Music in the Church
TRADITIONS
This theme
works well because of it’s universal appeal. This is the age-old battle between
generations. Life in the Church is not
immune to the pull of this battle. However, we owe it to ourselves, our
progeny, and The Lord to make sure we break from the cycle and make our
decisions based on a proper, Biblical perspective. Remember, “We’ve always done
it that way” is no reason to do something,
and no reason to not do something
either!
This is the
“long awaited” second installment on the topic of traditions.
For many
years now a battle has been raging within the Church over music for
worship. Many men, much better educated
than I have talked all about various Biblical standards for worship so I won’t
“whip that horse” for very long, but I would like to share some ideas that have
not been covered or talked about often.
First of
all, I would like to say unequivocally that style does not matter. Strangely, though style does not matter, the
two major camps of “Praise” and “Hymns” seem
to divide because of style. What I will assert is that the style
selection is because of the
divide. I feel that the reason that this
debate has not been put to bed is because of deeper, doctrinal issues and
attitudes of worship that have not been sufficiently addressed.
Much of the
debate is due to the misguided Seeker Sensitive Movement. One of the mistaken notions is that church
must be attractive to outsiders.
Certainly, we are to be winsome, but “marketing” is not the answer. Much effort was put into the wrapping of the
gift, but little to the gift being wrapped.
Worship services then become performances and too great an emphasis is
placed on the beauty of song, showmanship, and entertainment. The Praise-ers wanted prettier song services
and hymns and organ just wouldn’t do.
Hymn-ers felt that the Praise-ers were irreverent and so targeted their
music as the source of the friction.
Both sides were mistaken that the music was the issue. Now each side did have a valid point or two,
but the overwrought focus on music was a distraction.
Let’s start
with the gift. Worship is not only
singing and not all singing is worship.
Furthermore, worship is not an emotion, feeling, or state of mind. Worship is simply a mindset toward God. It is yielding of all that we are to only the
One. I have worshipped deeply during a
roll-over auto accident and not at all while surrounded by great music. So worship initially has absolutely nothing
to do with what’s going on around
us. It has everything to do with what is
going on inside of us. That being said, this mindset of worship can
be facilitated by music, teaching, testimony, giving and much more.
Next, let’s
talk about the music. Hymns can be done badly, and they can be done well. Praise music can be done badly and it can be
done well. I once had a lady in the
church where I was music minister say to me:
“I like the praise music better because I can memorize it and just sing it to God.” I did a blended service, and she was lobbying
for more praise music. In the simplicity
of my youth I replied with an ill-advised question: “Can’t you memorize the
hymns?” Well, she was rather put out
with me, and I don’t blame her. My
answer was not thoughtful and edifying, but the question got to the heart of it
anyway. Praise music is often prettier, is generally written
very much like popular music of the day, and is often easier to sing. Hymns on the other hand generally have much
richer content and often take the singer through the gambit of the worship
process even teaching detailed doctrine. (i.e. This is what God is, so this is
what that makes me, so this is what I ought to do.) I once worked with a woman who went to a
church that was heavily into the seeker sensitive method. We were talking one day and in a moment of
vague transparency, I confessed that I knew that I did not deserve God’s grace. This is true of the entire human race in
general as well as being true of my particular spiritual condition at the
time. Her reply floored me. She said:
"Oh, I think I do. Most
people do.” Obviously, the individual is
responsible to have the correct attitudes and behavior in worship. However, her attitude never would have
happened in an old fashioned, hymn singing church. Given that music is not the culprit, what we
probably need to do is to put it all in a pile and pick out the best of each.
Finally, we
need to decide about the rest of the elements, who we are, where we are going
etc., and let each element live or die on it’s own merit. My suggestion is to
take all the seeker sensitive movement stuff and pitch it. Be mean to visitors? Certainly not. Rather, we need to be loving and kind to them
without centering our service around
them. Who is it again that we are
worshipping? How we dress, how we sing,
how we talk, how we give, and how we do everything,
needs to reflect the importance of a gathering that is about meeting with the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Many of
the things we do are neither right nor wrong in, and of themselves, but the
motivation behind them may be correct or misguided. Let’s take the dimming of the lights during
singing and more deeply dimmed for a solo.
Offering early or last? What about praise team vs. choir? (It would seem
pointless to have both, right?) Full orchestra, a small combo, or just
piano? Which is right? The answer is yes. Yes if the attitude and motivation is right,
and no if the attitude and motivation are wrong. My feeling is that the pastor, church and
music folks all need to be on the same page.
I would rather the church have a special called business meeting to sort
all of that out than to proceed in a confused or misguided fashion. In the absence of that, the pastor needs to
lead clearly, and the rest need to follow in obedience, but it all needs to be right.
The bottom
line is this: A method is neither wrong
nor right because it’s traditional. What
makes something wrong or right is it’s doctrinal correctness or the purity of
it’s intent and utilization. Since we’ve
already established that style is unimportant, it’s safe to say that correct
doctrine doesn’t come into play unless the words to a song are incorrect. That leaves us with intent and
utilization. It behooves us to examine
the issue closely beginning with our own hearts. We simply need to check our attitudes to
ensure that the first thing on our agenda is to seek God’s face and submit to
Him. If we can do this honestly and
without reservation, then the dealings between the different camps should be a
piece of cake.
