A few days ago I wrote about worship and how I believed that it has become a show more than actual worship. I have received some feedback about how it was pretty critical of people and their personal worship styles. That is why I am writing this post, to follow up on the previous post and set right what I was trying to say and maybe explain better where I am coming from.
First and foremost, I want to apologize for being too critical in my post and if it was too offensive. Part of my reason for writing for this blog is the chance to write about relevant topics that make people think and at the same time appeal to those in the secular world by disproving or breaking down the negative stigmas that Christians have gained. I fear that I may have done the exact opposite in the way that I wrote my previous post. My intention was purely to try and make people think about the way that we have began to worship and to be cautious of the way that we do so. I believe that what happened instead was venting about negative examples that I have seen rather.
Many people worship in different ways. Worshiping God is a communication of showing appreciation and respect of God for all he has and all he will do for us. We show our love for him and connect in a spiritual way. How this happens is unique to the individual. Like someone pointed out about my last post, some people can truly connect to God through the loud, concert style worship. Maybe this acts a way to keep them on track, keep them focused by being loud and bright so that no matter where they look or when their mind strays, they are instantly brought back to the moment by the noise and light. Others, like myself, find that to be distracting.
Personally, I like the more relaxed, even acoustic style worship. This seems to allow a connection to be made that could not happen when I have noise and lights all over acting as a distraction. I feel that I am able to hear and have heard God better when the worship music is not too loud and too light shows too bright. However, that is my opinion. I was aked to give an example of how I like to worship and connect with God and saw fit that I should include that here.
Now, onto correcting my point of the last post. That was directed to the fact that what tends to happen in some cases, is that it becomes a show. My post was meant as a warning that we can’t turn worship into a concert. When this happens, it becomes more of an act in my opinion. The transformation from worship to a concert is brought in two folds. One, when the worship leader is more concerned with performance and looks rather than worshiping. In my experience, I have seen people pushed of to the side or put in the back, not because of their voice (they were amazing and better than the chosen singers in some cases) but because they didn’t look young enough. When it comes about appearances, that’s a show. The second way it becomes a show is when it is choreographed. There is nothing wrong with organization, but when it becomes choreographed, it seems to take out opportunity for the Holy Spirit to intervene. However, this is not limited to the stage presence but also the congregation as well. Some people look around, and when people raise their hand to the Lord, they do the same. Not to worship, but they have been conditioned to feel that if they don’t then they are not good Christians, or aren’t worshiping.
Having said that let me say again that there are those who are sitting in a choreographed worship performance and are connecting with God in a way that some of us may never understand. For those people, they are worshiping and therefore the worship team is doing it’s job in some aspect.
My point is that we need to be careful how we worship. When it becomes more of a show, than we run the risk of beginning to worship the band rather than God. Not worship in the same sense; rather we pay more attention to cool light and sound effects rather than connecting with God. When the worship band becomes more concerned with how they look and who is front and center, than that takes away from the meaning of worship. On that same line, when we have visitors come to our church or when a new believer is looking for a home, how does it look when we pay more attention to how we look when we worship than to the God that we are worshiping?
I say this to make us think. We are supposed to building the Kingdom of God and bringing people to Christ, right? If we do and they see us not taking worship seriously than how can we do that? What does that say about our commitment and us? What kind of example is that?
Before I said that lighting and concert feeling music has its place in church and limited it to events. I would like to take that back and say that there is also a need for churches that provide that because there are people who connect through that and with out providing that need then we are not doing our job of leading to Christ. However, egos and appearance can get in the way of the meaning of worship and that is what we need to shy away from. If the band presents worship in a way that is loud, has effects, and is truly about God, than by all means that is accomplishing the meaning and purpose of worship.
All in all, worship is about connecting with God. When bands make it about themselves instead of God, that doesn’t please him and defeats the purpose of the act.
This is well said. I did not read your previous so I don't know how it came across. I personally do not dislike any style of worship; lights or no lights, loud or soft, etc. although, I would have a hard time with scream music.... Where I differentiate, and you seem to be eluding to is where the focus is. When I was working on the tech team at a church, it was my philosophy that my job was to facilitate worship, and not distract people from it. I think that is what you are getting at. When the music, lights, song choice, choreographed movements, etc are pointing to the presentation, or leader, or individual band members, or when people in the band are moving or acting in a manner intended to focus attention on themselves, that is where things have gone wrong. Leading worship, by the definition of the name itself, is to focus attention on what is to be worshiped. So, the question for each and every person involved in leading is this: Where are you intending to focus the worship? Are your actions supporting your words?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed what you said in your first post, frankly. I was a musical worship leader for 10 years and eventually quit because the whole thing felt so inauthentic -- so produced. I was singing words I'd never actually say to Jesus in real life. There seemed to be room in the musical worship time for the high moments of faith but not for the low.
ReplyDeleteThe truth was that I was at a very difficult place in my faith journey -- God felt far away -- yet I was putting on this big emotional show as if Jesus and I had had breakfast together that morning or something. It felt gross, so I was done. It was freeing.
Years later, the musical worship portion of a typical service is the most difficult part for me, especially with all the lights and the rock star aesthetic. Though I try to be aware of my cynicism and avoid judging those on stage, I can't help but wonder if they hear themselves sometimes . . . if they are actually thinking about what they mean by what they're saying, or if they're just doing a whole lot of religious babbling.
The most powerful musical worship set I was ever a part of (at Church of the Apostles in Fremont years ago) didn't have the traditional American concert setup with the band up on stage. Everyone was sitting in a large circle and the band was actually behind everyone. I don't meant to get too hung up on positioning, but it did a lot to remove the distraction. They didn't do a whole lot of churchy-speak, just spoke honestly, like they would in everyday life. The lack of a stage, their humility -- it all allowed the band to do what it was supposed to -- be a vehicle for people to express their praise and gratitude to God, rather than making themselves an object of worship themselves.
Anyway, I'm with you, David. The whole thing could do with a little stripping down. Though I too prefer a simpler set with less bells and whistles -- maybe what I really mean is that we should strip away some of the rock star attitude and understand musical worship's true place in the church: an important aspect of the Christian's lifestyle of worship, but definitely not the only one. A little humility -- a little honesty -- would go a long way.
Thanks for bringing this up, appreciate it.