In case you haven't been to a youth event recently, I can paint the scene for you. The band gets up on stage, some thumping up tempo beat stars, and the lead singer coaches all the young people to swarm down the front and start jumping for the next bracket of songs.
Here's what I like about it: it's obviously a lot of fun, it's pushing the boundary of youth ministry and redeeming a harmless secular cultural practice (mosh pits) in an under 18s friendly environment, and it's letting young people express something with their whole bodies. In principle, I should be in favour of it. I'm happy for all sorts of things to be expressions of our worship: interpretive dance, acrobatics, heck even changing nappies can be done for the glory of God.
But still something feels weird about it becoming the prime form of our 'worship' time, particularly if it eats up time otherwise devoted to singing. I don't have a position, I just have some questions:
- is it a true substitute for singing? Sometimes I'm sure people keep singing during the moshing. But I suspect it becomes less about the singing and more about the experience. My experience of mosh pits is that it's about the vibe of the moment, the letting go of inhibitions in an electric group atmosphere. It might have a place in a well rounded youth program, but I'm not sure it can take the place entirely of singing.
- is it an inclusive activity? For instance, I know more boys than girls who enjoy moshpits (admittedly, this may be because in the secular venues I'm thinking of boys like to use the moshpits to touch girls inappropriately - I hope this is not the case in a Christian environment).
- is it giving young people enough credit? The young people I work with, whether believing or searching for meaning, come to church mostly because they want spiritual answers. They see through attempts to make church resemble something it's not. 'If I wanted to mosh I'd go to the city. I'm here to find out what the meaning of life is'. What do you learn from moshing?
- does it give space for the whole gamut of emotions in the Christian life? The thing I love about music is that it gives voice to a bunch of different ways of feeling: ecstatic, thankful, angry, relieved, devoted ... whereas moshing for me is an expression of primal energy. I like it. But I wonder whether it's the only thing that we want to say together when we meet?
Maybe I'm out of touch, maybe this is one thing where it's better to be like the world than uniquely Christian (congregational singing is much more unique to the church). So tell me, am I just being a grumpy old man? What is your experience?
Thanks Andy, it's good to hear a thoughtful and balanced critique amongst the swell of cynical comments going around.
ReplyDeletePerhaps bands also need to take more responsibility in coaching kids to sing, or at least to remind them WHY they are moshing, so as to avoid mindless jumping in favour of Christ focussed worship. There is definitely potential for growth here, as informed moshing COULD be an expression of celebration of Christ's victory, of our freedom in Christ from Law, of joy, and I think in a way special to mosh pits: unity.
To be fair, singing has the potential to be just as mindless for any given individual, but my experience of moshing is one of 'losing oneself' in the moment/ crowd/ volume/ experience.
Finally, and I'll be as P.C. as I can, but I fear the temptation (that all worship bands need resist) of leading people to praise the band instead of God, would be that much greater in a practice originally designed exactly to do just that.
Just food for thought, in a conversation that needs to happen. thanks again
I sense you're sitting on the fence here Andy. Seeing the benefits, but wary of the dangers.
ReplyDeleteLike most forms of worship, it is ultimately a matter of the heart. People moshing, or raising hands from the pew can 'look' like they are praising God, but physical/outward expressions can not give a true sense of what is going on.
Credit to you for asking the question and for not taking the easy option of just panning it as a mindless, self serving activity.
PS. The 'praise pit' has become popular at KYCK (Katoomba Youth Conference). I witnessed it this year and believe the song leader did well to encourage the kids to worship God with their minds, spirits AND their bodies. The question I ask is can/should the kids mosh when they get back to their home church? If they don't, does that make them less spiritual?
I suspect the answer is no, and for various practical reasons
I think we need to think critically about this. Including a bit of sociology on where mosh pits originated (look at videos of punk bands from the 70's), what they mean, what they communicate.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience (I was massively into grunge in the 90's and went to loads of concerts), the mosh pit is all about reckless abandon and rebellion. The music is loud, it drowns out my thoughts of all the rubbish going on in life. It's disconnection from the world, to exist in a moment where I can act without consequences. I can jump around and be crazy - it's rebellion, because it's not acceptable to do that anywhere else. I can go to the front and be crammed tightly into a space, against people I've never met, to be moved up and down - vaguely in time with the music. We move as one. But while there's the intimacy of being crammed in together, it's all about individualism - I have little concern for the person next to me, and if I can somehow get in front of them so as to be closer to the band, then that's awesome. Crowd surfing is the epitome that - This is fun. Look at me! So what if I land on someone's head.
This is not to say that Christians can't mosh - this is just my thoughts from reflecting on the 90's grunge scene that I was into.
It's often said, "when you go to concerts, you put your hands in the air and sing with reckless abandon, and so when we sing in church, we should praise Jesus with just as much enthusiasm" … the problem is though, I don't raise my hands at concerts, except to applaud the band at the end of a song. And then, it's not with an ecstatic expression on my face - I'm just clapping and expressing my appreciation for the band. I do try to sing with gusto in church, though. And good songs will engage my mind, heart and neighbour.
The issue with making church music like a rock concert is that they are two very different things. Church is the gathering of God's people - we sing praises to God and encouragement to each other, rock concerts are all about escapism and pouring adoration on heroes. We sing back to them, but it's so loud that I need to shout in the ear of my friend next to me for them to hear me. But that's not really about the mosh pit - it's more about the whole setup; lighting, sound etc.
Bren mentioned kyck. My fear is that the rock-concert approach to kyck is based on pragmatics - it's fun for the kids, and kyck is all about the kids. We're providing a safe place where they can take risks, disconnect from home for a bit and be amongst 2500 other teenagers. The talks and the lyrics of the songs mean that we're focussed on Jesus. It works, so lets do that. But my worry is that we're not really thinking about what *theologically* is going on and being communicated, or what *should* be going on.
And then there's another question - can and should kyck (and every other convention/conference) fit with our theology of church, or is the whole package something other than church, and therefore free to be whatever the committee decides they want it to be? If the latter, then my comments above can probably be discarded.
Again, that's not really a comment on the mosh/praise-pit - more the whole package of what we're doing at churches and conventions.
In all this, I'm not a hater. kyck was brilliant - we had excellent conversations and bonding times with our group, and from kyck, we've seen transformation and change.
Hi there - thanks so much for your comments Anon, Bren and Matt. Bren, you're right - I'm sitting on the fence because for once I don't have a strong opinion just yet! Matt, I hear you on the cultural side, but I wonder whether it's one of those things that those of us who know the secular scene will be over-sensitive to the connotations which just aren't there for the young people? I'm not sure. I do think it's worth thinking about though.
ReplyDeleteI should say as well, I really do love KYCK and what they're doing there. I wasn't at all having a dig. I was sad not to be involved this year, but very happy to hear about the great bands who served over the three weekends.
One more thing - I wonder whether this is one of those issues where everyone agrees on the theology (we're all on board with kids praising Jesus wholeheartedly, and nobody thinks it's a good idea to promote band idolatry!). The disagreement is simply on our experience in PRACTICE, it's a pragmatic evaluation: what vibe does a praise pit create, and how does it usually work out? We know what goalposts we are aiming for, but did the ball hit the post or go through?
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