Back in August I sat down with Mike Harland, Director for Lifeway Worship, to talk through the issues of relevance and reverence in the gathered church's worship. Because I love the church, and hate it when we get distracted from what matters most to God, I decided to share more of my thoughts here on the blog concerning the perennial war over worship.
Ending the Worship War without a Truce
The reason worship wars exist is because the church thinks it is fighting for something permanent when it is actually temporary. Musical styles and service preferences are like a jacket that can be taken on or off depending upon the temperature. It is used only when needed. Worship as a theological reality is not fit for such pedestrian arguments. It is to exist in the heart of all people-- and it does. When we think we're debating styles and techniques and forms, we are really defending our own affections and deeply felt preferences. Most often we defend what is nostalgic rather than what is helpful. It's no wonder then that even attempts at ceasefires result in more fuel for the blaze.
I will lay my cards on the table: I was not raised in the church or in the subculture of the Bible Belt. I came to Christ at a later age and when I began my ministry it was with the urban poor in Buffalo, New York. I have been called by some "a son of the contemporary church movement." I don't know if that's necessarily true, but I know what it means. I do not have the traditional church DNA in me like so many others I've known, pastored, and appreciated.
So, it could be that it is hard for me to get inside the shoes of the traditional worship advocate. (Though ancient church music has now become a favorite on my iPod.) Or it could be that having come from an irreligious home in addition to my travels observing the worship practices of global Christians that I have a different perspective.
I won't deny I have personal preferences. For instance, it is clear that country and western music is not of God. (That's another joke; don't tell my friend Ricky Skaggs I said that.) Nevertheless, what I try to do is what we all should do in matters of preference and praise-- commit to the reality that worship is not ultimately about us.
And because worship is not about us, I don't think we end the worship wars in our local congregations merely by compromise. Compromise is noble; consensus is better. A truce just gets 100% of our church worshiping at 50%. It is not compromise we want, but unity. So how do we get to that ever-elusive goal, that aim Jesus laid out for us in His High Priestly Prayer in John 17? Here are five ideas.
1. Rally around Truth, Not a Truce
In the same prayer Jesus prayed that His church would be one (John 17:21-22), He prayed that they would be sanctified by the truth of God's word (John 17:17).
When we come at the worship discussion we have to back up a bit and adopt a good theological framework for our conversations, because the church too often leaps to the assumption that "music = worship." Or perhaps we frame it a bit more broadly and think in terms of a "worship service." But the truth is that worship occurs in the whole of life. We are never not worshiping; our affections are always oriented somewhere or to someone. Minimizing worship to a one hour experience on Sunday monrings, or further down to merely the time of music in that experience, means many of us only dedicate thirty minutes of each week to worship of Christ. When we practice this minimization, it means that the rest of the time we're worshiping someone else (usually ourselves).
It is a harsh accusation to make, but as our music and production skills have increased, our worship has suffered because we have engaged in them as the outpouring of self-worship. So we must remember that worship is for every hour of every day of every week. Our lives are to be oriented to the worship of God. And the chances are, if we thought of worship that way, we would not put so much personal stake in hearing our favorite style of music on Sunday mornings. The entirety of our worship would not be loaded into that slice of time.
Holding personal preferences loosely allows for greater unity in the body and advancement of God's mission. The truth God seeks is that we rally to the cause of His glory among the nations rather than deciding is we will have two hymns and three choruses or three hymns and two choruses this Sunday.
2. Acknowledge that Preferences are Personal
I have witnessed the angst around worship music firsthand. I think that in some churches, a pastor could get away with preaching heresy so long as he's cool, funny, and has a good video clip. But if a pastor tries to alter the worship style, it is time to start looking for a new job.
This works both ways, for the favorers of so-called "contemporary praise" and the adherents to more traditional worship music. Neither appears willing to give up ground, and they have planted their flags in either Relevance (for the contemporary folks) or Reverence (for the traditionalists). (Hence, the name of the dialog in the video at the top of this post.)
In many churches where a worship war is brewing or is in outright conflict, one group perceives themselves to be pushing forward toward the next generation (relevance) while another is trying to pull back to a once-honored method (reverence). One group thinks contemporary music or a more casual style will suit the modern generation and appeal more to the lost. Meanwhile the other group thinks all of that is just worldly compromise and, furthermore, arrogant to casually dismiss the styles that have served the church well, in some cases, for hundreds of years.
When either of these scenarios occurs it is usually because we have elevated our preferences to the level of principles. We are "taking a stand" for something important: our own comfort, convenience, and concerns. And all the while we're trying to give God his due or the lost people in the pew it turns out we're really just making worship about us.
