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Art in the church has changed a great deal over the years due largely to technology, but it’s purpose remains the same. Instead of painting beautiful murals on the ceiling or designing captivating stained-glass windows, we can now change a room’s look and feel at the push of a few buttons with lighting and projection. It’s cool and fascinating, but that’s not why we should do it. Gary Molander has a great article on this using Psalm 40.
I talk a lot about change here. How it is inevitable and necessary but often disliked. But let’s look at it from a little different perspective.
It’s kind of like when kids grow up and do / live the opposite of what their parents did. I’m not talking morals here necessarily but philosophy. Sometimes it takes a couple of generations before the differences are apparent. For example, my parents lived in a time of hard-working, dedication to one company, climbing the corporate ladder, making money. My kids are more interested in enjoying life and making a living (not the same as making money) doing something they love.
The interests and passions of today’s 20-somethings are quite different from that of their parents and grandparents. Some of those differences are good, some not so much. I think the biggest driving point is just being different, not necessarily improvement. It’s like “whatever my mom and dad did, I’m going to do the opposite.”
Maybe it’s partially an identity thing, being your own person. But doing something different from what you grew up with adds a freshness to life that makes it more interesting. I thought about this need for freshness as I read a recent article from WorshipVJ on liturgical worship. He made the following statement.
In hindsight, perhaps I would not have the appreciation for liturgical worship I do now had I grown up with it. Over-exposure to anything tends to create baggage.
It also brings to mind the command in the Bible to “sing a new song.” A one point at the church I grew up in, our pianist could only play about ten songs, which means they got repeated a lot. I think one song was sung three out of every four weeks. Needless to say I still do not like that hymn.
The point here is we can get stale with anything not matter how “modern” the idea over time. It’s important to keep like, and worship, fresh. It’s not about trends or being different just for the sake of being different. It’s about not letting it get stale.
Never before has it been so easy to be distracted. Text messages, email, social network status updates, online games, they are all clamoring for our attention. I notice this every Sunday in our Tech Booth. I’ve been guilty of it myself, but not so much any more. I can’t afford the distraction.
I’m finishing up Steve Job’s biography and had to highlight one of his comments, “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” In fact, Jobs’ management mantra was “focus.” He was definitely a focused and committed person, but focus did not keep him from creating and innovating new things. He had a higher goal that was his main focus.
We have a higher goal in the church than just executing a service, and that higher goal is all the more reason to execute well, and executing well requires focus. We must do whatever it takes to maintain that focus by putting away the distractions.
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Over the last couple of years my husband and I have swapped up being unemployed. We began cutting expenses every where we could. One of those was with cable TV. After some research, I bought a Roku box, upped our internet plan speed and dumped all but local cable channels.
I don’t consider myself much of a channel surfer. I generally know what I want to watch and turn right there. My husband, on the other hand, is quite the surfer dude. I think he could sit in his recliner and flip through the same 60 or so channels over and over and over again, never really watching anything.
Now he only has about 15 channels to surf and doesn’t know what to do with himself. Switching over to Roku isn’t quite the same. Instead of shows in progress, we’re surfing through possible shows to watch. Theoretically we have to actually decide to watch something before seeing anything. It is definitely an adjustment, and more so than I expected.
I’m not complaining. I realize this type of viewing on demand is most likely the future of TV. We may as well get used to it and shift our brain’s concept of channel surfing. I’m not so sure my husband is ready to make that shift, but everything changes eventually, even the most laziest of pass times.
Here are some great posts from around the web this week:
Image by EronsPics via Flickr
Texting is so convenient many of us regularly substitute it for voice or even face to face conversations. An interesting study was conducted recently at the University of Wisconsin on the soothing effect of the voice over texting and instant messaging.
According to the study, when girls who were feeling stressed by a test talked with their moms, their stress hormones decreased and comfort hormones increased. When the girls communicated with mom via text, nothing happened. The study concluded several possible reasons but ultimately suggested the tones, intonations, and rhythms of mom’s voice trigger soothing effects, rather than her specific words.You can read more on the study from wired.com here.
Other recent studies have shown that teenagers prefer communicating face to face over texting and phone conversations. That says a lot considering unlimited texting plans are almost a requirement for teens.
“It doesn’t matter how many smiley faces you put in your IM. It’s not going to have the same effect as talking in person,” said Leslie Seltzer, lead author of the UW study. Definitely food for thought whether you’re a parent or not.
Beautiful imagery from Margaret Feinberg’s Hungry for God. Speaking of John the beloved’s intimate relationship with Jesus, she says:
The imagery of reclining into Jesus’ arms is a glimpse into the closeness that develops when we spend sacred time with Christ.
Close your eyes and try to imagine the feeling of “reclining into Jesus’ arms.” Perhaps the best example we can draw on is that of a child sitting in a parent’s lap, being held and loved on. Not a care in the world. The ultimate peace and contentment.
We can have that feeling regardless of human relationships by spending “sacred time” with God and allowing the intimacy to
develop and grow.
Thought from reading Margaret Feinberg’s Hungry for God:
Some have said that prayer doesn’t change God, but only changes us. Yet on several occasions in the Bible, God makes a concession based on a mere human request.
She goes on to site Old Testament examples of Abraham, Moses, and King Hezekiah. Then in the New Testament Luke shares the story of the persistent widow. What are wanting to change God’s mind about? It is possible. Keep asking.
from my notebook 