Should one pay £15.50 to go to a worship service?
Answer:
No, I don't think so.
Last night, I went to see Tree63 and Delirious play at the IndigO² (not one for product placement, but there's not really much else one can do when it's incorporated into the name...). They were both very good, excellent musically, the performance was highly enjoyable, and so on and so forth. However, I paid £15.50 to go see them. Not that I complain at such a price - it's reasonable for a gig. But would someone pay that amount of money to go to church? I highly doubt it. I raise this question because the totality of both sets were 'worship songs'. I have nothing intrinsically against 'worship', don't get me wrong, but I'm not sure it's right to charge people to go and see it. If a band is going to simply entertain me, then I think it's fair that I pay them for their services. But 'worship songs'?
I say all this, and as I say it, I realise my folly. My concept of worship is askew, I suppose - if worship is a life of godliness, then it doesn't matter if it's 'entertainment' or 'worship', does it? I've gone and got myself confused. Come back to me on this one...
2 comments:
"Worship" has honestly always struck me as kind of a strange word - this despite my own former status as a theology student that ended with a master's from the U of Chicago Divinity School.
It strikes me - my own subjective reaction - as externalizing. Like God wants a kind of fan club. To me, as you indicate, "a life of godliness" is the important thing, and "worship" doesn't carry that connotation well for me.
Hey, thanks for your comment.
It is a bit of a weird word. It's been hi-jacked as a coverall for 'church music', but realistically, it's so much more - but it's meaning has been warped enough to leave all Christians slightly confused. As you may be able to see!
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