disposable worship. often times we talk to the tilt about how we can improve our worship and make it more culturally relevant, we’re constantly looking to add the newest toys and how we can incorporate the latest greatest technology… but can we go to far? is there a point where we miss the boat and jump in too deep, where our marriage to technology leaves us void of the stillness, the quiet space we so desperately need to connect with His still, small voice?

david fitch asks some rather interesting questions about our worship, and it relates exceptionally well to a lot of the thoughts that continue to swirl around in my head as i re-imagine and re-think the way we worship as the church. it also seems to tie in really well with colson’s article which we’ve been discussing in an earlier post.

disposable worship: a caution about using too much technology in worship:

…[a] shift to a disposable reality changes us and how we view our world.

Borgmann says technology can make certain wonderful “goods” in our lives disappear without us even knowing it. Example: the central fireplace is replaced by the invisible central air furnace. In the process the family that once gathered around the fireplace to get warm before heading off to bed no longer engages in the community-building routine. The family no longer talks about the day, tells stories, or prays together. Through technology we lose what Borgman calls a “focal practice.” We lose a concrete, formative, and simple activity, and our lives are changed without ever noticing.

The question is obvious. Have we lost worship as a focal practice? By turning it into an “experience” saturated with convenient technology, have we made worship a disposable reality when in it is supposed to be a commanding reality?

Last night at a worship meeting we talked at length about the use of technology and graphic arts in our worship service this past Sunday. We want to retain the concrete nature and the formative practice of art in our church, but any art that shocks or produces a disposable experience we try to avoid. Art is really important in our church, but we must not produce disposable experiences. We must retain the focal practice of worship.

the other day tracy was telling me how much she misses and longs for simplistic, organic worship. i couldn’t agree more! our worship as the church has continued to evolve more and more into a production seasoned and peppered to the brim with expectations of perfection, of flawless performances and with all the bells and whistles we can possibly think to add… sometimes things can be overseasoned, sometimes things can be overdone. but where is the line, where is that point of no return? could it be that we are robbing people of something bigger and better than all of the bells and whistles, the perfect performance and the flawless production that we provide? could it be that our over seasoning has robbed our churches of tasting and seeing that the Lord is good and instead has left them with the taste of something else lingering in their mouths?

Related posts:

1. status-quo worship
2. a postmodern meditation on romans 12. (part 1)
3. quote of the day
4. welcome to the ghetto
5. bush exposed!

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