To use, or not to use?

April 28, 2010 in Church Music Ministry with 4 Comments

That is the question.

I’m a big A.W. Tozer fan. I’ve read many of his books over the years and much of my spiritual growth as a younger Christian was due to his writings. But he did strongly speak out against the use of drama in church, calling it a “violation of sincerity,” among other things.

Drama, of course, is not a substitute for the Word of God, and it could never replace the preaching of God’s Word. But it can be a tool…

  • used to prepare people mentally (“touch hearts,” as we say) for the upcoming sermon.
  • that can present a truth (which I may already know) in a unique and memorable way.
  • that can present a conflict, pose a question, or create an effect that will be developed or “solved” by God’s Word.
  • which can illustrate truth in a powerful way that can encourage change.

Not an exhaustive list, I’m sure.

There are obvious challenges to using drama. After all, no one really knows what Joseph’s coat of many colors looked exactly like or what Peter’s precise hair length was. But (and maybe you’ve noticed this) when we read and hear the biblical accounts of true stories, our minds tend to “fill in the blanks,” based on our own perceptions. I feel as though drama is just an extension of that imagination, if you will. It puts flesh on those things that we think about.

And I think most people understand that. I mean, do you feel duped when you attend a dramatic program? No. You realize it’s a tool to send a message.

I’m all for drama as part of church services. What say you?

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  • http://religiousaffections.org Scott Aniol

    Hey, James. Let me challenge you a bit on your thinking.

    Tozer didn’t reject drama in worship simply because he didn’t prefer it or didn’t see any value in it. He rejected it, just as pastors and theologians have for hundreds of years, for two primary reasons:

    1. God has not prescribed drama as an element of worship. Tozer followed the Regulative Principle of Worship, as did Presbyterians and Baptists before him, which says that we may only worship as God has prescribed in his Word. The NT gives us 6 clear elements for worship: preaching, Scripture reading, prayer, giving, singing, and the ordinances. Drama is not included as an acceptable element. And it’s not as if drama did not exist in the NT; it certainly did. Yet God chose not to include it as an acceptable element. Why? We may only guess. But perhaps he did not because of Tozer’s second reason not to use drama:

    2. Drama kills the moral imagination. You speculate that drama simply extends the imagination, yet anyone who has discussed what drama does admits that drama kills imagination. I’m glad you recognize the importance of the imagination. I agree that it is critical to our spiritual life. But the moment you take an imagined concept and make it visual, you force your imagination on someone else and squelch any possibility of more imagination. Further, drama is intrinsically Dionysian, that is, it targets the visceral parts of man, something I believe we should be very careful with in worship to be sure.

    The written and spoken word do something entirely different than the visual.

    I appreciate what you’re doing here and for your desire to think through music/worship related issues. But I would urge you to read Tozer again and really consider his points.

    I think he was right.

  • http://sites.google.com/site/thechurchaccompanist/ Laurie Iskat

    Absolutely! I’m all for use of drama in a church service. I’ve seen some dramatic productions that looked pieced together and didn’t enhance the purpose of the service. But done professionally and with the proper amount of preparation, drama can be a fantastic addition to a church service.

  • James

    Thanks for writing, Scott.

    So, because the use of drama wasn’t prescribed in the Bible, it is therefore unacceptable? And therefore prohibited? Surely not.

  • http://religiousaffections.org Scott Aniol

    James,

    Yes, when it comes to corporate worship. This has been the positions of Christians for thousands of years, and especially Baptists and Presbyterians who hold to the Regulative Principle of Worship.

    The traditional position has been to limit what we do in worship to only those elements that God has prescribed in the New Testament. This is a freeing doctrine that will prevent you from even having to ask the question of whether or not to use something. If the Bible teaches it, do it. If the Bible doesn’t teach it, don’t do it. It’s that simple. God has the prerogative to tell us how he wants to be worshiped.

    Drama in worship is clearly a contemporary innovation spawned by our entertainment industry.