I found this video and was really struck by it. Mainly because of the boldness of Brian McLaren, and also because I agree with everything in it.
This goes along with what I shared on Monday, that music is dangerous and sweeps us away in happy emotions.
In case you can’t watch the video, here are the key points:
- People want to “feel” certain things in their worship. They bring a worship check list to each service and if it doesn’t meet each check point, well, the Holy Spirit just didn’t show up today.
- People put pressure on the worship leader to deliver a certain “worship experience.” As a result, “pre-fabricated worship experiences” are created.
- When we do this, it ceases to be worship and it becomes manipulation and propoganda.
- “There’s a huge difference between propoganda and art. There is something about art that says, ‘I’m telling the truth as I see it.’ The truth may not be pretty. It may be, ‘I don’t feel that God is real.’ We can’t handle that.”
- We may not be able to handle ugly truths, but the Bible can.
- “When you’re honest about the ugly things in life, it’s a beautiful thing.”
- “When you try to make everything pretty, it ends up looking really cheap.”
- “If we try to market God like He’s an infomercial, He seems less real.”
I applaud him for bringing these key points to light. And I wholeheartedly agree. It explains why I often can’t get excited about the worship experience. I long for raw honesty and it’s something that is often lacking in worship.
He asks a question in the video that I’d like to pose to you: How can we be people of truth and rediscover honesty in our relationship with God?