Comments on: Hellsong Worship

By: seÃ±or jefe

seÃ±or jefe — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 05:52:45 +0000

Would Jesus condone spending money on a Taylor acoustic guitar over, say, a Yamaha?

Wouldnâ€™t it be better to take the difference and give it to the poor?

I wonder what Jesus would say about that suggestionâ€¦

Um… Wasn’t it Judas who made that very same statement in scripture, just after the woman poured the expensive oil all over Jesus?

By: Jon Hallewell

Jon Hallewell — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:05:15 +0000

Interesting … I know that U2 claim they are worshipping God when they perform live – and on 3 occasions I think my experience would affirm that – so why not hillsong – well maybe. If our whole lives are our worship of God, everything we do, artistic or otherwise make a statement about the degree that ‘God is worth it’ – it’s all done before him whether we are intentional about it or not. It’s wrong for me to judge the hearts of people bringing different forms of worship, but I think we can critique the impact of certain forms of worship, the things that it can communicate. If I in all sincerity, and in the spirit of the artist decided to dance naked through our town centre (being a truly naked pastor) to worship God (because He’s worth it!) then I think the police might have something to say about it … you could critique it even if you couldn’t know for sure what was in my heart.

This is all somewhat off the topic of money implied in the original video … I’m leaving this debate behind now. Good points, well made.

By: Fred

Fred — Thu, 31 May 2007 13:13:27 +0000

Jon Hallewell,

That was a good video. I don’t think I disagree with McLaren. However, it’s a leap to say that if a certain “worship company” is marketing CDs, they are marketing God. He looks at art as expression of worship. I agree completely. So then why not smoke machines and racks of lights? If it’s “big” it’s not “legitimate art”?

I think when it comes to misconceptions about what is “real worship” and what is “marketing” I think we have to be careful. I’m not sure it’s the touring worship band’s place to teach the difference (although they certainly have a certain platform to do so). I think that teaching is found in the local church.

True worship isn’t about show, or chills, or even songs. But the “show” can be a legitimate expression of worship. The problem arises when people go to the worship concert and evaluate the “worship experience” by the “show criteria.”

By: Jon Hallewell

Jon Hallewell — Thu, 31 May 2007 08:32:10 +0000

Good point Fred – the answer is : He’d buy a Lowden like mine! and give sacraficially to the poor! whilst we’re on ‘worship’ – this video from Brian McLaren is interesting:
http://www.emergentvillage.com/weblog/brian-mclaren-on-the-worship-industry