What about Worship Music?

Like I said yesterday, I’ve done a few congregational visits lately talking about evangelism, church growth, congregational redevelopment, etc.  And, just about every time, someone asks the music question.  For decades we’ve been having conflict in the church over what kind of music is appropriate or “best” for Sunday worship.  Some love the organ music with all it’s overtones as it fills the room.  It’s true, a great organist can lead us to a place of inspiration and awe.  Most of us don’t hear organ music outside of the church sanctuary (they’re not typically in movie theaters or roller rinks anymore).  So the air moving through the pipes and reeds is a distinctive sound that leads us to sacred space and sacred experience.

But for those not raised the in the church, the organ is an unusual instrument that may be experienced with curiosity, but more often with a reaction similar to hearing bagpipes … great for communicating across the hills of Scotland, not so great in my backyard.  (an aside to my husband … this is in no way a comment on whether or not I support you taking bagpipe lessons).

Music is important in our Presbyterian worship … and as we challenge ourselves to move beyond our intellectual approach to faith, music is even more important.  Music derives from our hearts and souls, it reaches into the deep chasms of our spiritual longing, it not only fills that emptiness, but it expresses our deepest praise.  Just as with words, there’s a denotation and a connotation… what a word means and how a word feels (or is heard) … music can be exultation to one and boredom to another.  Or, when talking about drums in the sanctuary, can be a rhythmic pulse of our faith, or an offensive statement of anti-establisment.  So, the debate often moves quickly from civil conversation to “worship wars” … members stake their claim … and gather a band of members with them … and it divides congregations.

“Does the kind of music make a difference in whether or not we attract new members?”  That’s the question I get.  And I answer something like this … the style of music doesn’t matter nearly as much as it’s authenticity and whether or not it’s the “heart language” of the people … both the people in the congregation and the new people you’re welcoming into your community.  Worship needs to be in the language of the people — a good Reformed concept (thanks Martin Luther); we need to remember that “language” is a broad enough term to include style of music (again, thanks to  Martin Luther for exemplifying how to give popular pub songs new words.)

There are a few things that I think we need to keep in mind when choosing worship music style: 1) is it an authentic expression of the faith of the community, not just in the lyrics of a song, but in the style of the music?  2) is it performed with excellence (well rehearsed and with the full passion and energy of the performer)?  and 3) will it connect to new Christians in your midst in a way that leads them to an authentic expression of their love and praise of Christ?

Some congregations opt for two or three different worship services with different styles.  Others agree to have a “blended” style of both contemporary and traditional Christian music.  The approach I like best is one in which all members of the congregation (and even some new “visitors”) are asked to take part in the worship service by leading the congregation or providing worship music that is done in the style which best fits their own personal “heart” language … jazz, classical, pop, rock, even hip hop can all be styles of music that connect with the heart and soul of a worshipper … it’s that authentic expression that best communicates faith and love and devotion to new members of a community.

Another Real Thing I Don’t Believe In …

So, a few months ago I wrote about prayer and about how, when I prayed specifically for a family to be living in our Texas home before the end of 2011, we miraculously had a buyer and a closing date on December 30!  I don’t believe in the kind of God that changes the universe because one or more of us pray about what we’d like, yet there’s something very real about getting specific with God in prayer.  There is another theological concept that I cannot fit into my understanding of God and the world, but that also seems to have a hold on reality … spiritual warfare.

My theology is grounded in the sovereignty of God, the goodness of creation, and the love of Christ which surpasses even the challenge of death.  I understand the inevitable and intrinsic temptation of humanity, the idolatry of self-control, the self-centeredness of greed and more.  I have trouble with a super-hero understanding of God as the victor over a force that is somehow outside of God and a real challenge to God’s supremacy.  Not to mention, I am not comfortable with militaristic or warlike images.  I am an idealist who likes to think of myself as a pacifist … I don’t like to “fight” or “battle” or “wage war.”  And yet, I’m about to write a post on Spiritual Warfare … why?  Because sometimes in the work of the church, there is no better explanation for the realities we face.

In the work of new church development and congregational transformation, especially, pastors and church leaders are often confronted with battles that seem insurmountable.  Church planters face conflicts not only in the church, but at home.  Transformational pastors deal with congregational members or staff members who seem to become possessed by “demonic” forces.  Yes, I know, this all sounds overly dramatic … but let’s just roll with it for a moment.

