounds like fun to me)
Suzanne on Wed, April 02, 2008
Rob,
What do you mean by “the best”? The best electronics? The best jumbotron? What happens then if you are in a poor, small church with no access or means to get to “the best”? Is your worship then lacking, because you can’t afford all the bells and whistles? What happens when what is cool changes? Jesus preached the truth. He didn’t market, He didn’t have target groups, He didn’t do demographic studies to find out what people felt they needed, and how He might best present Himself. He did it with a few rag-tag followers, many of whom were fishermen, not the CEO’s of a fishing company. By worldly standards, probably not the best. By worldly standards, the early Christians were miserable flops, imprisoned, killed and persecuted. They didn’t do worshiptainment and I doubt it was much fun. God’s Word convicts, challenges, and changes lives on it’s own. We don’t need to help it along to make it more fun.
Melody on Wed, April 02, 2008
I’m really not much one to try to take typology too far, especially into applying it to prohibitions in the church age. But, I was reading recently in Exodus chapter 30, where the Lord was giving His formula for the incense to be use in the tent of meeting, and said “ It shall be most holy to you. Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. Whoever makes any like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from his people.”
It got me to thinking about holiness, and attitude toward worship. Worship SHOULD have the result of joy, but my enjoyment shouldn’t be the point of worship. There’s a fine line there, and I don’t think I’d try to place it. But certainly, it’s something we should be exhorted to search our own hearts about.
Rob on Thu, April 03, 2008
Suzanne,
By best I mean the best we’ve got to offer, not the best some rich guy’s got to offer. If someone can offer something greater to God, then let them offer it. I won’t criticize them for giving it to God. However, I need to give God the best I’ve got .
Melody,
I totally agree with you that the focus of worship is God. Yet there’s no doubt that if we’re truly worshipping God we will enjoy the experience.
As I stated before, if churches are singing songs to themselves, that would be wrong but I don’t think most churches are doing that.
I’d like to give the body of Christ the benefit of the doubt that they are singing songs that exalt God, not themselves.
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