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Worship and Market Forces
Although the subtitle is "A Critique of Contemporary Worship," I think the book is really "A Critique of Thoughtless Worship," because the author spends equal time challenging traditionalists who bow to history rather than to the Lord of the Ages. Do not read this book if you are unwilling to have your "sacred cows" troubled. WORSHIP AND MARKET FORCES The marketplace’s prime directive ("The customer is always right!") serves restaurants well, and churches are tempted to follow the same principle. Some are prepared to go further than others, but each has to decide where it draws the line when standards of integrity conflict with "what sells." Restaurants have no comparable difficulty, for, as purveyors of earthly pleasures, it is their business to cater to impulses and transient desires. But market forces do not adequately guide institutions like schools and churches, for they have a different mission. They exist not to serve the desires their customers already have, but to wake people to the value of things they have not yet imagined. Although the product of this awakening is usually enlightenment and liberation, the process itself is not invariably pleasant. It involves assaults on cherished beliefs and prejudices and the loss of comfortable assumptions. People are better off for discovering that they suffer from delusions of adequacy, but they may not show much gratitude to the messenger who brings them the news. — A. Daniel Frankforter. STONES FOR BREAD: A CRITIQUE OF CONTEMPORARY WORSHIP. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, p. 27. ISBN 0-664-22284-6 [The book title is obviously taken from Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:9-10 and Luke 11:11-12.] Have a great week, Chip Stam Director, Institute for Christian Worship School of Church Music and Worship Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Louisville, Kentucky carlstam@aol.com www.carlstam.org www.sbts.edu |