NEGATIVITY THAT I FOUND USEFUL THIS WEEK (LEMONADE FROM THE LEMONS)

"OTHER" BLOGS

Ragamuffinsoul.com posted a question a couple of months ago that asked the question "What is the biggest gripe you have about something a Sunday worship leader does?" Replies were being posted up until a couple of weeks ago. 

There were many responses, some carnal, some mean, but most were variations on a simple truth, that the worship leaders in question distracted the congregation from the primary purpose of a "worship service". That primary purpose being that the congregation gathers to magnify Jesus so that His presence fills the atmosphere, and all are changed by a sacred meeting between a holy God and sinful man. Music is a powerful tool in this setting. We all spend large quantities of time preparing ourselves and our teams for these occasions every week.

In the midst of the discussion about this subject there was a quote posted that I have adopted as one of my mantras. There was no name given, only that a wise music director once said, "Leading worship is the art of removing distraction."

My mind began to race in a thousand different directions. I wondered what I do that is distracting, I wonder what I do to remove distractions. I decided to list my own pet peeves about various services I have attended over the years and work from there. 

MY LIST OF DISTRACTIONS

1. I am distracted by poorly performed song selections, pitchy vocals, and leaders ill equipped to do ad libs.

2. I am distracted by worship "flow" that is interrupted with announcements, greetings, and what I like to call "Pentecostal Liturgy".

3. I am distracted by poorly planned song sets which result in abrupt key changes, awkward tempo transitions, and subject matter that jars me out of sacred moments.

All of these things run interference with my pursuit of intimacy with God. What was meant to facilitate an encounter with the Creator becomes distracting noise. 

SELF REFLECTION

This critical assessment of music ministries in other churches has forced me to examine my own practices in planning and implementing song sets. Am I distracting people with my offering? Am I removing distractions and steering the congregation into a God moment? What are my motives, my intentions?

I'd love to hear some feedback from readers on what you find distracting about your Sunday service. I'd also love to know what you find does aid in removing the distractions around you in the same setting.

My new (and changing) view of worship....

“True worship reclarifies the purposes of God and our part in them. False worship, which can be found as much among God's people as elsewhere, leads to distorted mission.”

I recently read this in an article by Mark Labberton entitled “The Real Worship War” while doing research for Theology and Practice of Worship, a class I am taking at UGST. I am interested and perplexed by the so-called “worship wars” in our churches as much as anyone. Over and over in this blog we have addressed this issue, and I have to thank all of my fellow-bloggers for the great deal that I have learned. As a result of this, my own opinions have been reexamined, expanded, and much of the time, changed. I’ll warn you that I’ll probably be stuck on this subject this semester. So please read and RESPOND – I want to hear and learn more from all of your experiences.

While I encourage you to read this article in its entirety, I want to highlight and examine some of Reverend Labberton’s thoughts here.

“What is ironic and especially pertinent is that many debates about worship are just indirect ways of talking about ourselves, not God. Our debates devolve into how we like our worship served up each week. It's worship as consumption rather than offering. It's an expression of human taste, not a longing to reflect God's glory.”

I firmly believe that the greater cause of our worship dispute lies in the point quoted above. If I really worship God, then the things that matter to Him will matter to me. We have to admit that we are naturally a self-centered lot. As much as we would like to think this doesn’t affect our worship, it does. It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around this when I am in church either playing or standing with the congregation hands raised. Or when I look down on someone who is not saved. Or when I ignore societal needs because I’m too busy or don’t feel like caring.
Reverend Labberton referenced Isaiah 29:13:

“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:”

Worship should drive us to serve. Serve each other in the church building but giving up our obsessive need to have the music our way, with our beat and our lyrics. Could it be that, as musicians, much of our trouble with service outside the church starts with this very battle? I’ll finish with this quote by Reverend Labberton:

“Worship leaders may want to focus only on what seems culturally and socially immediate. But if we are to worship the Lord of all creation, the Savior of the world, then while we are checking the sound system or pondering prayers or sermons, we have to hold on to a wider vision of God's love.”

Teaching and Admonishment

We were singing a song from "Sing Unto the Lord" (the de facto UPC hymnal) in our congregation last week and I noticed something rather unusual. One of the lines in the chorus read "many will meet their doom" (#288, "Jesus is Coming Soon). So I thought to myself, "Now that isn't a lyric you'd hear in a song written in the last decade or two."

On what seemed to be an unrelated note, I was reading a couple passages recently in my devotional reading and came across something a little unusual. In Col 3:16 we are taught to teach and admonish "one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs." Similarly, I don't think there are that many songs that dabble in the admonishment business today.

Now the Greek word translated "admonishment" from this passage may have had a slightly different meaning -- Strong gives us the meaning of noutheteo as "admonish, warn, exhort" whereas Merriam-Webster gives a little wider range of meanings... Nonetheless, I consider it noteworthy to discuss a little further.

As we were singing "many will meet their doom" I couldn't help but think about the old-time preaching of "Jesus is coming soon" that can draw people to the altar out of fear of eternal damnation. Now I don't believe that should be the sole motivating factor for people to repent and turn their life around, but it is something that we need to emphasize periodically.

On a couple final tangents, 1) I would like to make a plea for an annotated "Sing Unto the Lord." I would find a well-written history of some of these songs and songwriters very interesting. And 2) I'm interested in your thoughts. Who out there reading this thinks that the "hymnal" is obsolete and should be banished to the occasional "old-time" service or maybe done away with completely? Can you make a good argument for such an opinion? (I think it's obvious where my bias lies!)