So one of the sociological ramifications of technology is atomization. Atomization is the processs whereby individuals grow increasingly isolated from their immediate surroundings as they are drawn further and further into a virtual community. This began in the 1950's with the explosion of television. Neighbors who used to sit outside on the porch and talk with one another suddenly were inside watching television. They were 'sharing a moment with the world' but lost the immediate connection with the person five feet away.
The Ipod is the latest 'poster-child-technological-creation' of the increasing atomization of our culture. Students can plug into their Ipod and create an invisible but very real wall around which they can move through campus, rubbing shoulders with thousands of others, yet never actually engage with anyone.
Corporate Worship is not the Ipod Experience.
Corporate Worship as the Ipod Experience sounds something like this from up-front or the people engaged in singing:
"This time is just for you and God."
"Ignore the people around you."
"I just close my eyes and pretend that no one else is around."
The spirit behind these types of comments in one sense I can heartily affirm. They are generally meant to discourage focusing on our neighbor, to keep the main thing the main thing, and to encourage freedom to engage with the Lord as we sing and worship.
But here's the deal: corporate worship is just that--corporate. It is not intended to be solitary worship. It is not just about you and God. It can be you and God six days and twenty-three hours a week. For one hour (or three, if you attend one of those spiritually over-achieving Pentecostal or African-American churches), once a week, we gather together as a community to worship God together. There is something unique about the corporate worship experience that is crucial to the life of the believer. Jesus said that where two or more are gathered in his name he is present in a unique way, in a way that he's not in our individual times.
We are invited to worship God individually on our own time during the week. When we forfeit that time and try to make corporate worship solitary worship, we miss out on the unique blessings of each.
C.S. Lewis noted that in Isaiah's vision of heaven, the angels are crying out "Holy, holy, holy" to each other. Each of us sees and experiences God's character in unique ways. We all sing "Holy" in our own pitch. When we lift our voices together we have the unique experience and privilege and blessing of experiencing God together in a way that moves and affects heaven and earth...and yes, even each of us individually.
3 comments:
May I add that worship is not where "I come and just leave all my frustrations and difficulties of the day at the door". I heard this comment a lot when I was on staff and always wanted to stand up and say "no, it's where you come and bring all your feelings before God...you don't need to be all at peace and without difficulty to worship, and you shouldn't always feel like you need to chuck your heartaches at the door so that you can come to God...bring them--bring them on in and lay them at his feet that you might truly commune with him"
I will add the caveat that it is not always appropriate to come in and make corporate worship a spectacle about you, but having said that, I believe one can bring one's frustrations and sadness with them when approaching the Father, Son, and Spirit--even when in a corporate setting.
I'm sorry, I haven't read the comments, but isn't corporate worship both corporate and individual?
great comments, folks. Kels, I think that you're onto something (as usual) and that your point is well-taken.
elizabeth, i'm with you on the value and essential nature of community in our walks with the Lord--and that as Christians we need to be thinking really hard and critically about the role of community in our walks and lives. too often, christians' lives are just as isolated and community-less as non-believers. I'm certainly not advocating that we go to church for an hour and spend all the rest of our week in isolation. i'm just trying to make a statement about worship at this point. community will be another day's post!
as for your comment, burly, i'm trying to correct the ways that unrelenting rugged individualism has crept into our understanding of what was always intended to be a corporate faith. so yes, clearly there are things that occur in the worship setting that ARE just between you and God, i'm not trying to be a pharisee/nazi about what can and can't happen in corporate worship. all i'm trying to say is that as a culture we tend to err on the 'just me and Jesus' side of things, so i thought i'd chime in with why I think that's jacked up.
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