So, I went to see "Arthur Christmas" and fell asleep in the middle. But, that aside, the scene that struck me was when the elves are left in the mothersleigh after Santa has left the room and they are all standing there, hundreds of them, in silence, staring blankly, just waiting for something to happen, not knowing what to do. From somewhere within me came the thought, "They look like a congregation..." - now, please DON'T get me wrong here, of course they don't look like a congregation!! But why did I think this? Well, I've mulled it over and I think I've nailed it. They looked like a congregation can look in the gaps between the words being up on the screen. Think about it? We have, for years, been teaching each other that we should do what the person on the stage does, sing what they sing, no more and no less. I confess I have tended to do the same when I'm in the congregation: sing the words when they're up and when they're not, wait for the next lot of words to go up when I will know what to do again.
I think it's time to mind the gaps. The gaps give us opportunity to express something beyond that which is being served up to us, but, this requires something extra from us as participants in the gathering in which we find ourselves. Ooh, it's sounding slightly Church 2.0, isn't it (see Vicky Beeching's blog here)? I know we have sections when we have a bit of free singing, but what if our expected this to be the norm? That this flow was the interplay between that which is provided and that which is brought by you and me? Imagine!
We, as Brits, can be quite a reserved bunch. In the States I've seen a much more vociferous approach to these times when we are together, both in the sung worship times and in the message. Shouts of encouragement for whoever is preaching seemed common - how would we react if someone shouted out mid preach, "That's a GOOD word, preach it!!"? A time of embarrassed shuffling would quickly be upon us, I suggest!
So, I'm not exhorting us to become all American in nature, but I do think it's time to mind the gaps and see what we can bring to loosen ourselves up a bit more in our expression to Him in our sung/musical times of worship. Some simply need permission to express what's in them a bit more. Sure, it'd be a bit different to start with, but over time we'd get used to it and it would become more natural and we could, much more, all be part of the "band".
What do you think?
