Further Thoughts on "Summer"
Friday June 13, 2008
Categories: Christian music lyrics
As you know, my pick of the week is Jon Foreman's Summer EP. I've been pondering over the lyrics for most of the last few days, and I wanted to share some thoughts on the song, "Instead of a Show."...
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Award-winning freelance writer and columnist Joanne Brokaw covers entertainment for The Christian Examiner newspapers, The Minnesota Christian Chronicle, and The Ozarks Christian News.
Her other writing credits include Breakaway and Brio Magazines, OnCourse Magazine, ChristianMusicPlanet.com, BuddyHollywood.com and AGreaterFreedom.com. Her humor column, A Big Slice of Life, appears monthly in the Christian Voice Magazine and she pens a regular humor column on The Writing Life for ByLine Magazine.
Joanne lives in Western New York with her darling husband David, their Border collie Scout and their cat Murphy. Their almost adult daughter Cassie drops by often. Find out more about Joanne at JoanneBrokaw.com.
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Oooohhh. Great article. I, too, visited a church -- last summer. It was so much like a show, I felt like a member of a studio audience more than a person attending a church service. Not sure if I am against the mega-churches, but do know they do not make me feel comfortable, or any closer to God. There's something to be said about smaller, more intimate churches. Not against growth. But when the weekly production seems more prepared than the message ... there might be a problem.
Thanks you for this excellent article. I pray that it's read by many.
Wow! This is an amazing article! When I was listening to Jon's summer Solo EP i was thinking the exact same thing! There are many churces in our culture today who have begun making worship into a concert. Or somehwere you go for entertainment..and other times it's just complete hypocrisy! Jon put it very well together in this song, that is why Instead of A Show is one of my favorite songs. It is such a true on honest song! thank you for writing this article!!
Great article (and about a great song)! I really like that you've challenged people to actually get out there and do something.
Hi, I feel your pain....the exact hypocrisy you write about is the exact work that i think our Father in heaven can use to bring others to him. Sometimes the "imitation" is neccessary to bring illustration to the REAL thing. The bible talked about John being mistaken as the messiah before Jesus was completely recognized as The Messiah. In my walk I have seen attempts to immitate the world We walk along in.. some who have been very lost in the same ugliness but for a worldly cause. As we mature and the bible says Believers will, we will not want for the baby food, we will hunger and thirst for MORE and More Righteousness....If a person who attends secular concerts with the motive to sell you t shirts to buy their drugs and spend on things that are not of a kingdom nature how much better if the proceeds of that money for the purchase of a t shirt not only provides charity for and xyz cause but brings the aforementioned to the loving saving Grace of Jesus Christ.
Taking our sights off of how The kingdom uses others and operates to draw in believers is not our business....our business is to find those who might be influenced by like minded behavior and show them a different way....THOSE worship leaders in your arenas, and big churches need your prayers for the work they are doing for the same God you and I serve. They are not "NOT" authentic because they appeal to a different audience. Being grateful that The same commerce that disgust you and others in your maturity can be used to bring many thousands to know a savior they otherwise would not have connected to had it not been for their servant heart to immitate, for puposes of a Savior who uses us all differently.
Keep it in mind!?!?!
With respect, I think you have all missed the point of the song. It is not about pointing out how others are doing the wrong thing, but to look at yourself and recognize the hypocrisy that we are all in danger of being guilty of. I don't think I have ever felt so convicted by a song, and I do not attend a fancy mega-church.
I do not believe the song is about churches who appear to be "putting on a show". For one thing, the externals mentioned in the article - "stadium seating, huge video display screens, state-of-the-art technology" - are not important, either positively or negatively. It is possible to worship God with a pure heart with all these things present, just as it is possible to attend a small, simple low-tech church and be guilty of religious shallowness and hypocrisy. The outward things are mere peripherals. Some of these big churches are caring for the hurting and the homeless and working for justice, just as the song talks about, while some less spectacular churches turn their backs on these issues.
No, the song is about our hearts - yours and mine - not the style of our worship.
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