{"id":2960,"date":"2017-07-14T15:50:32","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T20:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/ponderanew\/?p=2960"},"modified":"2017-07-18T15:21:32","modified_gmt":"2017-07-18T20:21:32","slug":"2960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/ponderanew\/2017\/07\/14\/2960\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Room in the Sanctuary for God’s Great Dance Floor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Yes, churches in this country and beyond have begun to incorporate electronic dance music (EDM) to, in the words of the author, \u201celevate praise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Church of Right Now<\/h2>\n
Russ Jones, Pastor of Worship Arts at The Crossing,<\/em> a non-denominational Tampa congregation, says that EDM is a perfect fit for them, especially their youth ministry, as \u201cthat\u2019s their culture right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Did you hear that?<\/p>\n
Right now.<\/em><\/p>\n
This is what their \u201cright now\u201d sounds like at The Crossing.<\/p>\n<\/iframe>\nThe momentum of the jesusy EDM movement is undeniable. Even worship superstars like Chris Tomlin are incorporating it into their routine. Here\u2019s Tomlin\u2019s version of \u201cGod\u2019s Great Dance Floor\u201d at Passion in 2013.<\/p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Passion - God's Great Dance Floor (feat. Chris Tomlin)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R-WOneEXr00?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<h2>Gettin\u2019 Jiggy Wit Jesus<\/h2>\nThere were two quotes in this piece that caught me off guard:<\/p>\n\u201c[EDM] gives permission to have fun and jump around. When you look out into the congregation or the crowd, everyone is just jumping to the music. And I feel that is the beauty of EDM\u2014you can\u2019t not jump to the beat.\u201d \u2013 Aodhan King, Hillsong Young and Free vocalist.<\/p>\nRight. That\u2019s what EDM is supposed to do. It\u2019s not supposed to draw out the voice of a congregation. It\u2019s supposed to make people want to move and leave their rational selves behind. And buy music. And stay in the club longer and spend more on drinks. It doesn\u2019t facilitate the liturgy, it hijacks the liturgy, making it something else entirely. It\u2019s more about letting go, giving in to a medium that cannot elicit the gravitas and sobriety needed for the holy work of God\u2019s people.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201c\u2019It bridges something primal in us,\u2019 [Scott Blackwell] said. \u2018That\u2019s something God put there, and it can be used for good or bad.\u2019 \u2026At the same time, people need to follow their own convictions, Blackwell said. If a person finds that listening to Christian EDM personally elicits sinful temptations, \u2018then you know what, you probably shouldn\u2019t do that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nBut what need do we have to be primal in worship? [And if we really feel the music itself could elicit some generic \u201csinful temptations\u201d in our congregants, why would we use it in the first place?] Certainly, there is room for a complete range of human emotion. Joy, enthusiasm, and amusement can all be present. But the task we\u2019re supposed to be about is never one of complete abandon. Our charge in this world is a serious, sober one. We\u2019re not called to check our brains when we worship God. In fact, as humans with [perhaps more or less] developed prefrontal cortices, why would we even want<\/em> to completely give ourselves over to our primal, limbic urges, especially in worship?<\/p>\n<h2>Same Song, Second Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Repeat Chorus<\/h2>\nMy response to this entire article was one of grief and dismay. We still haven\u2019t learned. The church in each recent generation has done its best to leverage cultural trappings, primarily commercial music, to bring people in. But every study done, every survey taken over the past few years demonstrates the failure of this strategy.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not working, church. And it\u2019s certainly not sustainable.<\/strong><\/p>\nNever was the title Christianity Today<\/em> more appropriate. This is certainly not the Christianity of yesterday, nor is it the Christianity of tomorrow. It is only today.<\/p>\nAs quickly as they appeared, these latest incarnations will fade away, leaving the now not-so-young adults with a church they don\u2019t recognize. By and large, they will wake up one day without any real connection to the saints gone before, nor the masses that follow. The only tradition in contemporary church culture is reinvention.<\/strong> That is the only Lord and Savior they seem to know. And as those winds of pop-culture blow, a new generation will come on the scene, with their own entertainment language. Their god\u2019s great dance floor will be swarming with newer, younger, trendier versions of themselves.<\/p>\nWe\u2019re promised that Word and Sacrament are enough to sustain and strengthen us. But we\u2019ve decided we must know better.<\/p>\nThe contemporary church\u2019s mission is coming clearly into focus: to help young people dance Sunday morning away for a few short months or years, and hopefully get them to follow some sort of jesus in the process.<\/p>\nBut the jesusy bait and switch simply doesn\u2019t work.<\/strong><\/p>\nYou might be able to leverage current entertainment to get butts in your seats for a while. But they will only stay as long as your product remains the same.<\/p>\nBecause you won them with the music, not with the message.<\/p>\nNot the gospel message, anyway.<\/p>\nChurch, when will we ever learn?<\/strong><\/p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Stones-Bread-Critique-Contemporary-Worship\/dp\/0664222846\/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1500065128&sr=8-2&keywords=stones+for+bread&linkCode=li3&tag=ponderanew-20&linkId=679246edf32cd5ff605fea3ce4b783e0\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0664222846&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ponderanew-20\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=ponderanew-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0664222846\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"> \n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Still-Bored-Culture-Entertainment-Rediscovering\/dp\/0830823085\/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0830823085&pd_rd_r=DGSDH0SGWNFN35QQ1Q9P&pd_rd_w=BzQeG&pd_rd_wg=BOrgQ&psc=1&refRID=DGSDH0SGWNFN35QQ1Q9P&linkCode=li3&tag=ponderanew-20&linkId=01f8cd86a5dbca7fc08d7a1cc7ec1007\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0830823085&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ponderanew-20\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=ponderanew-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0830823085\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reaching-Out-Without-Dumbing-Down\/dp\/0802841023\/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0802841023&pd_rd_r=MBF888W9TPVDWRYGFQ4E&pd_rd_w=wmpXn&pd_rd_wg=4xooo&psc=1&refRID=MBF888W9TPVDWRYGFQ4E&linkCode=li3&tag=ponderanew-20&linkId=ce2d150e59d65f283000cdc259d2ed5d\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0802841023&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=ponderanew-20\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\"><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=ponderanew-20&l=li3&o=1&a=0802841023\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" border=\"0\"><\/p>\nPhoto: \n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/jiaren\/2293542900\/in\/photolist-4uF1p7-4xoX3-bt8hoj-bt8hyQ-2jye3-9RQAX-2jB6C-6ZCyvb-6i3Yrd-6hYPFF-48HQph-6gTGrJ-4bvjWM-bt8ijd-2kLHAH-4bvjKV-bG395D-HgcVMQ-4bzmFu-4uB4h4-754e8q-754dHQ-74ZBKK-HwUSBG-HwURKG-7fs4YF-7fs4FX-cNWNau-bG38aT-7fvWq3-7dByzJ-754c9L-754gyo-754wu1-4uBav4-74Zj1r-4uAUni-754cSy-4uEUcw-cNWS6A-4uF2tY-4uF54N-dUfGNa-gGr6Sr-dUfHor-cNWTmm-dUmidS-dUfGUT-gGrDDb-dUmmWY\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Flickr<\/a>, creative commons 2.0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The only tradition in contemporary church culture is reinvention. That is the only Lord and Savior they seem to know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2297,"featured_media":2966,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>Making Room in the Sanctuary for God's Great Dance Floor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The church in recent generations has tried to leverage cultural trappings to bring people in. 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