Self-help or Christian?

Sometimes I think I’m getting old and stubborn. Or maybe old and increasing inflexible. But I suppose I’ll leave that to you to decide. What brought this bit of self-examination on was a session the faculty at Gateway had recently with our accreditation advisor, Dr. Charles McNeeley. We were dissecting each word in our mission statement and objectives for the college when Dr. McNeeley brought up a point that, despite our careful wording, we sometimes had a tendency to overlook or worse, assume. His point was this: in all that we do as Christian instructors, we must always be careful to emphasize that without Jesus Christ, you are lost. Notice he didn’t say, “without GOD you are lost,” rather he specifically used the name of Jesus Christ. He told us it had to be all over every policy, every manual, every objective, every syllabus. In essence, it must permeate everything we do, say and write. Dr. McNeeley further pointed out that Muslims believe in God, Jews believe in God, DEVILS believe in God – and have the good sense to tremble! But they do not speak the name of Jesus Christ. This is the important difference.

What really got the wheels of my mind rolling was Dr. McNeeley’s final comment that he notices the lack of the name of Jesus in our music. I guess I’ve never thought about this until I considered that “God” is really a very generic term – used by myriad religions to represent myriad beings. So why do we leave Jesus’ name out of our music? Is it just because it doesn’t rhyme well? The syllables do not work out right? In reading through the lyric inserts in some recent CD’s I’ve purchased for myself or CD’s I am reviewing for this website, I not-so-shockingly discovered that many of them did not use the name of Jesus AT ALL!!

A deeper issue…..

Maybe I just think about this too much, but I have noticed that the definition of “Christian Music” has broadened quite a bit in the last few years. Many new Christian CD’s now contain music about life – what I call “self-help” music. This “genre” of music has exploded in much the same way that the self-help book genre has. Although I believe there is nothing wrong with writing a positive message about life, I don’t like to have to guess if the artist is singing to God, if God is singing to them or if they are singing to their significant other. Make sense? Of equal concern is what will those who know nothing of the Christian message think about the CD? Is the message too vague for the average listener to interpret? If you consider the music of Steven Curtis Chapman or Mercy Me, among others, you know exactly what they’ve had to say, where they are coming from and what they believe. Is it important to consider music from both the believer’s and unbeliever’s viewpoints? (As a side note, I don’t particularly care for the words “believer” and “unbeliever,” but will use them for lack of a better choice.)

Who are we about?

Dr. McNeeley later pointed out to me Ephesians 1:11-12, which states:

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

I think the bottom line could be simply stated as this: It’s not about us. This scripture talks about HIS will and HIS purpose and the fact that we are “for the praise of HIS glory.” This could be the only criteria we need with which to examine our music. There should be no compromise in our message for fear that we might offend a certain audience or better attract another. And this brings me back to the vagueness in the message of much of the music labeled “Christian.” Let there be no question about who is receiving the attention – the glory from the music we sing, whether in a congregational worship service, group or solo. Does it make us feel good or lift up Jesus Christ?

Just a Piano Player

I quit!

What else do you want from me? I'm just a piano player!

No, I can't give an extra hour of my life to "musician's practice" at church (on an off-night, no less), not to speak of the "six hours a week" I'm expected to devote to practicing my "technique" that our church's music director has "kindly suggested" that I need.

I play quite well if I do say so myself. I've only been playing for the last twenty years (and ten of those years as the "main" keyboardist)! So I don't know any 9 chords or 13 chords and I can only play in five different major keys and one minor key. It hasn't been important so far so why should I learn now?

I just left the hospital visiting my terminally sick uncle and have to run over to pick up my kid at daycare and rush him over to the church for Bible quizzing practice. And this on an "off-night" at church. And, during Bible quizzing practice I meet with some guys at Starbucks for a Bible study I've been teaching. One of them is actually getting baptized this Sunday. Otherwise that would have been a perfect time to run through the list of songs Dave gave me yesterday night for Sunday's service tomorrow. Oh well, maybe I can sneak in a few minutes during adult Sunday School.

I manage to make it through most of the songs without glaring errors, even when our music director is sick and I have to pick the keys and play out strong. I had to skip new chorus practice last month because we live 20 miles from church and can't afford to drive separately (my youngest needs to go home straight after midweek service and can't stay the 45-60 minutes it takes).

So if you don't appreciate what little I have to give, then maybe I am not serving God's purpose and I should resign. Or at the very least take a sabbatical until my life can be reorganized to meet your needs.

NOT!