A United Methodist colleague at a new church development conference once told me that the realities of Spiritual Warfare in church planting cannot be denied.  She told me it didn’t fit with her theological framework either … but suggested I start with the laws of physics.  We all learned, didn’t we, that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction?”  She explained that when we work for the establishment of the Kingdom, that there is a huge change or shift in reality … it’s what we’re striving for … and that we should expect  there will be a force coming at us that will want to restore the status quo.  It’s more than just inertia … which doesn’t want to move … it’s a force, against us, wanting to bring us back to what it had understood to be equilibrium, status quo, or the way we know.

In the work of the kingdom, we should always expect that as we change systems … congregational systems, family systems, political systems, etc. … that we will get “push back.”  Sometimes that pushback is more than “a little”.  Sometimes, and especially if we’re not ready for it, it swings back at us and knocks us off our feet.  Maybe it’s an elder who sabotages a session’s decision, maybe it’s a staff member who fights back against a change in worship, maybe it’s an illness that takes the opportunity of most stress on the pastor to rear its ugly head.  After awhile, as we keep moving into God’s desired future … the resistance perseveres.

The best strategy for dealing with this kind of spiritual warfare is to 1) know it’s coming.  Be on the lookout for where resistance is most likely to come from … but be ready, too, for it to come in the most unlikely forms.  2) Tell your leaders, as you move forward in mission, to be ready for conflict, for resistance, for a little messiness as we move ahead.  Use the time to build community and keep yourselves focussed on your mission and ministry and the promise of the Kingdom.  And 3) bathe your church, your leaders, and your own leadership in prayers — prayers for strength, prayers for perseverance, prayers for wisdom, prayers for health.

We know, of course, that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, and that nothing is impossible with God.  During times of great change in a congregation, it’s important to remind ourselves of that, be ready for the resistance, and keep focussed on Christ.

The Basics: Bread and Water

This week marks fourteen weeks since my mother was first admitted to the hospital.  Since February 15th, she has been in the hospital, in rehab, in a nursing care center, back to the hospital and now back in the nursing center.  She is battling infection … and recently we heard that she is undernourished, dehydrated, and otherwise weak.  She has been infused with severe antibiotics through her IV every six hours since she arrived at the hospital 14 weeks ago.  The doctors are treating each symptom as it appears, they adjust medication, and they try to keep a balance between side effects.  But on her last hospital admittance they were focussed on food and water: the basics.

What’s frustrating for me, besides being 1685 miles away, is that treating the symptoms can be so time consuming and weary … and we’re still not dealing with the fundamental disease.  In my mom’s case, we’re not sure what the fundamental disease is or if there really is one.  It’s a highly complex combination of diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, asthma, chronic immune deficiency and more, none of which is likely to be “cured” but managed.  And then, in the middle of managing … we realize the basic needs of food and water had been neglected.

I am always surprised by the way life’s themes repeat themselves in so many different contexts.  For me, my mother’s disease is a metaphor for the challenges of life in the church today.  I’m aware that so many of our congregations are consumed with treating symptoms:  building maintenance, declining membership, budget issues, finding volunteers for committees, paying the pastor, etc.  And I wonder if we are, like my mother’s doctors, trying to keep things balanced and well enough to get through another day or another week or another month … while we avoid talking about the longterm prognosis and/or don’t realize we are under it all … starving and thirsty.

The underlying issues of the church are complex, layered, and interwoven:  Aging membership, declining membership, changing culture and demographics, etc.  What if today, though, instead of being consumed by all the symptoms, blood tests, and medications, we focus primary on the basics: the bread of life and the living water … prayer, engagement with scripture, authentic community, inspired worship.  If our congregations are too busy managing symptoms and prescribing more programs … are we so busy we forget to drink from the well or nourish our souls.  My friend and colleague, Stan Ott, says that the leadership of the church needs to spend time “being the people of God” before we can “do the work of the people of God.”

Does your session spend time engaging the Scriptures together?  Do you pray for each other, your church and the world?  How much of your meeting time is spent in “being the people of God” before you “do the work of the people of God”?