I recently had a bit of time to catch-up on some reading. On the back page of “Christianity Today,” April, 2006 edition the following statement was made by Charles Colson, in his article, “Soothing Oursleves to Death: Should We Give People What They Want or What They Need?”
[I quote]When church music directors lead congregations in singing contemporary Christian music, I often listen stoically with teeth clenched. But one Sunday morning, I cracked. We’d been led through endless repetitions of a meaningless ditty called “Draw Me Close to You,” which has zero theological content and could just as easily be sung in any nightclub. When I thought it was finally and mercifully over, the music leader beamed. “Let’s sing that again, shall we?” he asked. “No!” I shouted, loudly enough to send heads all around me spinning while my wife, Patty, cringed.I admit I prefer traditional hymns, but even so, I’m convinced that much of the music being written for the church today reflects an unfortunate trend–slipping across the line from worship to entertainment. Evangelicals are in danger of amusing ourselves to death, to borrow the title of the classic Neil Postman book.[End quote]
So, what is your thought on this?
What is worship?
What constitutes worship music?
Is it for our refocus on God?
Is it so we feel good, so we can then feel good about God?
Should worship be only songs with Scriptural significance and reference?
Is the Bible the end all of all that we can say of and to God?
Take a look at the “offending” lyrics for yourself and tell me what you think:“Draw Me Close”Draw me close to youNever let me goI lay it all down againTo hear you say that I’m your friendHelp me find a way to bring me back to you[Chorus:]You’re all I want, You’re all I’ve ever neededYou’re all I want,Help me know you are nearYou are my desireNo one else will doCause no one elseCan take you placeTo feel the warmth of Your embraceHelp me find a way to bring me back to you
[Chorus:]You’re all I want, You’re all I’ve ever neededYou’re all I want,Help me know you are near
***********
Is it possible the beginning “worship” set of every church service just fill-time so we can wait for those running late for church?
If worship is so be can “draw close” to God, and be fully, spiritually prepared to here the word of God through the preacher, how is it so many worship teams, walk out of the service after their performance and hang around in the back of the sanctuary, talking story, checking out the bookstore, the food and drinks and just waiting for their cue to do the doxology, special music, offeratory, and closing tunes so we can rush back out to the parking lot?
Do some people intentionally come late, knowing they are only missing the musical section of the service?
Maybe they can’t sing well, or just don’t like to sing…do we ever offer other means of worhipping God…if there is any other manner (No, not animal sacrifices please).
Though I am very fond of BBQ’s!
May be we should add animal sacrifices back to “worship”…people won’t be late (if they like meat), we all get fed, and can give God the glory…..we could even save some of the food for the band, as they continue to sing, “Draw me close to you….”
Just some stuff to ponder and comment about……
GOD ROCKS!
6 comments:
I have to say I understand what Mr. Colson is feeling (or not feeling) about contemporary worship. But I'm in an even more unfortunate position than he because I don't really care for hymns either...at least not singing them (they do contain some tasy poetry - fun to read - but it's draped over boring melodies and arrangements - not fun to sing).
I wouldn't go as far as Colson does in saying that contemporary worship tends towards entertainment. I do agree with him when he describes the song as having, "zero theological content." With that statement in mind, I can see how he can make the connection between contemporary worship and entertainment.
Perhaps an example would do well here.
Think about the difference between a movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and any Van Damme or Stephen Segal martial arts movie. The former is widely regarded as a work of art while the movies of Van Damme or Segal are panned as shallow, meaningless products of the Hollywood production mill.
The difference between the two? CTHD explores themes like loyalty, love, discipline, sacrifice. It handles these topics with subtlety and care. The other movies use plot as a necessary inconvenience - a thread to connect fight scenes together.
Contemporary worship can be compared to the Van Damme/Segal movies in that they don't provide a lot of material for your mind to chew on. They play solely to the senses and the emotions.
Traditional worship, on the other hand, can be better compared to the films of Antonioni. Although many film critics would disagree, I find his films dry and far too cerebral. They are more of an intellectual exercise than an engaging story. Likewise, I think hymns are great to read and think about but not a lot of fun to sing.
So how do I worship?
To be honest, I'm still trying to figure that out. I'd rather take time out to see a sunset or look up at the stars than sing either hymns or contemporary worship songs.
