Let me start by apologizing to anyone who may be offended by reading this post.
In the church I used to attend there is a lady that I have spent more time than I should have spent trying to figure out her ’style of worship’. That is the nice way of putting it.
Let me describe her worship in the most blunt way I can. She wails. I don’t mean one of those quiet cryers either. The best analogy I can think of is to imagine what it would sound like if the siren on an emergency vehicle got stuck. Yes, it is one long monotonous shrill moan that only stops long enough for her to draw a breath and start again. Although the length of times she can go in between breaths in staggering. Her lungs must be HUGE.
The volume of her wail would put any siren to shame. I knew a rocker type guy that had one of those shirts that said “If it’s too loud, you’re too old”. After sitting in front of her one Sunday morning he went home and burned it. True story. OK, not it’s not, but it makes the point about how loud she wails.
I can attest from personal experience that sitting near this woman is a guarantee that you will leave church with a headache. Many people have simply moved, usually across the church from her. Some people have actually got up and walked out. Once or twice people have even asked her to tone it down. Nearly every time a baby is anywhere close they too begin to wail. I’m pretty sure they hear her and believe she is issuing them a personal challenge.
It also helps to understand when she wails. During the whole song service . . . she wails. While the rest of the congregation is singing words to all the songs she on the other hand is wailing her megadecibel monotone shrill noise. During times of prayer . . . she wails. If it is corporate prayer the wailing is at full volume. If the pastor is leading a prayer while everyone else is silently praying she wails at a volume only slightly louder than that of the pastor. During the altar call . . . she wails.
I hope you can imagine this. If you find yourself thinking it can’t be as bad as you are imagining it I can tell you that it really is. This has all led to some questions that I would love to get some opinions on from anyone who reads this.
1) Is this a legitimate form of worship?
2) Can anything which is a distraction to everyone else around you really even be considered worship?
3)Should the leadership of the church put a stop to this? (they seem to be hesitant to do so)
4) Couldn’t something that causes this much confusion, discomfort, and even pain actually be classified as the opposite of worship?
