a Jesus thought...
You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. (John 19:11)
a Godly thought...
Our evangelism in the emerging global culture needs to offer a real encounter with Jesus, and not merely a doctrine of Jesus. (p133 Frost & Hirsch)
a leading thought...
The God portrayed in the Bible is all-knowing anyway so that lying to him is an exercise in futility. (p94 Harris)
a Dave thought...
One area of the attractional church model that continues to concern me is our reliance on rock stars. As more of our churches head towards a worship then preach model of church we need to have 2 rock stars at our church in order for it to work well. The churches that have profile or are seen as successful in our country all have 2 rock stars, such as Hillsong with Darlene Zschech and Brian Houston or Planetshakers with Henry Sealey and Russell Evans. There is no doubt attending these churches personally that a talented worship leader and gifted preacher certainly help you connect with God through the corporate worship experience.
Currently in this territory we have 164 corps, and as the stage focused model of church is one we measure and value, to make these corps work well we therefore need 328 rock stars. Our rock star academy over recent years although has produced some stars, but generally not all who attend training college desire to become famous and end up on stage.
I still appreciate a good church service with inspiring worship and dynamic preaching but unless we get some rock stars on stage we must remember nothing turns people off corporate worship more than attractional church done badly.
Just a thought.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Rock stars wanted
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14 comments:
Dave, It was interesting to see Rock Star Brian preaching on two non attractional church subjects "Poverty" and "Injustice" over the last 6 months. He could sell a few of those plasmas on stage and provide some accomodation for some homeless people.
Limo
Poverty and injustice being fashionable right now of course... and keeping these issues a corporate concern rather than a personal one has always been the classic attractional response... Anyways, In response to Dave's blog I am formally lauching the School of Rock... forget War College, Order 614 and Revolution Hawaii and Project 117 - It's Time to ROCK! Look out for the website and Tshirt coming soon!
All comparisons to Jack Black are welcome.
Row
Evangelism, an interesting topic. What we need to do is to develop an understanding of evangelism that is rooted in the missio Dei, shaped by God's actions in history, faithful to the gospel, and at the heart of ministry. Evangelism consists in the proclamation of salvation in Christ to nonbelievers, in announcing forgiveness of sin, in calling people to repentance and faith in Christ, inviting them to begin a life in the power of the Holy Spirit, and becoming members of Christ's earthly community. Our theology of evangelistic ministrt must be rooted in a biblical theology of mission and, above all, dominated and shaped by the gospel it seeks to proclaim. Evangelism needs to directed both to ourselves as well as the world into which we are sent.
The problem with the rock star style of leadership is it only takes a congregation as far as the rise star goes - when they leave everyone leave with them.
You seriously need to get more sleep.
As much as I love and appreciate Limo, I'm not sure it's fair to take a pot shot at Hillsong. They have and serve their purpose and I know they do a lot around the community and across the globe in some very troubled area's. Hillsong has it's method and Godly agenda, as does the Salvo's...
bl
I'm wary of rock-stars in church. I find that the trouble with rock stars is that congregation members can end up worshiping the 'star' instead of Jesus.
On another note, I sat in a church service recently and was completely put off by the 'performance' of the worship leader. I was so distracted by her glossy hair and over emphasised facial expressions that i coudn't concentrate on worshipping.
I agree that worship leaders need to be gifted in their calling but the most important thing after that is being real and genuine with the people they're leading.
Nothing turns me off corporate worhsip more than worship leaders pretending to be something they're not.
the amazing thing about rock stars is that 1) they rock! and 2) they shine. I don't understand what the problem is.
Oh hang on - I get it now, you guys don't want rock stars in church. That's OK - I don't think that we've being overwhelmed by them anyway. But I suppose that we could set up somekind of security system for keeping rock stars out. I mean, who wants Angus young or Freddie Mercury at their church anyways.
Beth - I so agree with your comments. I too felt like that at a recent service I attended. We are there to worship God alone, not the worship leader!! Thanks for your comments.
Vanessa
hang on Mr (or Ms) "oh hang on" anonymous... How did you read that from this? The 'rock star' phenomenon is an important church concept to discuss, but I don't really think anyone is saying they don't want rock stars in church. That is drawing a LONG bow. The concern about 'idol worship' of rock stars rather than the one they serve is a real concern (although not always their fault).
And also, IMO Dave seemed to say that if you want the attractional model, you actually could do with MORE rock stars because attractional done badly is not a good thing...
Don't jump too strongly to conclusions here, or make snap judgements.
The bottom line is rock stars ARE necessary if you want an attractional model to be effective. But rock stars can also make for great congregational people in a non-attractional model. Doesn't mean we don't want 'em!
N Young.
OK, so Rock Stars are welcome now? This is confusing. I wonder how Rock Stars feel about this discussion, I mean they are people with feelings right? I just don't know. Like I said, I don't think there is an epidemic of Rock Star church attendance. I suspect they are all too busy with all the big name reunion tours going on right now.
I wonder what people would think if Brian Houston for whatever reason, left Hillsong and wanted to be a Salvation Army Officer, would people be hesitant to go to his church because he could possibly be seen as a 'rockstar'? See, I think that we need ALL types of people in order to reach ALL types of people. Should we shy away from being a rockstar? If that is what God wants me to be, then you know what? That's what I'm gonna do! May God always get all the glory in all that we do!
The Bible has its share of celebrities (rock stars) but never holds them up as models for us to imitate. Solomon was a celewbrity leader but unlike his father david did evil in the sight of the Lord (1 Kng.11:6). The incarnation of Christ is the antithesis of celebrity culture that invites us to participate in the good life of no sacrifice, just supersize it all. Jesus is the author and model of the good life according to the gospel.
WJE
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