• Lessons in Entertai… er… Excellence

    May 7, 2010

    As a guy who used to swim in this world, this is simultaneously the funniest and saddest thing I have seen in a long, long time.

    Granted, this is apparently a piece of self-deprecating satire by Northpoint Community Church (as others have noted), but sometimes the easiest way to get people to overlook what is most obviously wrong, is to make light of it.

    Some comments on the video here.

    Related Posts

    No related posts.

    Posted in: christendom, church, funny, video

Recent Comments

  • Tweets that mention via lifeasmission: Lessons in Entertai... er... Excellence #FB -- Topsy.com said...

    1

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by JR Rozko. JR Rozko said: via lifeasmission: Lessons in Entertai… er… Excellence http://lifeasmission.com/blog/2010/05/lessons-in-entertai-er-excellence/ #FB [...]

    05/7/10 5:52 PM | Comment Link

  • Jason Coker said...

    2

    JR,

    That last sentence is priceless.

    Chris!

    I saw a short behind-the-scenes on the Jonsi production and had the same response! I'm not sure how to put words to this yet, but my immediate reaction is that there must be some difference between genuine art and contrivance. To me, this video (or, more precisely, the thing it satirizes) represent the latter.

    05/8/10 12:30 AM | Comment Link

  • jrrozko said...

    3

    The hope, I think, is that the theological and spiritual depth of a community coming together to worship God in the fullness of our multi-sensory humanity would be emotionally stirring in the best sense of the phrase – that is, our emotions being stirred in correspondence to our other faculties.

    I think it's often a matter of direction. Are we seeking to stir emotions with a spiritual coating or are we trusting that theologically rooted spiritual practices, infused with the power of God's Spirit will do Kingdom work in the lives of people and communities? The former is pragmatically tempting, but the latter more in accord with a biblical vision of spiritual formation I think.

    05/8/10 3:53 AM | Comment Link

  • Chris said...

    4

    I just saw Jonsi (lead singer of Sigur Ros) in concert and he had his stage designed by a theatre company, complete with video projected on multiple elements of the set.
    http://vimeo.com/9480602

    The show was amazing and it is making me rethink the value of a multi-sensory worship experience. The question is how to make it emotionally stirring without becoming theologically and spiritually bankrupt. No answers yet, still just questions.

    05/7/10 11:03 PM | Comment Link

  • Jason Coker said...

    5

    JR,

    That last sentence is priceless.

    Chris!

    I saw a short behind-the-scenes on the Jonsi production and had the same response! I'm not sure how to put words to this yet, but my immediate reaction is that there must be some difference between genuine art and contrivance. To me, this video (or, more precisely, the thing it satirizes) represent the latter.

    05/8/10 12:30 AM | Comment Link

  • jrrozko said...

    6

    Thanks Jason. Sounds like I need to see this show.

    05/8/10 3:54 AM | Comment Link

  • Emily said...

    7

    This makes me really glad that our church here is missing a lot of these elements. (except for the pastor's glasses…. we've got that!) I think there is a huge danger in "contemporary worship" of going for an emotional response that completely misses what the Spirit is really saying in people's hearts. We're not taught how to listen to His voice, and we certainly don't truly practice it in a service since it often requires silence and space, not getting on our feet and belting-out the newest cool song. I feel like I've seen this type of format work well and also completely fall flat. To me, the difference is how much space was given to encourage people to quiet their hearts and listen to the Spirit, and the way that the worship experience was framed by the leaders. I really hate it when worship leaders try to conjure a certain emotion in us like, "Get to your feet, let's be joyful in the Lord this morning!!!" or playing music behind a prayer. A lot of work needs to happen in the area of worship leaders framing the experience of the congregation in terms of creating a sacred space for God to move rather than an opportunity for us to conjure up a particular emotion that is pleasing to God. As it is, it leads to a glorification of our false self and/or an emotional shut-down when the experience isn't what it's supposed to be. Sorry, maybe this is kind of a tangent, but it's what I thought about when I saw the video. =)

    05/11/10 2:47 AM | Comment Link

  • jrrozko said...

    8

    Spoken like a woman who really cares about spiritual formation and and the importance of the work of God's Holy Spirit as the driving/guiding force in that work. Love it, great thoughts!

    05/11/10 5:29 PM | Comment Link

Leave A Comment

Mail (will not be published) (required)