The people who know God light up! As we become more like Christ, His glory increases in us brighter and brighter. Our reflection of Him continues to increase.
The more intense a light gets, the harder it is to see the light bulb!
Eventually, all you see is the light itself! And get this…light bulbs can break! 
I think this is similar to what Paul writes about treasures in jars of clay. The fact that we can relfect God through our own mortality only proves the power of God at work. The ability to know and relfect God is in fact the display of an “all-surpassing power” from God. Even though death is at work in our mortal bodies causing us to waste away, God’s glory is at work within us, renewing us day by day, causing an ever-increasing reflection! WOW!
The change in direction of a wave front at an interface between two different media so that the wave front returns into the medium from which it originated.
“Continuous outpouring [re: authentic worship] liberates Christians to discover real freedom in artistic action. Some people think that Christians are severely restricted because, after all, they are confronted with a whole dictionary of don’ts and perhaps-nots. Yes, but not in the same way the unbeliever or fearing Christian thinks. The dictionary of dos for authentic worshipers is virtually limitless. Once they choose the narrow way, they find that its dimensions are of a different order….The truth-liberated imagination is the imagination that is linked to that of God himself when, in one blaze of glory after another, he made variegated wonder called creation.”
“It is erroneous to assume that the arts, especially music, are to be depended on to lead worship or that they are aid to worship or tools for worship.”
“We must guard against the temptation to think that the power of art [music, drama, paintings, video] enlivens – brings substance to – our faith. As powerful and wonderful as the arts are, faith alone, not art, is substance and evidence, and it is by this kind of faith that we offer the arts to the Lord even as we continue our worship.”
“Instead of depending on the power of the arts to enhance their worship or bring it about, faithful worshipers can actually enhance the power of the arts by the faith-driven force of their worship.”
Unceasing Worship. Harold Best. pg. 112; 119; 121; 122;
After the first session of the pastor’s conference, I had an opportunity to talk with Dan Holst, worship pastor of the North Campus @ Bethlehem Baptist Church. Our discussion was initiated through a conversation I had the night before, dealing with imagery and worship and Bethlehem’s approach to worship using imagery. On Saturday night, prior to the conference, I attended Bethlehem church and noticed a very distinct characteristic: a minimal amount of imagery and use of technology.
In almost every service that I plan as a worship leader, I consider ways in which to use visual backgrounds, stage elements, video sermon illustrations, props, and other elements that help to focus the congregation on worshiping God. Yet in Bethlehem’s worship services, with the same intention of encouraging the congregation to worship as I have, they choose to not use such things as videos, still or motion backgrounds, stage props, even choose to not use sermon notes. And when I thought this might just be a one time event, the conference had the same approach: no sermon notes on the screen during the sessions, black backgrounds during the music portion of worship, and no staging or lighting related the theme. Completely intrigued by the strong contrast in approaches with the use of imagery and technology, I was encouraged to talk with Dan.
Dan mentioned several things to me in our conversation. First, he made reference to a sermon by Pastor John Piper entitled, “The Gravity of Gladness on Sunday Morning.” I have not had a chance to listen to this sermon, but Dan mentioned that this sermon really lays out a lot of the principles and values that the worship ministry uses in their approach to worship.
Secondly, Dan mentioned this strong value on the Word, and more importantly, how they hold language to be the ultimate imagery. I remember him saying something about how one of the things we do have is the actual words of God, and that the words of God should be the most important imagery we use. This I thought was a profound line of thinking, and one I do not disagree with. But beyond the value of God’s word, where I would choose to use a image or stage prop to help communicate the meaning of the Word, Bethlehem would choose to strip those images back and allow the Word to remain by itself.
Take for example a song lryic on the projection screen. A song we sang at the conference was called “The Power of the Cross.” The choirs sings: “This the power of the cross. Christ became sin for us.” Based on the approach of Bethlehem, these lyrics would be projected on the screen without the use of a background, contrasting my approach, where I probably would find some sort of cross image that would communicate Christ taking on our sin. See the difference?
I have to say that of all the thoughts I carried away from the conference this year, this topic has got to me the most. Here’s a list of questions that I’d like to pursue answering in the coming year, maybe some of you can comment and add to the conversation…
1) At what point does an image become distracting?
2) At what point are we manipulating an emotion or thought with the artwork we use?
3) To what level do use the tools from our culture to help deliver the message of God’s word?
4) What questions am I not asking with respects to imagery and worship?
Here’s a list of resources I’ve picked up to help me think through these things:
- Art and the Bible, by Francis Schaeffer
- The Worshiping Artist, by Rory Noland
- “The Gravity of Gladness on Sunday Morning” sermon, by Pastor John Piper
- Unceasing Worship: Biblical Pespective on Worship and the Arts, by Harold Best
