Diversity...
As I write today, we are in the midst of Unprecedented Praise, the annual music conference here at Gateway. This will surprise no one, but I’m always “re-amazed” each year at the depth of talent in the Apostolic church. Each year I find myself whispering a prayer of thanksgiving to God that these people have chosen to direct their talent God-ward. I can only imagine that God has to be pleased when we pursue and develop our gifts, try new things, and explore diverse styles, all the while keeping ourselves centered around what is important: glorifying Him, edifying the church and evangelizing the world.
Speaking of diversity…..
Back when we first started the Notes blog, several contributors wrote about the hymns/choruses debate and all the many rabbit trails that result from that discussion. I am increasingly convinced that it is not only in music, but also in drama, literature, and one that I’ve recently noticed (or should I say “paid attention to): worship/expression styles. What started me thinking about this was a sign language/drama group that gave a dramatic presentation of the song “Stand” by Donnie McClurkin during one of the night services this week. It’s a popular song with a message with which every single Christian can identify: what do you do when you can’t handle the pressure of life, when you’ve done all you know to do, when you’re at the end of the rope, and, ahem, there ain’t no knot to hang onto! That’s a very personal message, one that I don’t think we need to be ashamed to express publicly. Thinking about this further, I realized this was just further evidence how worship has become increasingly personal. Listen to any new worship song and it’s not so much about “we” or “us” as it is “me.” I don’t have a problem at all with this, but it helped me understand further why the preceding generation sometimes expresses frustration with how our worship, music, drama, etc., has changed. Listening to conversations and the differing opinions about the “Stand” presentation was amazing – it was nearly exactly as I thought, with a few exceptions, of course. Age dictated acceptance or rejection.
Lately, I wonder if we should really fight against what we disagree with at all– unless of course it contradicts the Word of God. We are so different. So often I tend to pre-judge someone with regards to his or her artistic/expressive taste only to ashamedly change my opinion when I get to know that person or come to understand what motivates his or her praise.
Just food for thought.
Speaking of diversity…..
Back when we first started the Notes blog, several contributors wrote about the hymns/choruses debate and all the many rabbit trails that result from that discussion. I am increasingly convinced that it is not only in music, but also in drama, literature, and one that I’ve recently noticed (or should I say “paid attention to): worship/expression styles. What started me thinking about this was a sign language/drama group that gave a dramatic presentation of the song “Stand” by Donnie McClurkin during one of the night services this week. It’s a popular song with a message with which every single Christian can identify: what do you do when you can’t handle the pressure of life, when you’ve done all you know to do, when you’re at the end of the rope, and, ahem, there ain’t no knot to hang onto! That’s a very personal message, one that I don’t think we need to be ashamed to express publicly. Thinking about this further, I realized this was just further evidence how worship has become increasingly personal. Listen to any new worship song and it’s not so much about “we” or “us” as it is “me.” I don’t have a problem at all with this, but it helped me understand further why the preceding generation sometimes expresses frustration with how our worship, music, drama, etc., has changed. Listening to conversations and the differing opinions about the “Stand” presentation was amazing – it was nearly exactly as I thought, with a few exceptions, of course. Age dictated acceptance or rejection.
Lately, I wonder if we should really fight against what we disagree with at all– unless of course it contradicts the Word of God. We are so different. So often I tend to pre-judge someone with regards to his or her artistic/expressive taste only to ashamedly change my opinion when I get to know that person or come to understand what motivates his or her praise.
Just food for thought.
posted by aahrens at
Friday, April 11, 2008
7 Comments:
While I do not have a problem with the sign / dance teams, I'm not so sure that it is fitting for a church service.
Yes, you can worship God with dancing (and I have heard people criticize people who dance in church, and they do it well, as if they were supposed to forget how to dance when they came to god), but for a dance team to get on stage as performance, it is uncomfortable for me to sit there and be entertained while we should be having church.
However, I agree 100% with the author: we should not fight against each other over disagreements. We all have different worship styles. We all enjoy different genres of music. We may feel differently about what style of music, or ways of worship we prefer in services, but we should not condemn or judge other's method of worship. True worship is from the heart. Period.
I would be interested to see what would happen if one where to take contemporary lyrics and pout them to a traditional melody and vic virca? It would be interesting to see if we see a generational divide and which songs have it.
We, as Pentecostals, tend to be cultural preservationists. It seems very hard for us to move forward expecting greater things have yet to be done in the kingdom. I too, am excited to see people not afraid of stepping out to see what God will do through willing vessels!
To JDM, John and Anon.,
Some good points here, especially John's point about contemp lyrics put to traditional melody, and vice/versa. There certainly are several factors involved. The biggest factor, I believe, is just the good ole' human spirit, coupled with our traditions.
AA
You again illustrate why you are my favorite 90 @ 9 blogger.
-R
Ron,
Thanks, my friend - you're too kind.
AA
John commented that it would be interesting to see what would happen if musicians take old/new lyrics and mix with old/new music. There is a lot of this already happening in the broad denominal world. It is one of the most interesting trends of the past 5 years.
The Passion movement has created an entire album (Passion Hymns) which does this exact thing. It has been very well received and is an excellent "bridge building" album.
WOW Hymns is a compilation CD on which much of this blended music is found. And the entire Ancient Modern church movement has served as a breeding ground for much of this type of hybrid composition.
Many artists are not just "modernizing" a hymn, but inserting new music over old words OR writing new lyric to traditional tunes.
If you're interested to test the impact, pick up some of this material and use it or play it in your church environment. Let us know the results, if you do! =)
LP
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