Just A Song

Today's prospective church was an interesting one. It was an Evangelical Presbyterian church. Upon arriving, I did the usual perusing of the parking lot to see what kind of bumper stickers the church supports. You can tell a lot about a congregation by the tail end of there bumper. There wasn't anything along the lines of “Jesus is my copilot” or “If Jesus is your copilot switch seats”. But I did find a couple of Icthus symbols and some George W stickers, so I thought I was probably among friends.

On entering the “sanctunasium” (their word, not mine) I found that the walls of this full size basketball court were all white washed and a band was all set up and ready to start jammin'. I will admit, at this point I had my doubts. I found myself singing an old hymn from the 1820's called “May Jesus Christ be Praised” and at the same time starring at a blank white wall. I couldn't help wondering why I felt strange. It wasn't until the responsive reading did it dawn on me. While reading the Holy Writ, in the background was the piano playing a modified tune to “Come Ye Sinners”. Then after the congregation finished the last verse the band came in and filled the “court” with music and we started to sing. I must admit, it was pretty smooth. However for some justified reason I found myself annoyed at the music playing while reciting scripture. The reason is not just because I didn't like it, but because it portrayed a double standard.

It was obvious that the church did their best to not have any symbols or decorations. They didn't even have a baptismal, instead they used a bowl of water that one of the deacons held. It was pragmatism to the extreme. After all, “It's just a building”, “God doesn't want nor do we need the aid of symbols and beauty during worship”, “The early church met in houses”. This type of mentality I have come to expect when dealing with modern protestants, of which I am still. But it was not until today that I realized another reason not to like it. Where this church lacked in visual stimulation, it made up for in audible stimulation. The well rehearsed praise band, the harmony of the chorus girls, the acoustics set up so that there was no echo, the music played during the reading of the scripture, all of this is intended to aid in bringing the “worship experience” closer to home; to promote the feeling of awe and help the congregation worship of the King. Why is this type of stimulation ok but paintings, symbols, and well designed building not ok? After all...its just a song.