Replicating An Experience, Part II

So, here are the 7 sets of questions mentioned in yesterday's posts.  If you missed Part I, just click here.  I welcome feedback as you may be wrestling through some of these same questions.

1) What do I do in my private times of worship?  When I carve time out of my day to spend time alone with God, is music as big of a part of that time as it is during my corporate worship time?  Honestly, music is just a huge part of my life in general.  I am constantly listening to music and I know that much of that time could be considered "private worship."  There are a lot of my own musical preferences that cannot be accommodated in a corporate setting, and I have learned to live with that.  Is it possible that I reserve my own preferences for private worship times and anticipate that corporate worship might be the time when I need to allow for others' preferences to take precedent?

2) Do I like every aspect of every meal that I eat?  I have 3 young children.  Mealtime can be very interesting.  I can't count the number of times that my children debate my wife and I about certain aspects of the meal.  We have told them countless times that our house is not a restaurant and that they do not have the luxury of having meals served up to their liking every single night.  I probably did the same thing when I was their age, but over the years, my tastes have changed and as I have allowed myself to try different foods, I have grown to appreciate, not necessarily like or love, foods that I once detested or even loathed.  Is it possible that in our growth and maturity we might find ourselves being more open to different kinds of "foods" as we come together corporately?

3) Tagging off the last question, is it possible that we won't be moved, touched, or feel spoken to by every aspect of every corporate worship service every time that we come together?  If that's the case, can we be okay with that?  I might come to corporate worship one Sunday and feel like I heard the greatest message ever but the music fell flat based on my own preferences and desires, maybe even my mood.  Another Sunday, I might show up and feel that the music was so uplifting and helped me to worship while the sermon did not really speak to me.  Does that make me a bad person?  Can I be okay with the fact that I don't get what I want every time that we corporately gather?

4) Who is worship for?  The Westminster Shorter Catechism answers the question of what our main purpose (or chief end) is by answering that we are to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.  Worship is about giving glory to God.  As I think through this, I can't help but think back to the story behind the song "Heart of Worship" by Matt Redman (click here if you have never heard it before).  Despite popular belief, worship is all about Him and we do it every waking moment of every day if we truly heed Paul's instructions (1 Corinthians 10:31).

5) When we change music styles to accommodate our culture, are we "dumbing down" the message of the Gospel?  Finally, the $1,000,000 question.  Some people would say "yes" and some would say "no."  I don't think so, but I could be wrong.  Paul was aware of his cultural surroundings in Athens when he spoke in Acts 17, making cultural references that he knew would connect with the people whom he was trying to reach.  I certainly wouldn't say that Paul compromised the message of the Gospel, but he certainly understood his context and changed the "container" in which the Gospel was housed in order that he might get the message across in a way that made sense.

6) Are we defined by a style more than we should be?  I will be honest and confess, I hate the word "blended" as it refers to corporate worship.  It is the most vague word that has the potential for misunderstanding, misconception, and disappointment.  My own experience has shown me that people see it as a 50/50 split in styles, which ends up disappointing everyone.  Is it possible that we allow our corporate worship to be purposefully directed towards God with purposeful, well-though out, and deliberate elements that are placed within the context of the service because they focus us on the object of our worship, God, rather than on the method of meeting Him?  Recently, I have compared blended worship to affirmative action, we place elements in the context of a service because we need to meet a quota rather than because there is purpose and meaning in its place in the order of things. 

7) What would happen if people asked the question, "What does this song/drama/video/hymn/anthem/etc. have to do with the theme of the Scripture for today?" rather than asking, "Do I like it?"  Would it help us in any way?  Would we seek purpose and meaning beyond style and preference?  What would happen if we began to ask not whether or not something ministers to us but if it ministers to someone else?

I will continue to wrestle with these questions.  People have been trying to come up with adequate answers to them for more years than I have been alive.  I know that everyone has opinions about them, and that's fine.  God has created us to be subjective beings, that's part of who we are.  Can we allow that subjectivity to help us answer these questions without skewing them according to our own preferences?  That might be the $2,000,000 question.

Replicating An Experience, Part I

My church has been wrestling through an issue that has run rampant in the church for years: contemporary versus traditional worship style.  We all came out of a church where there were two different worship services with two distinct worship styles.  Although people were comfortable and led with the styles that were most conducive to their own personal preferences, there was an overwhelming sense that we were a congregation that felt disconnected from one another.

