what’s wrong with worship

May 29, 2009 in what's wrong with worship

I know nothing about gospel music, but I know that if you’re wanting to take its temperature you could worse than to shove your thermometer somewhere near Kirk Franklin.

So how’s about this for an interesting clip?

Let’s start with the facts: Kirk Franklin = Big Selling Gospel Artist. See that blurred logo in the bottom right of the screen? That’s the badge for TBN – Trinity Broadcasting Network, frequently held up as one of the symptoms of all that’s wrong in a world of Christians that preach prosperity. I once got bumped from an interview there by some Chinese Revivalists, but that’s another story altogether.

What Franklin’s saying might not sound too radical to certain ears, but to those that know, this is a significant clip. These words in particular are my favorite:

“What if God wasn’t nearly as concerned with making you happy as He is with making you His?”

To hear these words on this channel is like hearing somebody eulogize the importance of financial thrift on the Home Shopping Network or the value of abstinence on The Porn Channel. At TBN right now, I suspect, someone, somewhere is probably nursing some bruises.

Why post it? Because I think its significance goes beyond the network. I think it’s part of a wider shift that’s been taking place of late. Let me explain…

I’ve been thinking a lot about the way we package, sell and consume worship these days. I’ve been thinking about how we got to a place where sales charts and award ceremonies and ticketed tours with groaning merchandise tables at the back have become part of the accepted practice for worship leaders, bands and writers. I’ve been thinking about it all, and I don’t feel comfortable.

But discomfort’s not the only sensation. I’ve got some nerves in there too. I’ve never met one of these worship leaders that I didn’t like, and I feel nervous about them getting caught up in the crossfire of critique. And I’m feeling nervous about the fact that I take money off worship industry companies to put together words that help sell more albums. And I’m nervous that all this is just the same old cynical crap that led me to quit playing and walk away from worship a decade or so ago.

I think I’m vulnerable to the accusations of hypocrisy. And I think that talking about this will probably end up offending some people who I don’t think deserve to be criticized. But I don’t think I can discount this as recycled rubbish from the past. How come? Well, I’ve been listening a little harder than usual these days, and I’m convinced that these thoughts of mine are nothing new at all. In fact, I’m way behind the pack. There’s a growing breed whose involvement in the creation of songs is not limited to – or defined by – the approval of the worship industry.

And so I have made up my mind to write about it. Not that I’m doing an Amos or channeling Keith Green – although, I can think of far worse guides to follow. But, knowing me, this attempt to point out the flaws in a system will more than likely see it getting turned back on myself. How am I – and how are we – a part of the problem? How does our approach to worship create the problems that plague us? What comes first; the consumer or the salesman?