Strong–But Good–Advice on Worship Preferences
July 3, 2007
Andy at Think Christian provides a little “between-the-eyes” advice each of us would do well to heed.
It Goes Both Ways
In fact, while he approaches the topic of worship preferences from the “church music snob” point of view (kudos to him for being able to see that in himself; he’s a better man than I), his advice goes both ways. If your first “musical language” is modern in nature and your church programs a hymn or two, don’t just sit/stand there and bemoan the fact that the songs are old and boring. Pay attention to the text and worship the God to Whom it points.1
IsaiahSix is a strong proponent of the balanced use of materials in corporate worship–old and new. However, with that freedom comes great responsibility for those planning worship. We can’t afford to be musical snobs either. There are likely six or seven different generations sitting in our congregations weekly, each of them with their own musical language. We have to make sure we’re not asking them to worship exclusively in a language they don’t understand. We can and should ask them to become multilingual, but we do them–and the Kingdom–a great disservice when we remove all vestiges of their own language.
Not Just About Music
This idea of “snobbery” isn’t relegated to the music world. It applies to other aspects of the worship service, too. Maybe you think your pastor moves around too much; maybe he doesn’t move around enough. Maybe he reads his sermons; maybe he’s too conversational in his delivery. Maybe the drama wasn’t as polished as it needed to be; maybe it was so polished it seemed canned. Whatever the excuse to take our focus away from the One we worship, we have to fight that temptation.
After all, it isn’t a production we’re attending. It is an offering of worship in which we’re participating. When we find ourselves critiquing rather than worshiping, perhaps we should remember Andy’s advice.
Impacting the Kingdom through Worship,
- That is assuming the hymn does, in fact, point to God. But that’s a different issue we’ve covered here at IsaiahSix extensively. [back]
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