This is a guest post by Nick Roen.
This is a question that we must answer. It seems like in the church today, everyone is talking about the music:
"Oh, there's to much drums."
"Its too loud."
" Guitars shouldn't be in church."
"I hate pipe-organs."
"The choir is so cheesy."
"Hymns are so boring."
"Why isn't there more guitar?"
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"Its too loud."
" Guitars shouldn't be in church."
"I hate pipe-organs."
"The choir is so cheesy."
"Hymns are so boring."
"Why isn't there more guitar?"
It seems that it is all about style.
But what if worship wasn't so much about the music, but rather about the substance? What if it was actually only about praising God for who he is? Does that depend on the musical style? Personalize this question. For you, does your ability to praise God depend on the musical style that is accompanying your worship? And it goes both ways, both traditional and contemporary. If you prefer guitars and drums, can you worship God to an organ and choir singing traditional hymns? And if you prefer hymns accompanied by a piano and horn section, can you worship God to a guitar driven band? If you can't, then you are worshiping the music instead of God!
Think about this honestly. Who God is and what He has done for us does not change based on what type of music is being played during our worship. And therefore, our response to who He is and what He has done shouldn't change either. Our ability to feel gratitude and awe and wonder and thankfulness and all the other things we feel toward God, and then our ability to express that to Him sincerely with a worshipful heart should not depend on the music! It should depend on God himself.
Sometimes I feel like we shouldn't use musical accompaniment at all when we worship God, at least occasionally, so that we can be reminded of what we are really doing. We aren't jamming out to good music (which isn't wrong in itself). We aren't getting wrapped up in an emotional high because we enjoy a certain style. If we are, if that is all that is happening, then our worship is fake. In worship, we are expressing our heartfelt thankfulness and devotion and awe and wonder to God because we see him for who he is. And this should happen in our hearts regardless of musical style!
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I think about this a lot. Recently, I had an amazing "worship experience" with a great band and it "felt" so amazing. But I need to discern if I just liked the music or if my heart was truly engaged in worship of Christ! Did the music move me or did Christ himself move me?
I hear people say all the time (and even say it myself) that a certain style is just easier to worship to. Well, that MIGHT be true. And I do think that there is some legitimacy to the thought that certain music can help stir affections for Christ for certain people. But the question we are dealing with isn't, "What is my ideal corporate worship setting and style?" The question is, "Can I worship Christ in ANY setting with ANY style." After all, shouldn't Christ and his glory and work stir greater emotions in us than any musical style ever could? And so we must be very careful when our worship becomes easier or harder depending on a musical style. For, as John Calvin so wisely observed, "The human heart is a factory of idols," and music can easily become one of them.
And so I ask myself: Can I worship God at a nursing home with a piano and a hymn book? Just so you know, I would not prefer that style. But Christ is magnified so wonderfully in the words of those hymns! It should not matter what type of music is accompanying those words. I should be able to truly worship in that situation because worship ISN'T ABOUT THE MUSIC, it's about HIM! And if I can't do it, then I have a heart issue. If I can't, then I am worshiping the music and it has become a god and it is sin."You shall have no other gods before me." Exodus 20:3 - including a certain style of music!
This post was originally written and published by Nick Roen in May of 2009, and is being posted here as a contribution to the Cranial Collision blog with his expressed permission and revisions.
Your Turn:
Examine heart during music-based worship.
Do you find yourself falling into the trap of worshiping the song or the type of music, rather than focusing on praising the Creator himself?
What do you need to do to change your heart in order to center yourself entirely around glorifying Christ and not worldly things?
Great atricle & thoughts ... maybe another question is "if it seems easier for me to worship with a particular style of music ... am I mistakingly assuming that authentic worship has anything to do with easy?" ditto re: architecture, wardrobe?? It's humbling ... aj
What do I do to 'change my heart in order to focus on Christ'?
Well, worship begins way before the first note is played.
I agree , it is a heart attitude and music/the style thereof, can become a distraction if you will...
I must say, whatever style of music it is, it should be practiced and so presented with excellence and a pure heart! Singing or playing humbly before God as our act of worship and sacrifice of praise for Him and who He is and what He has done and IS doing for us.
Acappella, organ, guitar and drums, whatever the medium, it must be done as excellently as we can accomplish for Him and leave the results to Him as well.
JC's Village - Precisely. Often times in corporate worship I find myself more concerned about how I look and how I sound instead of how authentic and heartfelt the words I am singing are.
Anonymous - Just keep in mind that excellence in God's eyes and excellence in the eyes of man are separate ideologies. The most horrendous sounding worship (tone-deaf, loud, not harmonized) has the potential to be just as authentic [in God's eyes], if not much more authentic, than worship that is elaborately put together, well rehearsed, and meticulously performed. Although the one may be more respectable by human standards, what matters moreso is the honesty of the worship. What makes "worship" worship is humble submission and declaration. Some things to think about.
@AJ and Anonymous,
I agree with both of you. I think that the excellence of worship depends on the condition of our hearts, but that in everything we should strive to be as excellent as we can be!
I think this can be adopted to all of the ways we connect with. Some people are spiritually fulfilled when they discuss the Bible with a group of people, some can really sense God in nature. Are you a "bad Christian" if you're not really that crazy about nature? Maybe you don't feel connected to God that way. But what I got out your post is that we need to TRY. If you aren't a huge fan of organs and choirs, TRY to focus on the words and don't rule it out right away as simply "not my style". I bet God would surprise us and show us that we can, in fact, connect with him in many ways.
This was a great reminder of what's really important. Thank you.