Is that the dinner bell!
The scientist Ivan Pavlov won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for his studies of the digestive system. His most famous experiment concerned the conditioned reflexes he developed with dogs. By ringing a bell every time he fed them, they began to associate the sound with their supper. It finally got to the point where they would salivate at the very noise whether meat was involved or not. So what does the work of a dead scientist have to do with music? I’m getting there.
I recently attended a neighboring church that sang a chorus I was not familiar with, but it could have been made for Apostolics. It was rousing and rollicking and I admit I wouldn’t mind having the chord sheet. When the music reached a particularly feverish pitch many in the congregation started jumping at the same time. I had to laugh to myself, because I knew what was happening. It was the Pentecostal version of the “dinner bell.”
I can remember growing up in church and the choruses that would come and go. There always seemed to be a particular tune that could get the people on their feet. One year it was:
What kind of church is this?
This is a sanctified church!
It’s a hand-clappin’, foot-stompin’, tongue-talkin’
Church of the living God.
Another favorite was:
Whose report will you believe?
We shall believe the report of the Lord.
His report says I am healed.
His report says I am filled.
His report says I am free.
His report says VIC-TOR-Y. (Duh-dah-duh-dah-duh-dah-dah-dah-DAH!)
I believe it was on the “VIC-TOR-Y” that we always started hopping up and down. And, oh, how exciting it was!
So there I was in another exciting service and I had missed my cue. Because I didn’t know the song. And I wasn’t programmed to respond to this particular “bell.” This all might sound a little cynical, and I really don’t mean it to be. I love our lively worship and I love people who are not afraid to be demonstrative in their praise. But I also think we should be careful not to salivate when there isn’t any “food” around. Are we jumping and dancing as part of our glorifying God? Or is it just a particularly funky chord pattern we like in the song? Let’s be sure that we keep the meat in our message, so that we really have something to shout about.
I recently attended a neighboring church that sang a chorus I was not familiar with, but it could have been made for Apostolics. It was rousing and rollicking and I admit I wouldn’t mind having the chord sheet. When the music reached a particularly feverish pitch many in the congregation started jumping at the same time. I had to laugh to myself, because I knew what was happening. It was the Pentecostal version of the “dinner bell.”
I can remember growing up in church and the choruses that would come and go. There always seemed to be a particular tune that could get the people on their feet. One year it was:
What kind of church is this?
This is a sanctified church!
It’s a hand-clappin’, foot-stompin’, tongue-talkin’
Church of the living God.
Another favorite was:
Whose report will you believe?
We shall believe the report of the Lord.
His report says I am healed.
His report says I am filled.
His report says I am free.
His report says VIC-TOR-Y. (Duh-dah-duh-dah-duh-dah-dah-dah-DAH!)
I believe it was on the “VIC-TOR-Y” that we always started hopping up and down. And, oh, how exciting it was!
So there I was in another exciting service and I had missed my cue. Because I didn’t know the song. And I wasn’t programmed to respond to this particular “bell.” This all might sound a little cynical, and I really don’t mean it to be. I love our lively worship and I love people who are not afraid to be demonstrative in their praise. But I also think we should be careful not to salivate when there isn’t any “food” around. Are we jumping and dancing as part of our glorifying God? Or is it just a particularly funky chord pattern we like in the song? Let’s be sure that we keep the meat in our message, so that we really have something to shout about.
posted by SSD at
Friday, August 29, 2008
2 Comments:
let's not forget that jumping up and down is an expression of joy. i would be more fearful of standing on the sidelines and analyzing than getting involved. do we not have something to get excited about? do we need to sit there and think of a reason first? or get "moved on by the holy spirit"? god has been to good; i'm excited!
In response to "jdm" I would say - I think we NEED more sideline-analysis. We would then realize that we are getting more excited about all those funky chords than we are the "reason." God gets blamed for moving us more than he deserves. Yes, God is good, but Shannon's right - it only takes one unfamiliar setting to make us realize that we would make Pavlov proud.
Post a Comment
<< Home