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Megachurches Worship

FAQ about Worship: Seekers, Emotions, and Me-Songs

Some students at Taylor University, where I taught the last two years, have asked me eight questions about worship.  Their questions touch on a number of issues related to contemporary worship but also worship in general.  Here are my responses. 

  • #1: What is your definition of worship?
    • It is not really a definition but I like 1 Corinthians 14:15 (TNIV)
      "So what shall I do? I
      will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I
      will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding."

      Paul here is arguing that there should be an affective (emotional, hearty,
      tongues) part of worship but also a part that is cognitive
      (intellectual, heady, prophecy).  He actually thinks that tongues are a
      good thing but if you do focus too much on emotional stuff in worship that only
      resonates with you (uninterrupted tongues) than a lot of other people
      will be annoyed and not edified (built up). 
    • I think Communion/Lord’s Supper/Eucharist is probably the best example of what worship is.  It is centered on
      Christ, communal, symbolic, looks forward to him coming again, tangible
      (you eat and drink something), involves prayer, and singing (in the
      gospel accounts), remembers back, and builds on the Old Testament
      (Passover).  You can’t go wrong with this as a starting point.
      Catholics and Anglicans/Episcopalians center their worship around the
      Eucharist for this reason.  Jesus told people to celebrate it in the gospels and
      then we see people doing it (Paul in 1 Cor 11). 
    • With regard to definition: one Hebrew word means work/worship; a Greek word means bow. 
    • Declaring to God what he’s worth (worth-ship = worship). 
    • The chief end of human beings is to worship God and enjoy him forever (Westminster Catechism). 
    • People often look at Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4-5 as other paradigm examples on which to build your theology of worship.   
  •     #2: How do you wrestle with the "me" focus and making a meaningful response to God?
    • Some people go crazy turning "me" songs into "we"
      songs but I think this is too simplistic.  Even if we are a community,
      we are still a community of individuals, right?  Also, the Psalms have
      lots of first person singular language (me, I) and they were used in
      the temple and then in the church (John Calvin especially) as the
      corporate prayerbook.  Monks have prayed the
      whole Psalter (all 150) every week.   However, those who think that they would be
      better off worshipping by themselves on a mountain top rather than joining a
      community, have missed Christianity.  But again, there is a place for
      personal retreats.  The thing to emphasize is that we become part of
      the people of God when we become Christians.  Becoming a Christian is
      not just fire insurance for when you die someday, then you can go to
      heaven.  Yes, it is that but it is about being part of a community of
      disciples of Jesus who God has called to be his ambassadors here on
      earth and that we embody the kingdom of God already but not yet fully.
  •     #3: How do you choose worship music? Are there certain themes that you look for? Does that change depending on environment?
    • By
      the way, these are excellent questions.  Yes, choosing worship music.
      I have a blog post about some of the practical ways we tried to plan
      worship at the church.  I
      would recommend reading that.  It is very practical. 

