American Idol Worship

I read some excerpts of a book, called Jim and Casper Go to Church, and I wanted to share a part of it. Jim is a former pastor and Casper (last name) is an atheist. Together they visited mega churches around the US and wrote about their experience. Here is a eye opening comment on worship.

[Jim: “On a scale of 1 to 5, how do you rate the music?”]

Two stars. That’s all I can do for you here.

For presentation and professionalism, they get a 4 or a 5, but the music is too contrived, too slick, too professional, really.

[Jim: “But that’s a good thing, no? That should attract people, right?”]

Maybe people who like American Idol. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I see the entertainment value, but when it comes to music, I like it pure. Too much polish and you lose the heartfelt power, you lose the soul of the music, and you’re not going to move anyone.

That blew my mind as I read that. How often do we in Pentecost focus SOOOO much on "professionalism" when what people really need is for our music to be "pure." What Casper is really saying to me is simple, without the anointing all of our professional music is worthless!

We like to be professional, because it makes us feel good. My church music rocks! We have the best band, talented singers, professional musicians, but do we have the anointing?

Where is the "heartfelt power" of our music. Do we have the anointing, or do we have professionalism? I've been chewing on this for about 2 weeks.