I'll be blunt. I'm not a big fan of the drama ministry on Sunday mornings in our corporate gatherings. I think it is probably due to the fact that in most churches that I have attended or worked in, this expression usually is expressed with a severe lack of excellence. Contrast this with our musicians. Generally speaking, most music pastors or worship leaders have spent years honing their craft. They view themselves as professionals. Could the same be said of those who lead the drama ministry or participate? Probably not. Usually there is a call out to the church that anyone interested in being involved can come to a meeting and get plugged in. Then the line of thought goes something like this, "I used to be in drama in high school, or someone once affirmed how funny I was in the college variety show, heck, I'll give it a shot!" Now this may not be all bad, but I would like to submit that we need a higher standard of excellence in our Sunday morning gatherings. The same can be said for musicians as well. I think alot of churches get bogged down by feeling like that have to allow all these different types of minsitries to be used on Sunday morning simply because they can. Now, is there a place for this type of artistic expression in the church? Should it be affirmed? I believe so, but I'm just not sure if we should feel that we need it on a Sunday morning in order to be "culturallly relevant". I know I am raising a number of issues here and lots of my statements need to be further qualified, but I'll just leave it here for now and would love further interaction from anyone else out there on this issue. I hope not one hears this as arrogant, I just want to ask honest questions. I know I run the risk of offending many here due to no non verbal in this form of communcation medium, but I think it's worth the risk. Questions:
What is the role of the arts in our Sunday morning gatherings?
Should we attempted to use all artistic means at our disposal just because we can?
How should "excellence" be defined and by who?
2 comments:
What is worship? Is 'excellent' drama and music necessary? Is it even helpful or does it distract me from the core purpose-adoring Him?
I know what American worship is-'excellent'readers, singers, dancers, actors, musicians, ushers, entertainers...
In my opinion, America has traded
simple adoration for being the best at what we call worship.
In the OT and the temple wasn't Jesus in all? Wasn't He the blood sacrifice, living water, light of the world, fragrant incense?
As I listen and observe, our focus needs to be on Him and not how good we are at worship.
There you have it...
I think music is necessary as it is mandated in scripture. How that practically should manifest itself on Sunday mornings, I'm not sure. We can have long debates about that. Does God want excellence? Yes. From preachers and musicians and all the rest of us. Should this be our focus on Sunday morning, I hope not. I hope it would be a reflection of the excellence of Christ.
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