      How to plan and lead worship

    • Does
      it change depending on the environment?  Yes.  I think as worship
      leaders we should think of ourselves as missionaries or educators.
      (Here is where your Christian Educational Ministries classes might help.  We need to know our audience /
      students, etc. and help them to praise the Lord.  We need to speak
      their language and begin where they are at.  As Thomas Groome, in Shared Christian Praxis would
      say, we need to bring people from where they are at (their "present
      action" = Movement 1) to reflecting on that (Movement 2 = Confession) to God (Movement
      3) to action (Movements 4-5).  In order to do that, we need to know the
      people.  For many years before Vatican II in the 1950’s, all Roman
      Catholic worship services or "mass" as they call it, were in Latin.
      But most people couldn’t understand it.  They decided at Vatican II (a
      big conference of Catholics) to let the mass be done in people’s
      everyday languages!  Similarly, I think we should lead
      worship in a way that "speaks the language" of teenage African American
      kids (hip-hop) or whatever language the group understands.  This is
      what a good missionary does and what a good educator does.   
  •    #4: How do you react to the statement "One cannot sing praise songs
    without noticing how first person pronouns tend to eclipse every other subject?"
    • I
      think the person who is saying it (I don’t know who but I know the
      type) wants to beware of narcissistic (self-centered) tendencies.  They
      want to correct the excesses of consumer culture which says everything
      only has value in what it can do for me.   But I think they are reacting
      in the wrong sort of way.  Like I said above, the Psalms are often
      first person singular.  We/us songs can be just as vacuous (shallow) as
      I/me songs.   I would be sympathetic to the person’s concerns in that
      we want people to focus on God, not themselves, but the pronouns I and
      me are just part of the way we speak and are not inherently bad. 
      Again, I would want to sympathize with the person making the criticism
      that Christianity is more than just praying a prayer to go to heaven.
      It is not just individualistic one-time thing that excludes ethical
      commitments, commitments to Christian friendships/community/church/accountability/critique.
      Again, the danger of the individualistic thing (me and my Bible on a
      mountaintop  – I don’t need anyone else ever in my life) is not
      generally the problem with people who are passionate about contemporary
      worship in my opinion.  But there may be exceptions.  I see the
      Vineyard, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin worship folks as quite committed to
      Christian community despite some of their I/me songs. 
  •    #5: How does the corporate worship that occurs on Sunday morning
    differ from the corporate worship of chapel or other Christian formation experiences throughout the week?
    • Again,
      excellent question.  I think it makes sense to worship with those who are your primary
      community.  I think it makes sense that those who hold you accountable
      (those who would call you on sin in your life) that those people are
      the people you worship with.  Thus, I think there is some rationale for
      chapel at a Christian college or even worship in a small group. 
    • There is some reason by Christian tradition to worship
      on Sunday (the Lord’s day) but I don’t think this is crucial.  I think
      Sat night services (or any other day) is fine!  Additionally, I think
      that Sunday worship in a church may offer some things you don’t get in
      chapel and dorm floor prayer and praise.  For example,
      intergenerational relationships (we can learn from older people and
      from kids); stability (it is not an entirely new group of people every
      four years); and locality (ministry to people locally).   Again, I
      think there is great value in extended evenings of singing (it teaches
      musicians new music, people learn to sing better, it is good to
      refocus, etc.) but just a worship night and never being part of a
      community would be a deficient Christianity (need discipleship,
      evangelism, ministry to the poor, and community care). 
  •     #6: What can seekers gain from worshiping?
    • See 1 Corinthians 14:23-25 (TNIV). 
      23 So if the whole church
      comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or
      unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24
      But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is
      prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment
      by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"
    • What
      Paul is saying here is that worship should be comprehensible to
      non-Christians.  That does not mean it should be watered down.  Paul is
      simply saying that new people will probably attend every worship
      service and the basics of the service should be fairly understandable
      to them.  If everyone in the room is speaking in tongues, than the new
      person would understandably be confused.  Paul thinks that it is
      possible that the observer will be moved by what he or she sees when
      they observe Christians in worship when the service is intelligible.
      Now there is a wide range of applications of this that I think are
      legitimate.  A Roman Catholic feels they have made it understandable
      enough by having the liturgy in the hymnal and in the common language.
      Andy Stanley / Willow Creek / and Granger Community Church (Granger,
      IN) would say these verses are their primary purpose.  Their primary
      goal is to inspire and intrigue seekers to come back and to say, "God
      is really among you!"  In order to do that, they meticulously plan
      their worship services to praise God and tell about his truth but doing
      so in a way that the average non-Christian in their community would
      understand.  They try to rid their services of extraneous theological
      jargon while still conveying accurately the truths about God.   Some
      would say that this is putting the cart before the horse or having the
      tail wag the dog, "Why would you let non-Christians decide what
      Christian worship is?  Worship is for Christians!"  But the seeker
      driven people would respond, "But aren’t we supposed to be ‘the one
      organization that exists for non-members’ (William Temple)?  Isn’t the
      point to ‘make disciples’ (Matt 28:18-20 Great Commission)?"  I would
      urge the seeker-driven church proponent people to make sure they are
      not just reaching people where they are at but also helping them
      develop into sacrificial close imitators of Jesus.  I would urge the
      worship purists to make sure they have other ways of reaching
      non-Christians for Christ (such as the Alpha course or vibrant personal
      evangelism).  I think either approach can be legitimate. 
  •     #7: What kind of music we should sing, particularly in regards to worship music?
    • There
      was a time that drums were seen as the music of the devil.  But people
      responded by saying, "Martin Luther put hymns to bar tunes" and
      redeemed that musical genre.  (I’m not sure if that Luther thing is
      actually true.  Perhaps it is.  People repeat it a lot though).  I
      think it is conceivable that some music in itself is incompatible with
      Christian worship.  I think of shrieking heavy metal where the words
      are incomprehensible.  I think this is comparable to the discussion by
      Paul in 1 Cor 12-14 about tongues.  That just because it moves you
      emotionally and it is done with a Christian motivation, doesn’t mean it
      is appropriate for Christian worship.  But maybe those people who
      shriek the 23rd Psalm can do it by themselves or with a small group of
      people who appreciate that in a setting outside of corporate worship.
      They should still be going to a church service where there is in Paul’s
      words "intelligible" content to the worship services.   
  •     #8: What part do you think that traditional worship should play in corporate worship?
    • Again,
      as an educator or missionary, you are trying to help the whole audience
      understand the message.  Thus, I think if you have lots of older people
      who have difficulty comprehending the words and singing contemporary
      worship, then it is your job to help them do so or to incorporate
      aspects of worship that they do understand (like hymns).  This is what
      we did in our church as you can see from the worship guidelines I
      mention above in number 3.   However, I would also try to make the case
      to the older people that "the church is an organization that exists for
      the purpose of its non-members" and thus we need to continue to pursue
      methods that make it more likely that when "inquirers or
      unbelievers come in" (1 Cor 14:23) and young people come in, "they will
      fall down and worship God, exclaiming, ‘God is really among you!’" (1
      Cor 14:25) because the service is designed to be intelligible (1 Cor
      12-14) to them. 