I don't really have an uncle in the hospital and my three year old is not yet memorizing Scripture! And most of the rest of the above is complete fiction as well. Just thought I would toss y'all a bone to chew on.

Certainly, I have written the foregoing as an exercise in negatively arguing against my beliefs. I believe every musician needs to practice and needs to spend some time in prayer specifically over their music-making and the worship portion of the service prior to the start of service. But our musicians are a limited supply and mostly volunteer corps living in a world where time is a commodity that cannot be bought but at all too high a price. Given the option of practice or prayer within a tight schedule, I will choose prayer!

I desperately wish, at times, I had six (or even one or two) hours a week to devote to practicing. Ah, the days of college, two, three, four hours a day in the practice room! Drudgery at the time but never thought I would miss it!

One last request: please do not misunderstand me -- this is FICTION -- the "attitude" and any perceived "tone of resentment" in the foregoing in no way reflects my actual beliefs regarding doing music ministry. I respect and honor all sincere and humble church musicians.

What am I listening to? Not much, these days. What am I reading? A draft of David Norris's "I AM."

Thoughts before coffee on the weekend...

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE

I want to invite you to come to a little hypothetical church service. We are going to start this service by following the example shown us in Psalm 100. We are led in this journey by a group of skillful musicians and singers who fill up an entire platform that is raised slightly above the level of the rest of the congregation. There are even spotlights for the lead singers on certain songs. When we have lingered in the presence of God for a little while, the platform begins to empty and a preacher steps behind the pulpit to deliver the Word. As we listen, our hearts are convicted, and we are moved to repentance and rededication as the minister closes his sermon. The atmosphere is set by a beautiful song of consecration that is sung by singers and played by musicians who have once again filled the platform to do their ministry.

Someone recently said to me that they felt their praise team was more about performance than ministry. I asked them what it was that made them feel this was the case, and they responded by saying that it might be the lights. The lights? So if you take away the lights, then you will have worship and not just performance? I wonder if you removed those singers from the center of the platform and your focus was forced away from human activity if you would still feel they were simply performing? 

We have spent many sermons and workshops admonishing musicians and singers to not think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. When we are done with our preaching, we push them right back out in front of everyone and say, "lead us in worship." We put them on display and hope that they do not disappoint us by appearing anything less than enraptured by the presence of God. 

SEEKERS OF PRE-EMINENCE

I wonder if we removed the singers from the front of the church if I would still have the same talentless people try out for choir and ensemble? If the drummer was no longer in front of everyone's face every week, would we still have a waiting list for drum lessons, and only one new drummer added to the music department in two years? If the congregation and ministry didn't stare at the singers and musicians during worship, would we still hear so much about carnality and pride in the music department? Maybe, I don't know, I am just thinking. 

I am so fed up with musicians who do not practice during the week. I am tired of having to explain to someone that their vocal abilities are not something we want to display with a microphone only to have them say that their "passion" is music ministry. There are too many people who have a desire to be on the platform, but their weekly musical activity is limited to midweek rehearsal and Sunday morning service. 

I want to turn the focus from platform visibility and turn it towards musical excellence, diligence, and sacrifice. I believe if we made a collective effort to do so, we would see less accepted musical mediocrity, which is another of my pet peeves. I believe we would see the music department gain more respect from the pastor. I believe that the music team itself would start to understand the importance of their role and responsibilities.

SUMMARY

Just thinking out loud... technically it is not out loud... I haven't read it out loud... 

Don't knock me down. I'm carrying the Ark.

For a while now I’ve been fascinated with the relationship between Priests and Levites. There certainly is a powerful model of fellowship and unity that exists between these appointed Biblical orders.

Consider the following passages (NLT):

“Then the priests and the Levites purified themselves in order to bring the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to Jerusalem. Then the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders…” (I Chro. 15:14-15)

“David also ordered the Levite leaders to appoint a choir of Levites, who were singers and musicians to sing joyful songs to the accompaniment of lyres, harps and cymbals.” (I Chro 15:16)

“David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship…” (I Chro 16:4)

“The work of the Levites was to assist the priests, the descendants of Aaron, as they served the house of the Lord….And each morning they stood before the Lord to sing songs of thanks and praise to him. They assisted with the burnt offerings…” (I Chro 23:28-32)

The Old Testament gives examples of priests who played instruments, Levites who carried the ark, Priests who carried the ark, and Levites who sang. Their roles seemingly intertwined without difficulty or anxiety. Both priests and Levites served faithfully to guarantee that the sacrifice went up to God and the work of HIS tabernacle continued.

