Following the River: A Vision for Corporate Worship by Bob Sorge

Author:Bob Sorge
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Religion, General, Christian Rituals & Practice, Public Worship
ISBN: 9780970479167
Publisher: Oasis House
Published: 2004-01-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Weaving A Glorious Tapestry

So now, let me ask you a question. Why shouldn’t I just stay home when the church is gathering together, plug in a worship CD, and worship the Lord privately in my home? After all, there are some great worship CDs available these days, and I can get better quality music out of my CD player than I get when I go to the congregation. So why go to church? Why not stay home and worship with the CD?

Here’s one reason: CDs follow straight lines. CDs go through their songs one after the other—boom, boom, boom. You’ll never find the river with your CD player. You may get blessed a bit, but you’ll not swim in the waters of the Ezekiel 47 river. To find the river, you’ve got to move past the linear movement of a CD and get into the flowing, creative waters of corporate worship.

CD Syndrome

The levels of musicianship in the body of Christ have improved dramatically in the past 25 years. If you were to rent a time machine and take a trip back to your average worship service in America 20 or 25 years ago, you would experience culture shock. The levels of musicianship were a far cry from what they are today. What is to account for this phenomenal acceleration in the church’s musical expressions of recent years?

The answer, I’m convinced, is Integrity’s Hosanna Music. And Vineyard Music. And Maranatha! Music. And Hillsong. And Worship Together. And a number of other worship CD-producing companies.

Here’s what happened. People would turn on the worship CD in their car on their way to church, and the whole car would be swaying from side to side as the passengers would jive to the music and participate in the joy of the excellent recording. Then, they’d step into church and get depressed at the dysfunctional mess on the platform. Then, they’d step back into their cars and jive all the way home.

The worship leaders were in for a rude wake-up call. “Hey,” they finally realized, “we’re competing with the CD!” So somebody said, “Maybe we should practice.” The worship ministries of our nation began to practice just to save face before the people. The Lord honored it, and the level of musicianship in most churches began to skyrocket. Pretty soon many worship teams were able to keep pace with the CDs that were coming out.

But now we have another problem in the church, a problem that I call “a CD syndrome.” The quality of worship is so polished and smooth in many of our churches that you could actually record Sunday morning worship and sell the CDs! The intros are tight, the modulations are smooth, the harmonies are impeccable, the musicianship is flawless, the segues are impressive, and the endings are a work of art.

With just one problem. I don’t come to church for CD-quality music. If I wanted CD-quality music, I would stay home and play the CD. I come to church for something totally different.

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