Sic Semper Tyrannis

A Month of Sundays Part VII

Yesterday was Sunday, which has meant a new church experience as of late.

Against my better judgment I went to a friend’s church. (Why “against my better judgment?” Well, what if at the end of the service all I could think to say is “Dude, that was weird!” I’m not looking to be in the business of offending people. Better to avoid the possibility, I thought.)

Anyway, from what I could tell it was non-denominational. An 11:00 start time is absolutely perverse, but I have dealt with that in other posts already. This was the second service of the day and was one of those “multiple campus”-type churches.

My friend Joe plays guitar. I really got more out of watching him do his thing during the music than anything else. There were about 25-30 people in attendance, which made the high-energy rock band and dual screens showing video of the musicians and singers feel a little superfluous. I felt like I was attending the “little mega-church that could.” Perhaps the earlier service was a bit larger.

Things I liked: I like walking up to a building and someone opening a door for me and saying hello. Bonus points when their skin is a different color than mine. That was one thing I noticed about this group of young-ish (ranging from 10- late 40s in age): they weren’t all pasty white like me.

The music was the sound of “contemporary praise and worship,” which means rock drums, electric bass, acoustic guitar and Joe doing his best impression of The Edge from U2. As I watched these people up front, leading worship, singing with eyes closed, hands lifted, dramatic and all-- I wanted so badly to feel the same feelings…to tap into whatever it is that they apparently are tapped into. But even more than that, I wanted even more badly to believe that these people were truly in the moment like they seemed to be.

Is it really possible to be this excited?

Is it not just a conjurer’s trick? (I spent many years in a band. I know that the best way to invoke a response from people was usually to “fake” that emotion yourself. Move around to make people want to move around. Thrash about to make your audience want to thrash about.) Does praising God through music work the same way? Through the power of suggestion? “Act ecstatic or reverent to elicit the same response?” I hope not!

I don’t know if there is a reason behind it or not, but I noticed that the band played improvisationally behind announcements at a couple points, which proved to be an exercise in focus for me. My ear naturally gravitates toward musical sound. (This is why I sometimes fade in and out of conversations at restaurants or anywhere else there is "background music." If you have experienced this weird quirk of mine...now you know why at least.)

Things got weird for me after the musical time. The sermon or message was delivered on the giant screens, a video I presume. As I listened to the middle-aged guy talk about change and the gospel, wondering where he actually was, I had an argument with myself inside my head:

“Mike, this is really weird. There’s this talking head up there, speaking authoritatively and every now and then he asks people to repeat. As if he can hear them. It’s like George Orwell. Institutionalized passivity. The Great Oz.”

“I know it seems weird, Mike, but this is how many, many people do ‘church’ now. Anyway, it’s really not all that different than listening to a live, in-person speaker. It’s not like you’re interacting with a pastor when they’re delivering a sermon anyway. For that you need to go to an African American church!”

After basically watching TV with these folks for what seemed too long, (I find that I get antsy more frequently with my new active lifestyle), it was time for the response, which seems to always come down to deciding to be a Christian of some sort.

After that were some amazingly well-produced, high-energy videos promoting upcoming events involving the other “campuses” throughout the city and we were dismissed to the sound of funky music from the band.

posted by Mike @ 4:34 PM