I heart David Crowder, but I worship the Lord*
Several Sundays ago I took a handful of my students down to Waco. We went down there and worshipped at Church Under The Bridge, heard Shane Claiborne speak and then after lunch we went to Woodway UMC for a Q&A with Shane Claiborne. It was a really cool day. Church Under The Bridge is this really cool church that was started under Hwy 35 in Waco. The church was started as a way to minister to the homeless. While the homeless population is still in attendance the worshippers also cover the span from Baylor students to bored pew sitters and even just the occasional spectator. The music was lively and Shane’s message was neat. My divine revelation came after worship.
After worship, we had about 20 minutes to stand around and people watch while we waited for the masses to leave… my makeshift parking spot had left my truck surrounded by a whole lot of vehicles that weren’t going anywhere! As we waited I saw a group of seven high school girls surrounding Shane Claiborne, clamoring for an autograph. At the same time one of my students received a text message from his sister stating that David Crowder has just walked into the restaurant where she was lunching. All of my students… and okay me too… wanted to find out what restaurant they were at so maybe we could get a glimpse too. We did not go there, we wound up going to Wendy’s but I spent the rest of the day thinking about what had just transpired.
My first instict was wow, that’s cool. These students are getting excited about autographs from a radical theologan and catching a glimpse of a talented worship leader. But then I started thinking, really is this cool? Is this what it is all about? Have we built them up too much? Aren’t they just tools of their master, how do I remind my students of this? Have we made David Crowder into a golden calf?
It has been almost six weeks since that day and I am still thinking. So I am bringing it here to you, what do you think?
Is it cool that these students are getting autographs from pastors, and celebrity sightings from worship leaders? Or is it not?
Pyaar and Agape – Mel
* I stole this from Abby Flookes, she wanted to make shirts up with this slogan on it after attending a david crowder concert.
i think the idea of autographs in general are dumb. it doesn’t matter if you are a religious celebrity or just plain ‘ole run-of-the-mill celebrity. i don’t understand them.
i tend to shudder a bit more when someone asks for an autograph from a pastor/preacher. i shudder less at the Crowder one. He’s just a musician. Yes his band leads worship, but they are a band. they sell records. they write songs that aren’t necessarily “worship songs”. either way, i think it’s important to let the kids no, that Crowder/Claiborne/Bell do what they do because they love God SOOOOO much. but at the same time, kids will be kids, they will idolize. the Crowders and the Claibornes are their role models. i would rather them want their autograph than [insert random "other" celebrity name here].
i heart crowder, too! (but i don’t want his autograph)
| Posted 1 year, 7 months agoi would tend to agree with brother johnny. it’s also important to keep in mind that it’s not Claiborne or Crowder who are herding the people in to sign the autographs. usually, it’s the kids who have this mentality of, “this guy is famous and i want him to write his name on this napkin!”
i like the golden calf analogy and it’s all too easy to fall into that mentality with any religious leader/figure. people even tend to do it with the Bible. people fall into the trap of worshipping what’s in the Bible as opposed to the message of God’s love that the Bible is all about.
good post. i’ve had these feelings for sometime as well.
| Posted 1 year, 7 months agoI want to clip a piece of David Crowder’s beard off and keep it in a little bag, then open it and touch/smell it before I go to bed every night… but I don’t really care about an autograph.
| Posted 1 year, 6 months agoSomehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation :) Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Saxophonist.
| Posted 1 year, 4 months ago