Church and TV Watching

In other writing of mine (like my last entry on “missio café”), I have argued for a more participatory approach to corporate worship.  But that doesn’t mean there’s not a place for the kind of large-group, celebratory gatherings with which many of us are familiar, where dozens (or hundreds!) of people gather together (often on a Sunday morning) for corporate worship.  These kinds of gatherings of God’s people are significant, and there are many expressions of corporate worship which really can only take place in such settings.  Inspirational preaching, the use of dance and drama and worship bands, etc. – these things often only “make sense” in the context of large celebration gatherings.  So, how do we capitalize on the wonderful advantages of such a gathering without falling prey to the very real danger of participants in such a gathering becoming merely a passive audience?  This is a major concern.

 

My son gave me a clue to part of the answer.  Now, when we think of being a passive audience, there’s not much that is more passivity-inducing than watching TV.  It generally doesn’t require us to “engage” very much at all.  In fact, that’s one of the reasons I like watching TV at the end of the day – it helps me slow down my mental rpm’s before heading off to bed.  Let’s face it – when you watch TV, you’re supposed to be a passive audience.

 

My little toddler doesn’t seem to understand this.  It is very difficult for him to sit still while watching television.  When there’s music, he likes to get up and move.  When there’s not music, he likes to get up and move!  He likes to sing along to the music, even when his lyrics don’t even line up with the music on the TV, even when his lyrics don’t match any known human language.  Davey Will is active when he watches TV.  For him, watching TV is a whole-body, whole-self experience.

 

I would suggest that this is the way we should enter into our corporate worship.  Even if the particular format of the gathering (whether due to size, tradition, or whatever) seems to foster the “passive audience” response, we are committed to engage with that worship gathering in an active, whole-self manner.

 

Now, granted, much of what Davey Will watches is geared for small children, and so they include lots of colors and music and action.  But that’s another hint for us.  If the makers of LeapFrog and Blue’s Clues can take a passivity-inducing medium like television and make it a participatory, interactive experience for preschool children, certainly we can do the same with the church.  These shows are brilliant in their creativity.  But surely they are no match for God’s creative people!  Let’s move beyond the trite “turn to your neighbor and say, ‘God loves you!’” approach to “audience participation” and come up with some creative ways to make our large-group worship gatherings more like Blues Clues!

 

Passivity isn’t a concept my toddler understands.  It shouldn’t make sense to the church either!