Christian Karaoke
In two blog 'conversations' that I was concerned in last week, the phrase "Christian Karaoke" was adapted to to refer to the singing that Christians do in pay homage to. Both Dion and Pete (the latter responding to my tack about the Church and Theatre) were quoting from Kevin In view of's thinking. Kevin is working bare to try and recreate what a spiritual community can look like, and has much that is valid to say about the shortcomings of the ways church is currently done in our life.
As I understand it, from reading some of Kevin's writings and hearing others illustrate on his thinking, he believes that congregational singing is the incorporeal equivalent of karaoke, and since karaoke is dead, so, too, is congregational singing in deify. He believes (probably rightly) that much of what is called glorification music is pretty dreadful and drives people away from church. The use of music in church is, thus, simply one more way in which the church is out of touch with and irrelevant to coetaneous society, especially those who are not 'socialised' into church.
At dial value, this sounds like a Jesuitical and valid critique. However, I believe that Kevin is uninterested wrong on this issue, and has fallen into a serious chest of throwing the baby out with the bath branch water. Here's my reasoning:
1. To compare congregational singing in bow down before with karaoke is like comparing apples and zebras - they are merely completely different things. Karaoke, by delimitation, involves people pretending to be bankrupt stars. They get up on a stage and perform to an audience of spectators, with a sponsorship track of the original music playing behind them. The words are provided for them, but only for them, and the audience watch as if at a swing concert.
Worship, on the other hand, is participative. The congregation are invited to weld in the singing, and the words are provided for all to see. The music (customarily) is provided by live musicians tired from the congregation,...
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