I never thought I had ADD until I had a house to clean. I start in the kitchen, load the dishwasher, then take a dish towel to the laundry room and notice that I need to start a load, and then I remember I had another shirt I wanted to wash, so I walk to the bedroom to get it, then I see how much dust has accumulated on my nightstand, so I go to get a duster and notice the pile of mail I hadn’t gone through yet, then walk to the kitchen to get my letter opener and wonder why I never started the dishwasher.
I’m starting to wonder if I have worship ADD. It kinda scares me. All the “shiny” things around me distract me from what I’m really there for.
Do any of your churches have the fancy new backgrounds for the worship lyrics? With wispy clouds drifting by, or a cross stuck in tall grass that’s gently blowing in the breeze? Maybe random geometric patterns flying frantically through the air? I gotta admit, I don’t really like them. No, actually, I can’t STAND them.
Perhaps these things are adding to the worship experience for someone out there, but for me, it’s just one more shiny thing to pull me out of the worship zone. Instead of focusing on the words I’m singing, or thinking about the God who deserves all my praise, I get distracted watching colorful circles pass by the screen. I count how many times it repeats, because I’ve been distracted enough to notice that these screens are on a cycle.
I honestly would prefer a plain, black background. Because then there’s nothing to focus on but the words. All the fancy stuff added to worship lately doesn’t make it any more worshipful, in my opinion.
Question: Have you ever suffered from worship ADD?
You just described my style of cleaning too!
I don’t mind a picture background but I also find the moving backgrounds distracting. I must confess: I’m really good at looking like I’m all-in worshipping… hands in the air, eyes closed, lips moving, and my brain’s running a mile-a-minute remembering things I thought I’d forgotten, writing blog posts, watching a movie, trying to decide what to eat for lunch. I hate it.
Katie
I can be guilty of that too. I feel like my brain never stops sometimes.
The message needs to be the message not the delivery of the message. I know sometimes I get lost in the delivery of a commercial on TV and after it is over I ask myself what was the product it was selling and I do not know. It can be that way with some of the church services I have been to.
Ooo, good comparison.
I don’t need or want smoke and mirrors. I just want to focus on Who I am worshipping.
Me too.
I echo what everyone has been saying. The Gospel is power and doesn’t need any “help”. Sounds like some serious cleaning 🙂
Amen.
I think it depends on the situation- I went to Urbana in 2009 and the worship team had a fog machine and crazy lights and it really changed the feel of the whole place- for me it added a lot of excitement and made it feel like a really special experience. (Some people criticized it for being too expensive- like, this is a missions conference and they’re taking donations to help support missionaries or poor people, and we spend all this money on fog machines? But that sounded to me like what Judas said when a woman dumped perfume on Jesus. I don’t know…)
I think each person responds to that stuff differently- also, there are plenty of other things that would be distracting for me- I remember being at a church once with a stained glass window in the front, and all I could think about was how the number of pieces of glass in each section wasn’t equal, and it drove me crazy. And since different people respond differently, I don’t think it makes sense to say “we should never have moving backgrounds on the slides” or whatever.
Also I get kind of nervous about using the term “distracting” because people have criticized me for being “distracting” during worship when I raise my hands or sing loud or whatever. I’ve had huge existential debates with myself about it- to what extent is it “worship” and to what extent is it disrespecting other people? But I really think that’s not the way it should be- it doesn’t seem right to be questioning my own motives all the time, afraid to express myself.
That was kind of off-topic but it’s something I really wonder about and I don’t have an answer.
Thanks so much for sharing. I’m right there with you… questions, struggles, and not many answers.
I too have had situations where the fog and lights really enhanced the experience, so I struggle when it all distracts me now. I believe artistic expression is an important part of worship and lighting and all that stuff is part of it.
I wrote a post about megachurches and how I struggle with all the money put into them and wondering if it should be used elsewhere, like feeding the poor. (http://rebootingworship.com/2012/03/megachurches/) I actually referenced the perfume story too. We’re on the same wavelength.
I know that certain things speak to certain people and I try to remember that what drives me crazy may really speak to someone else. I’m just struggling to figure out what to do with all the stuff that’s driving me crazy. 🙂
Yeah- I think the question “what is worship” is very nuanced and weird- or rather, the question “what is musical-related worship supposed to look like at church?”
Maybe it’s so confusing because people don’t feel open about expressing their feelings- and worship is very personal. Like, if I want to raise my hands, I feel like I’m doing something weird, and I don’t want to talk to people about it because I’ll feel like they’re challenging me.
“what is musical-related worship supposed to look like at church?” That’s the question I struggle with.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience and thoughts.
All the time. As a guitarist, I’d sometimes watch JUST the guitarist and critique him. Oooh what amp is he using. What pedals is he stepping on. What chord is he playing. It’s terrible!! Sometimes I just have to look away!
Ha! I totally do that too.
Wait, that’s not how you’re supposed to clean the house?? Thanks for the reality check. I’ve suspected ADD for a while, but now it’s confirmed because that is exactly how I do it.
At first, I wanted to totally agree with what you’re saying about the fancy backgrounds because the times I’ve seen them used, they’ve been pretty cheesy and a bit distracting. But then I remembered standing in centuries-old French cathedrals. We’re not the first generation to overload the senses during worship. You probably know what I’m talking about: colorful light beaming through stained glass, candles flickering, echoes from every movement due to vaulted ceilings, statues staring at you from all sides, beautiful music coming from giant pipes behind you, the smell of incense filling the room…
I wonder if our (post?)modern reaction to present-day sensory overload is really a reaction to the (low?) quality of the “art” being used in our services more than to distraction.
This is a really good point. You’re right… I guess the stained glass windows and huge pipe organs were sensory overload for the time.
Thanks for commenting and thanks for giving me something to think about. Oh, and I’m finding that lots of people clean this way. We’re not alone. 🙂