You hear the question asked from time to time: “What’s in a Name?” It’s the old “a rose is a rose…” bit.
Ever been to a movie and seen a “star” appear in an uncredited cameo role? Sometimes there is no credit because the star thinks the movie is so bad that they want to disassociate themselves from the project. Sometimes it is because the star doesn’t care to get the credit.
I once did a non-union recording project with a sax player who was afraid the union would find out, so he’s listed on the album as “Bob Lablah.” Didn’t affect the quality of his work…
And yet, for some people, getting the credit for something (…anything…) seems to be of paramount importance. These are folks who want to say “I told you so…” no matter what the outcome of anything… Or the folks who to be the first to discover a new restaurant, an anthem, a new e-toy… or a new worship style…
At the extreme, there are people like Pat Riley, who went so far as to trademark the term “three-peat” (didn’t help the Lakers win that third championship, though…).
I’ve said it before (and, as my loyal reader know, I’ll probably say it again…sigh…): I believe that the worst thing a church can do is label their worship services. Yes, it is convenient. Yes, it is a clear identifier. But having a “hip” label doesn’t make the service hip…or keep it hip 20 years after the label ceased to mean anything (ever notice that when people are talking about “the 60s,” if you examine it closely, they are talking about +/-1965-1973?). Spirit and truth…acceptable and unacceptable. That’s pretty much it. My pov? Quit spending time on trying to think up a cool name, and just do worship. Like all cultural history benchmarks, the labels will only make sense in retrospect.
Quit reading now, and go therefore and do worship…
(but not before you leave a comment and let me know what you think)
Ipod shuffle status (What is this?): 3696 (From This Moment – Anne Lise – who is actually Julie Crochetière apparently…) of 7875
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Good, clear thinking, Vern. That’s what we have to do about worship and worship music–we must think clearly. Others seem to be free to just “feel” about the worship music they love, but leaders have to think about it and think clearly and deeply.
And, we need to think biblically. I can’t imagine a church in Paul’s day thinking in such cultural labels. With this in mind, I wrote a really hard-hitting piece called “Greeks at Nine. Jews at Eleven.”
I haven’t posted it at TWRC yet–still trying to make friends. But there is a link to it there as it appeared in ENRICMENT JOURNAL.
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