At the house church I attend, we dont sing our worship. We have a time where we go around the room and give people a chance to share what God has done for them that week. We also encourage our members to praise God through acts of service to people in need, and people who do so share what they did during our worship time.
I like what we do, but I do think there is something about song that gets at a part of the heart that mere words can't get to and so while I like what we do at the house church, I would like something more, I'm just not sure what.
It's true, some of the lyrics to worship these days are not very scriptural, they sound pretty lame if you read them again. I see "draw me close" song in a different way now.
What about pastors? They are somewhat entertainers too. I mean, the funny and good story teller pastors are described as "really good and powerful" and asked to be guest speakers all the time. The ones that preach straight from the Bible without personal stories and humor are "boring." I hear that some pastors make a living just doing guest speaking. They got all their sermons so well memorized and packaged that they know when to pause before telling the punch line and when to get weepy during certain stories. They charge up to $5K for speaking at a weekend retreat.
What about children's program? My friend was telling me that her grandma taught the kids straight from the Bible. There was no prizes for memorizing verses, they didn't have cute crafts and activities to tie into the Bible lessons. There were no fun "theme" when it came to vacation bible school. The kids went to learn, not to play fun games. Most churches in my area spend hundreds to thousands on "creative summer program packages."
When it comes to speaking, there's nothing wrong with a good delivery. When it comes to keeping kids' attentions. I'll even go as far as to say that there's nothing wrong with the generic chord structure and melodies of popular worship songs.
Problems start to come up when the speaker, when the children's church program, when the worship songs don't have any meaning behind them.
I agree that the meaning is the key...not to mention the condition of the heart(s) singing.
4 Sept 2006
I am part of the creative ministry in my church. The last two weeks was the moment when I was taught once again a different style of “Praise & Worship”.
The first concert I was attending recently, on which Terry MacAlmon was leading was so peaceful, breath-taking, soothing the atmosphere where entering into the presence of God seems like a slow motion and all we had to do was sitting, sometimes standing, closing our eyes and just enjoyed the moment with those songs. All we had to bring was just having intimate communication with God personally. Wonderful!
The second concert I was attending was with Hillsongs teams on which Jonathan Douglas (JD) was leading was so powerful, full of spirit, joy, excitement of young people who were so eagerly to be in the presence of God in a different style. So very cool!.
I am so blessed with both styles and because of both concerts. I wish I could know them both better and teach me on how to be a better worshipper.
It takes only a heart to please God through praise and worship; it takes only a willing, humble, broken heart to do so, to enter into the Throne. Pastor Christ Mendez shared that we could jump, dance and do crazy acts of praise and worship if the Holy Spirit moves us to do so, however we could also gather within a small group or even alone, even with only three strings-out-tuned guitar to do the praise of worship when God calls us to do so. More over, it’s the heart that matters, not the band, not the modern instruments of music, not the songs, not the lightings, not the stage and not the other people.
It takes only the willing heart to do the best of us, at all conditions, the good and the bad times, and when we are facing both situations in which we still can be thankful, and still bring the offerings as scents to God, that’s called praise, that’s called worship.
-roz
for me, the musical aspect of worship is deeply entrenched within the core of my being. whether it's contemporary or hymns, "Jesus loves me" or the "Hallelujah Chorus", lyric-less cryings out in the sanctity of my empty bedroom or joyful harmonies lifted high with gatherings of people - I could do a whole service of songs and discussing what they mean to different people and never tire of it. I don't need the fancy lighting to worship my Creator - but when it's done with dramatic purpose it can also help to tug at my heart and bring me to a different place. Or more often (since I am in theatre) if there isn't proper lighting it distracts me if someone's singing half in shadow or the lights are too bright.
I cannot count the times I have prayed before a service for God to speak to me and He uses the lyrics or melody of a song during the service to do just that. music is the language of the soul - that which can express the inexpressible.
some have confessed that the reason they are uncomfortable singing in church is because they don't sing well and don't want others to hear them. others have mentioned that worship is such a personal experience they are scared to put themselves out there that much in a public place. how i long that such things would not be barriers! that we could all worship Him with such passion and abandon that neither the song, the singer, nor the environment would hinder our praises to our King!
it is not just my voice, but my soul that cries and sings out: "You're all I want. You're all I've ever needed. You're all I want. Help me know You are near."
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