Anyone who has ever attended church has an opinion about worship. I would guess that a lot of people choose a church based on the style and/or quality of the worship music. I'm curious if you have any thoughts about worship? How would you define worship? Should those involved in the worship team be more focused on having their own individual worship time with the Lord on Sunday morning, or should they be more concerned about where the congregation is at? Through the years, I would admit that my musical tastes have changed. I still enjoy heavier rock from time to time, although I believe I've mellowed a bit in my thirties. I released a mostly guitar driven rock album in 2004, and in 2009, I'm more prone to write mid tempo alternative and introspective piano pop rock tunes, in the likes of Coldplay, the Fray, or Keane. I bring this up because I believe our own personal tastes greatly influence our view of worship.
Here goes my opinion. I believe that way too many Christians are confused about what worship music is supposed to be. And with this I open a huge can of worms. Worship is simply our position of admitting God's worth. It's us looking up and saying, "Lord, I am nothing... I have nothing to offer you except my heart... You are incredible, You are my Rock, You are my Reason for living." I think a lot of people get worship and adrenaline confused. A thumping beat and a tight band may raise your heart rate and make you feel excited, but does that really mean you're worshipping God?
From time to time, I lead worship at our church or at our Sunday night young adult group. However, most Sundays, I am in the crowd, singing with the masses. Here are a couple of my pet peeves. The guy who keeps doing vocal acrobatics around the melody. Dude, sing an appropriate harmony. You're completely distracting. The sound engineer who thinks the PA should be louder than the audience. If I'm in the crowd and I can't hear myself sing, I might as well be at a rock show waving my cell phone. The worship leader who sings the same chorus 14 times. Can we at least change keys or something? I don't even know what the words I'm singing mean anymore.
Well, maybe you have your own opinions, your own pet peeves. That's what makes this worship thing such a sore subject. We all see worship differently, just as if we all spoke slightly different languages. It's easy to walk away on Sunday morning feeling like you were gypped. We so quickly see the imperfections on stage, and I wonder sometimes if Satan is simply distracting us from the imperfections in our own hearts. If we're honest, most of us spend Sunday morning judging the people around us. Why is she wearing that? Do you have to move around so much on stage? Why do we have to hear about that same missionary guy again? I really don't care. I'm already giving my tithe to the local church fund. If we're honest, those are the types of thoughts that can go through our minds.
I believe worship is an attitude, not a song, or an event. Not sure that I'm a big fan of the song "Come, Now Is The Time To Worship" because if this is the time to worship, what happens before or after the song? The reality is, it's tough to always be thankful. It is stretching to always see ourselves in honest perspective of a perfect and holy God.
This morning, Crystal and I read James 1 which says "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds..." We really needed to read that. Life has been downright tough for us recently, but both our marriage and trust in God have been strengthened through the unpleasant. It feels like every day, we are waking up to another unanswered question, another deferred hope, another slap in the face... and we wonder how much longer it's going to go on. Maybe you're going through some rough times. My encouragement to you is this. Strive to worship the Lord no matter what. Remember you're in a spiritual battle. The Devil wants to destroy your faith. It's the first thing he thinks about when he crawls out of bed. However, the Lord is more powerful than any circumstance, any doubt, and He is greater, so much greater than the one who wants to take our spiritual lives.
1 John 4:4
"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."
3 comments:
I can definitely relate to what you have written. I find myself critiquing the band every Sunday when I go to church. It drives me insane but it is so hard to get past.
worship has become little more than a mediocre version of songs we hear on the radio...
bar bands should be proud of their new cohorts.
meanwhile, the One worshipped sits over in the corner wishing He could get a little action.
p.s. Paul & Silas rocked the house with little more than a really bad set of circumstances and some vocal praise of their God.
p.p.s. i highly recommend the book 'The Dangerous Act of Worship'. At least, the first few chapters. I rarely read christian authors cover to cover...but the dude i've met and he is onto something with the idea that worship leads to true action that can be measured...it certainly cannot be done without regard for the world around us. they find it complete and utter nonsense.
p.p.p.s. (will this ever end:) Sunday morning music is not to be confused with a rock concert...that is one that may never be fully grasped given the current climate of our american megachurch mentality. Even so, I believe firmly that heaven itself is engulfed in some of the loudest, most raucious praise at this very moment. IF this can be hinted at appropriately (and only God can motivate such things) this side of heaven, I'm in!!!! Sign me up!
Thanks for comments Ryan and Anonymous. I'm with you Ryan. It's hard to get passed an amateur sounding worship band or a bad mix. We're so used to critiquing, and that's not always a bad thing (if we're at a concert per say), but it's probably not the attitude the Lord would want us to have at church. Anonymous, I'll have to check out the "Dangerous Act of Worship." Sounds like a good read. I would agree, a worship band's main goal should not be to imitate the latest popular worship leader (although if you're going to use popular modern songs, I think keeping the melody the same as what you might hear on the radio only makes sense... otherwise, you may lose/confuse the congregation. However, I believe changing the chords and arrangement a bit can help to keep things interesting). Unfortunately, no matter how you slice it, the worship band is very similar to the bar cover band (with a much more meaningful and eternal cause), in the sense that you're usually not playing your own songs. If you're a worship leader, you should be leading, not entertaining. You're either encouraging others to sing songs they already know, or you're teaching them new songs which are most often written by someone else (unless you or your worship team write original worship songs). As you mentioned, I imagine (from what we read in scripture), heaven is a place of intense worship. Don't get me wrong... I do think that worship can be upbeat and loud... the problem comes when people think that upbeat and loud is the only "relevant" way to reach today's generation of worshipers. I think there is a place for loud guitars and drums, but I also think that we can't discount the significance of being still before the Lord.
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