Well, well, well...lookie here.
I roll out of bed this morning and pop open Yahoo news and what do I find? This article and this website. What next, Virtual Worship?
Still on the fence...
Shawn
Still on the fence...
Shawn
posted by Shawn White | 3/01/2006 05:34:00 AM
3 Comments:
Hmmmm....I'm with you on this one: on the fence. I think we already have too many walls between us (speaking mainly for myself here). This would just make it even easier to remain anonymous.
That's my first reaction anyway.
well, i've been thinking about this since i posted it and so far i can do no better than this: technology is a great tool that we can use to further the work of God's Kingdom. however, wisdom needs to be exercised to not abuse it to the point that worship becomes sacrificed in the process. when the technology becomes the center (or the reason, or the focal point) of the gathering, then it ceases to be a tool to be used and ends up becoming a hinderance.
to use an analogy from the movies. Peter Jackson did a magnificant job utulizing special effects in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (all except for the final few minutes of the Return of the King). it was seamless - the special effects never intruded on the story or distracted the viewer to the point where it was obvious and drew attention to itself. it facilitated Peter in telling the story without becoming the story itself or getting in the way of the story.
on the other hand, you have George Lucas who has become so reliant on special effects that it seems like he goes out of his way to incorporate it, even when it isn't necessary. it doesn't blend well with the story either - it stands out and it becomes too much of a distraction (a la the last three Star Wars movies and the remade older ones - terrible in my opinion). the story gets lost in the over bombardment of the non-essentials that the entire thing unravels and dissolves into meaninglessness. i'm sure he had a good story to tell - he did at the beginning - but it became overloaded with the peripheral.
shawn
Very good point, Shawn. I think you're right. Sometimes technology becomes the focus.
I've been at worship assemblies where sometimes it felt that everything feel apart if the power point or sound system wasn't working. It can be big distraction for everyone involved. If people leave worship just talking about what a bummer is was that the cool media presentation didn't (or did, for that matter) work right and not focused on how great our God is, that's not good.
One reason I think acappella singing is good for the church is because we can do it anytime anywhere. (As a sidenote, I don't think instrumental music in the church is a salvation issue!) If we are distracted or discouraged from praising God because "the pianist or guitarist is out today", we're in big trouble.
I can see the good in "virtual worship" for those that are homebound, but I can also see it as an excuse for perfectly healthy people to avoid interaction with fellow Christians and just become observers of worship rather that participaters in worship.
I guess we can abuse anything good, huh? I suppose that's why we have to work so hard to keep things in balance and perspective with what God intended.
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