Church with the Boss

Yesterday on The Daily Show Jon Stewart interviewed big man Clarence Clemons, front man saxophonist with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. About a minute and forty five seconds into the exchange Jon, who is Jewish, and having recently attended a Bruce Springsteen Concert at Madison Square Garden, said about going to a Springsteen concert:

“It’s the closest I will ever go to going to church. It is this incredible experience of just pure, after all these years of performing, unadulterated joy.”

Clarence responded:

“For me it is a church. It is my religion.”

My wife Vicki is a BIG Springsteen Fan. Being a Jersey Girl, she was a big fan before the Boss made it big. She has seen Bruce perform live over thirty-five times. She has also attended both “Glory Days” Symposium. I can no longer count how many times she has come home from a Springsteen concert and said something like “This is what church should be like” or “This is what worship should be like.”

I doubt Bruce is the only concert performer that can create such a response, which is part of the appeal of live concerts. So why can’t “Church” be more like concerts? Maybe if worshippers were willing to purchase $68 to $110 reserved seat tickets in advance, with no refunds unless the worship service was cancelled, rather than volunteering to drop $5, $10, or $20 in the offering plate if they happen to show up, worship could be more like a live concert. But should it?