The Book is Always Better

"Having shifted from "knowing-by-notion" to "knowing-by-narrative," realignment in emerging congregations is experiential more than mental, sensory more than read."
(pg.224)

As I read Sally Morgenthaler's article I got the sense that something very important was missing from the style of worship that she described. Let me explain it to you this way...

We all love a good movie, right? Getting to watch a story play out on screen can be very exciting, stimulating and sometimes personal as you watch a character travel through the experiences life brings their way. You can connect with the character on certain levels based on what you see in their experience.

Now how about a good book? A good book not only lets you follow the character through their story, but you get to hear what that character is thinking in every situation and you sometimes get the inside scoop that the author allows for only the reader to know. You are also given the liberty of picturing these things in your own mind. In this way the story becomes much more a part of you because you are allowed a much deeper connection with the character and also you get to put little pieces of yourself into the story through your imagination.

The type of worship Sally seems to be describing here would probably look something more like the movie option in this analogy. It moves from the "mental" and "read" to the "experiential" and "sensory." The amount of information this causes you to miss out on is really a tragedy! You never get to move past a surface relationship with the characters of the story you are "experiencing," and you miss out on all the inside information that readers have the privilege of knowing.
I'm sorry Sally, but I have to say that I really don't want to surrender the privilege I have of being part of a story rather than just an observer. Besides, everyone knows the Book is always better.