    5 replies on “FAQ about Worship: Seekers, Emotions, and Me-Songs”

    In Wednesday’s column, Billy Graham (someone else with ties to Wheaton and North Carolina) answered his reader’s question about the definition of worship.
    http://www.billygraham.org/MyAnswer_Article.asp?ArticleID=4843

    > There was a time that drums were seen as the music of the devil.

    Before that, there was a time organ music was seen as the music of the devil. Why would you use an instrument made by sinful man, rather than the voice made by God Himself? And the dissonant chords that the organ could produce!

    What are your thoughts on these two questions?

    1. Can we enter and exit worship or is worship a lifestyle that is lived daily? (I personally believe that worship is a lifestyle and not necessarily just an act)

    2. John D Zizioulas – Being as communion suggests that communion is not only and act but a lifestyle. (points back to my thoughts on question 1.)

    The idea of worship being just an act instead of a part of our being leaves me wondering what I really think. I would love to hear your take on the matter.

    As an aside, Andy is right that Luther did not base his hymns on “bar tunes.” What Luther DID do was write songs using the “bar form” stanza structure. See, e.g., http://www.worldmag.com/articles/9831

    The modern term ‘Bar form’ derives from a medieval verse form, the ‘Bar’, consisting of three stanzas, each having the form AAB. The musical term thus refers to the melody of a single stanza, the A sections (called Stollen) having the same melody, and the B section (Abgesang) having a different melody.

    More to the point of Andy’s article, I am disinclined to follow his interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:23-25. Early Christians knew that half of their Sunday service (the Eucharist) was deeply mysterious and subject to terrible misunderstandings by non-Christians. Accordingly, after the sermon and before the preparations for the Eucharist began, the non-baptized present were required to leave and the doors were barred behind them. One can still hear the echo of this requirement in the Eastern Orthodox liturgy, where the priest cries out, “The doors, the doors!”

    Many contemporary Christians (Catholic and Protestant) can’t imagine what is achieved through a church service that isn’t easily accessible (and very comfortable) to anyone off the street. However, it seems to me that one of the things that it is important for a non-Christian to understand about God is that HE IS BIGGER THAN OUR UNDERSTANDING!

    Is not this too an important theme in biblical worship, both Old Testament and New? Old Testament examples are easy to find. Consider, for example, God thundering at Job, “Where were you when I laid the Earth’s foundation?” and so on. The same message is presented more concisely in Isaiah 55:8–“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.”

    In the New Testament, Christ was constantly befuddling his disciples. Consider Christ’s mind-blowing command in John 6that his followers must eat his flesh, and the supernatural display at the Transfiguration. Both times, the disciples were left flummoxed, with only Peter stepping forward to say anything at all.

    I suppose I could sum up my disagreement by saying that I think the phrase “seeker sensitive” gets it all wrong. This phrase supposes that a church whose service is difficult to comprehend, or that makes a newcomer feel out of place, has failed to consider the impact it has on its visitors. But that is not true. A Gothic cathedral was very much designed with the “seeker” in mind. It was designed to make you feel small before the power, grandure, and beauty of God. It is supposed to leave you not comfortable but breathless.

    I would not deny that there is a place to make newcomers feel welcomed and comfortable. But it is not the only reaction I would want to elicit. I think there is something wrong if someone who comes to church for the first time leaves saying, “Wow. That was really great. I think I get it.” Rather, I would want my guest to leave with a strong impression that he had just encountered something beautiful, compelling, mysterious, deep, and other-worldly. In my mind, THAT is an impression that leads to fruitful conversation over Sunday brunch.

    Such sentiments, I am convinced, are deeply biblical. However, in my estimation, they are ones that contemporary Christian worship has undervalued.

    This entry from First Thing’s blog speaks as beautiful music as a wonderful aid in training our appetites for heaven.

    http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/?p=905

    To borrow an analogy from C.S. Lewis, I believe that contemporary Christian praise music is “mud pies,” and music like that at St. Thomas is “a holiday at the sea.” each.”

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