Priests and Levites = Preachers and Musicians?

When I think of Priests and Levites, I start thinking about Preachers and Worship Leaders/Musicians. Sadly, few music leaders ever experience joy, honor and God-ordained unity in their associations with a preacher or pastor. Trust me, I fully understand the fragile ground on which I am gingerly treading!

It is not uncommon to hear a well-meaning preacher launch into a diatribe of frustration and lecture about the glaring flaws that exist in his own music department OR the ministry of music at large. In my 14 years of ministry, I have heard musicians and singers chastised for pride. Warned about homosexuality. Instructed that the Word has pre-eminence over the Song. Informed that no other department brings a pastor as much grief. Reprimanded for not worshipping. Cautioned against secular musical influence. Humbled into a state of Kingdom-worthlessness.

And through it all, many of my colleagues are simply striving to accomplish what David ordered years ago. Our passion is to carry the Ark on our shoulders. We seek to fulfill our part in the sacred act of ushering in the presence of God.

I see fellow worship leaders and musicians who function as Prophets and Teachers and Evangelists. (Aside: The Bible clearly defines music as prophetic in nature. It also defines singing as being for purposes of instruction or teaching. And every pastor would identify music as a potential evangelistic tool in their community.) However, those who carry the mantle of Pastor are not embracing the Prophets, Teachers and Evangelists around them if they do not appear in the anticipated cloaking of a licensed minister. (See random picture of preachers at General Conference! Used for illustrative purposes only.)

Although I could write a lengthy commentary, I’d rather provoke individual thought. Perhaps one day the following questions will be discussed in a safe, neutral environment. Consider this my proverbial can of worms… here comes the can opener:

Questions to Ponder

1. If priests and Levites worked so closely in the OT tabernacle model, can we not see precedent for a great camaraderie between preachers and music leaders?

2. Do preachers mistakenly fail to draw a worship leader into their inner circle, choosing instead to only openly dialogue with other “preacher” personalities? Does this create tunnel vision because the preacher has not widened his or her perspective? Does it also contribute to a lack of shared vision?

3. If pastors and evangelists were able to dialogue in a healthy, spiritual way about the music ministry with those who are involved in it, would it eliminate the need for public rants about their pet peeves? Do we have a bunch of “frustrated” pastors that just need to “sit down and talk it out” instead?

4. Is it possible that we have witnessed such failure rate among worship leaders/musicians because we have not placed appropriate importance on the sacred, spiritual role of worship leaders and music? If the music ministry is not mentored by a transparent, communicative leader is it possible that he/she will never reach their full, God-ordained potential?

5. Finally, because I am a woman, I wonder if some of this lack of communication and camaraderie results from the gender issue? Is it difficult for pastors to have good discussion with female leaders because they are working to maintain appropriate safeguards?

Musing from my music-logged mind....

The past few weeks I've been preparing for a choir workshop I'm heading up next week. It's a blessing when the choir is excited, and the musicians are hard at it, hashing through all those chord sheets. One concern I always have in this situation is that I know I have very specific music likes and dislikes and, thus it's difficult to find music that I will enjoy teaching and the choir and musicians will enjoy singing and playing.

Well, I obviously missed it this time! (chuckle) After mailing my packet of CD's and chord sheets I got a few emails from various choir members requesting different songs. They weren't rude, just had some songs they had wanted to sing and thought this was their opportunity. Now, don't misunderstand, I was very happy that they chimed in - after all it's their choir workshop, and they are stuck with those songs long after I leave! But this all got me to thinking about my blog a couple of months ago in which I wondered who is the "poet" of Pentecostal music. While in this blog Kent and I concluded that it must be Israel Houghton, I want to submit another name: Chris Tomlin. At least in my home church. It appears from my recent experience and some conversations I've had with a few friends, that these two guys share the top spot. Think about it for a moment: where would we be without their recent additions to our musical repertoire? Over and over it seems that when I hear a new song I really like and ask who it is by, inevitably it's one of these two!

