i'm w/steve

is there ever an acceptable time for manipulation & coercion? what about when it is for the ultimate good of an individual? what if the person in question isn't of age or understanding to make the right decision/s? what if we feel justified in our calling, by being obedient to a higher calling?


i just had to laugh the other nite. i sat & watched the original kings of comedy when steve harvey, who served as an emcee of sorts, brought to my mind once again something that i've often thought about. he was expressing his love for 'old school' music & how he really couldn't get into the current fodder that is rap & hip hop.


his focus was rap when he asked if the crowd had ever been to a show & how he just couldn't get into it, because there were too many 'damn instructions'. he then rolls into a diatribe that would mirror an amalgam of rap shows...

come on ya'll...
pump it up, pump it up...
wave your hands in the air...
& shake 'em like you just don't care...
now somebody...
scream...

right or wrong rappers are simply repeating time worn phrases to incorporate the crowd into the show. i've been in plenty of worship services where the same things take place. i've always had a problem w/it & still do.

come on ya'll...
clap your hands...
if this is your testimony, sing it out...
raise your hands & praise him...

i totally & emphatically agree w/the words of worship that are voiced. i do come from a long line of the frozen chosen that finds it very unnatural to clap &/or raise hands. i don't want to impede worship for another, but find it unsettling to think that my witness or testimony be diminished by not singing on demand.

is this an appropriate model of leading in worship? could there be a way to lead w/out the perception of manipulation? am i just being a stubborn ass?

regardless of the answers to the above, i'm w/steve on this one...