One element of that disconnectedness is the size.  When churches reach a certain size, it will be increasingly more difficult to fight against the disconnectedness because there are so many people.  That's a good problem to have, but a problem nonetheless.

But the other element of the disconnect is feeling that we can all come together at one time, in one place, with one style that will unite us.  I have struggled for years as to whether or not I think this is a "pipe dream" or if it can really be achieved.  Unfortunately, it seems that, while there may be a few people who take comfort and joy in a corporate worship service where the worship music style is more of a mix between the historical and the contemporary, the overall consensus is that people will eventually grow tired of the compromise. 

My own experience has shown me that when some people say that they want a blended service, they really mean that they will tolerate the style that they are not in favor of in order that their own preference can take a front seat.  While there may be some who generally can be led in either style, they are a small minority.

My own stylistic preference is eclectic, at best, and scattered at worst.  I have had seasons of my life where I have been in more traditional services and I was able to worship there.  But, truth be told, during those times, I also had places where I could regularly go and be a part of a contemporary style as well.  I found a rhythm that worked and those who wanted separate and distinct styles were able to corporately worship in those specific instances and places.

As I think and wrestle through this issue, I have no choice but to wrestle through it in myself.  It's hard for me to remember a time when I did not have a significant part in leading corporate worship services, but I am trying to ask myself questions to help myself try to find some resolution to this issue, if that's even possible.

So, tomorrow, I will post 7 sets of questions that have helped to challenge me as I have wrestled through this.  See you then!

Touching Heaven, Changing Earth

In a conversation with someone last night, I realized that I had been leading worship for more than 20 years.  It's interesting to think about that, considering that's more than half of my life.  Corporate worship is a very poignant thing to me.  We come together as a community of faith, our hearts united to bring glory and honor to the One who has saved us, who calls us His own.  It's not about us, it's about Him.

A few years back, I wanted to bring the teams that I led through a teaching time on worship.  I looked around to see if I could find appropriate curriculum, but I felt like everything I found was coming up short.  So, I sat down, and over a course of months, I put together my own curriculum.  It wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

When I finished it, I had to think of something appropriate to call it.  Simply calling it "Worship Study" wasn't really satisfactory, at least, not to me.  I had been a fan of much of what was coming out of a church in Australia called "Hillsong" for a number of years.  I had read the books written by their worship leader and was fond of the songs that were being put out by them.  Many years earlier, they had put out an album called, "Touching Heaven, Changing Earth."  It seemed a fairly appropriate description of what we do when we come together as a community to worship God.  We seek to allow the words of the Lord's Prayer to come true, that God's kingdom would come, on earth as it is in heaven.

My church has been experiencing some amount of difficulty as of late, but we have seen God's hand in the midst of it all.  In fact, on the day that much of the difficulty came to a head, without any knowledge of what would be taking place, we had planned a night of corporate worship.  Many people, after having had very difficult afternoons dealing with some of the circumstances, came together that evening for the sole purpose of worshipping God.  God had planned for us to come together, perfectly ordained it, for a time of worship and healing.  He brought us together, not to focus on ourselves, but to focus on Him, the One who has always and will always provide for our needs.

In 20+ years of leading worship, I have never experienced an evening of worship with such poignancy.  There was something different about that night, and when it all came to an end, there was almost a sense that people did not want to leave.  People found something in the presence of God that could not be found elsewhere.

I know that there are many people who decry contemporary praise songs for their emotionalism and sentimentality, but anyone who knows me, knows that I do my best to be prayerful and thoughtful as I choose which songs that we sing as a congregation.  All of the songs that we sang together that night spoke deep into the heart of where we were, and I had chosen them well before the events of that day.  I have no doubt that the Holy Spirit was instrumental in making those decisions.

Today is a new day.  The difficulties are not behind us, but there is brightness ahead.  We may not see clearly everything on the path before us, but God gives us just enough light to keep our anxiety at bay and withholds enough so that we never think that we can do it without His help.  We are on a journey, an adventure of sorts, as we are written into the story of God.  As we come together, seeking to be used by God for His purpose, my prayer is that we can touch heaven and change earth, and in the midst of it, we will be changed ourselves.