So that brings me to the question: Since Chris Tomlin and Israel Houghton are so different in style, what determines which one we choose? Does it have to do with the difficulty? It's obvious that Chris Tomlin's music is very straightforward in chord structure and melody line. Try writing out a chord sheet for some of Israel's songs and you're in for a trip! I have to think that those of us who cut our teeth on the black gospel craze in the 80's and 90's might prefer Israel's music since it is such a fusion of gospel, jazz, and rock. Or is it the setting that determines the choice? Some congregations might have trouble singing some of Israel's songs, especially older congregations. Although I realize there are exceptions to all of these scenarios, it seems that for the most part, that's the rule. Then again, there's alway the regional influence. Do folks in the south prefer one or the other? I'd like to know, for no other reason but to satisfy my wondering mind. I just find it fascinating that we Ap's seem to latch on to certain artists so tightly. I sure hope these guys don't decide to hang it up and start selling books door to door - we'll all be in trouble.

Now I'm off to reign in my wondering, music-logged mind.

Happy July!

By the way, sorry for no photo - blogger is not cooperating.

Also, since I always forget to do this, I'm reading Sacco & Vanzetti by Bruce Watson and you know what I'm listening to...

The Ancient and the Modern*

I can't believe I'm late. Sorry. I was supposed to post yesterday.

I have a hard time imagining David, the shepherd, walking along humming quietly to himself. I have a hard time imagining him with harp in hand plucking out a tune, much less playing before the king, soothing the king's troubled soul. For one thing, we don't have a copy of David's harp. We can reconstruct one based on imagined ideas of tuning or modes, but in reality there is no way to know what those songs sounded like at all. Which is too bad. I'd really like to hear some authentic praise.*

Not that what we sing isn't authentic praise. I like our contemporary gospel sound, whatever its guise. Despite my posturing, I have an honest respect for most all forms of spiritual-musical expression. (As well as many forms of less spiritual musical endeavours). But some of the music that touches me the most comes from African voices.

I had an experience last year where we had the privilege to travel to Ghana and worship at one of the local churches in the capital by the Bible school. I was scheduled to speak and had chosen as my text an excerpt from Psalm 1, "he shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water." As I was preparing notes, a melody formed in my mind around those words. Or I should say I started to craft what I perceived to be an African-influenced melody. Or maybe I should say instead that God gave me a tune to go with those words. It had the same first three notes as the chorus "There is Power, Power, Wonder Working Power" -- but the tune diverged considerably from the rhythmic and melodic thrust of that song.

In any event, during the service, just before speaking, I started singing this little song. I had asked the musicians and the choir to stay in place and help me, and to my everlasting pleasure, the musicians and choir actually started playing and singing this little song with me, with some slight rhythmic adjustments more suited to their style. After the service it was related to me by one of the missionaries that one the local guys asked either whether or how I knew that was a song they sang. I'm sure he didn't mean the words, but rather, the tune. Apparently it was similar enough to something they sang that they thought it was the same song.

I feel like I should close this post with some sort of pedagogical application (how in your life have you experienced composition, inspiration, etc.) or maybe offer some kind of philosophical musing on God's role in the inspiration of composition, but that's not where I'm at today. I'm just left with the simple fact that God is, and I delight in Him.



* Any similarity to titles of books on my shelf by the title of this post or another phrase in this post is purely coincidental and has no intentional overt or subtle added meaning.

THE POST

I was having a casual conversation with an acquaintance who stated that she saw no reason for her church to pay copyright fees for the music they used in their weekly services. She said that because of the small size of the church and the fact that they didn't record their services, there was no legal obligation on their part to pay anything to the songwriters for using their songs. I tried in a tactful way to inform her that she was in fact very wrong about the issue. This person became very angry, and because I am not actively collecting copyright fees for songwriters, I let the matter drop. 

After this encounter, I have discovered that my fellow music minister is not in the minority with this mindset. I know of only two churches in my area who pay any sort of copyright fees, and they are considered "smaller" churches by this area's standards. 

I am posting far too early to say that I have done any significant research on this subject, but I want to share some impressions regarding the matter. I am finding that music ministers, pastors, and congregation members respond with a self righteous "why should we pay for worshiping God?" to which I usually respond, "because it is the law." The rest of the people I have spoken to about this issue seem not to care one way or the other. If their church pays, fine, if not, that's fine too. I suppose this would be the post modern young people, but this hasn't been an official survey with demographic breakdowns. 

QUESTIONS

I wonder if this is a topic we should try to present at our music conferences? Would it make people more aware? uncomfortable? convicted? 

THE LAW (Yes, yes, yes, we are set free from this)

The law requires churches to pay copyright fees for having lyrics displayed by slide or transparencies, recording a song service on a church CD, and even keeping a database of songs for your church computer. 

Within our Apostolic/Pentecostal movement, would you say that we abide by the law, make excuses for why we can't, or do we just not care?