3. Realize that Relevance and Reverence Are Not at War with Each Other
What those who push forward should realize is that relevance is not a goal; it is a tool. It is not the end, but one (of many) means to the end. Relevance for relevance's sake never helped anybody. Playing a shocking song at the front of your Easter service may get headlines and upset religious people, but that's about all it does. Having rock music fans think you're a cool church is not the "win" you're really looking for. A smart church will be culturally discerning, but always biblically-driven first.
On the other hand, the traditionalists' placement of reverence on external styles is also wrongheaded. Reverence is not first and foremost an outward expression. It is a quality of the heart. Of course, it results in outward expressions, but take the story of David dancing before the Ark, for example. His free mode of worship was a scandal to Saul's daughter Michal, who was watching from afar. David's heart was turned reverently to the Lord, and this provoked a physical celebration from him. It sure looked irreverent to another. Many times today shouting, clapping, and dancing are seen as disorderly or irreverent or self-indulgent, but all three of those modes of worship are seen in Scripture though curiously absent from "reverent" worship services.
At the heart of many of our worship wars is, sad to say, idolatry. Our worship of things other than God drives the way we contend for ways to worship God. When reverence is equated with austerity, it can reveal an idolization of familiarity and comfort and control. When relevance is equated with a production carte blanche or "freedom of expression," it can reveal an idolization of trendiness and self and showmanship. Both relevance and reverence can cloak idolatry of cultural forms and expressions.
In both cases, what is revealed is an idolatry of music. And music is just... well, music. As my colleague Mike Harland, president of LifeWay Worship has said, "You will never achieve spiritual goals with a musical means." We see music as important in Scripture but never a particular form or function as necessary for discipleship. And never does God dictate a particular style, rhyme pattern, or lyrical format.
4. Embrace Humility
The evangelical church needs a ceasefire on fighting over cultural forms. A focus on biblical meanings will add a healthy dose of humility to our churches.
When I was young in the ministry, I was charged with ministry to both youth and seniors (go figure). One day I was going to lead worship at a nursing home. So, I took my guitar. I'll never forget this 92 year old woman, Miss Langley, who put her hand on my arm and said "Don't worry about the guitar, young man, we're just gonna sing and you can sing with us." I was bringing a relevance they didn't need, and I had to be mature enough to see the hindrance I was about to become.
Imagine would what happen if worship warriors actually took on the attitude of Jesus (per Phillipians 2) and did not regard their agendas as something to be grasped but instead took on the posture of servanthood. What if we (per Romans 12:10) actually tried to outdo one another showing honor? Humility is a "win" for every worshiper.
5. Cultivate Consensus, Not Compromise
We have to be mature enough to worship in different ways, even in someone else's ways. The so-called "blended service" has a typical formula of two songs for me and two songs for you and one song for that other guy. I think it is a sign of carnality and a lack of community in worship. Many times the blended worship service doesn't please anybody but maybe the pastor who has given up trying to cultivate consensus. The blended service is an equal opportunity to anger everyone. It can be a sad compromise.
I also believe we need to be careful about multiple services with specialized genres. What is the motivation? Is the division a compromise? We need to be cautious about pandering to the consumeristic side of Western Christianity. We need to ask ourselves what our motivation is, and be honest with our answer. If we're being mission-focused, that's a good and worthy goal. But if we're market-focused (and Christians are the market), we are off track.
If you go the blended or alternative service route, please do so not because you made a truce, but because you stuffed your egos and decided to glorify God for the sake of reaching your community in a language they understand; Spanish, biker, redneck, liturgical, or whatever.
Do the traditionalists appreciate the contemporary songs? Do the relevantists appreciate the hymns? Do they love each other? Do they see these differing forms as acceptable forms of worship?
Pastored well, a healthy congregation will seek consensus on the positives of God's glory and mission rather than settle for compromise on the negatives of personal preferences and styles. A church in consensus would rather have Jesus than the hymn "I'd Rather Have Jesus." A church in consensus will sing of God's greatness rather than need "How Great is Our God" as their anthem. Music will not bring unity in of itself. Worship brings unity. So long as it is the worship of Jesus.
Awesome blog post, Ed. Thanks for the encouragement, from 1 (me) who leads worship regularly and fields "feedback" regularly concerning worship preferences.
Ed--I agree blended doens't work--it angers both sides. I also agree we do not want to fall into a consumer mentality by doing 2 or more different worship gatherings. I do agree that worship has to be about Jesus. It has to be missional, about helping people connect with our living God and this is done differently for different people. I would love to see a church develop within our church so different people groups can be reached effectively. But, in our church, and I think most churches, people want another service--so some can go to both, some can go to one instead of another for consumer reasons. Adding another worship service--just won't work. At least in my situation I believe we need two churches with in one church--basically because evangelism, discipleship/Christian growth, worship...etc needs to be different for most moderns and postmoderns--because each processes the world differently.
Amen, brother! Can't add much to that, except to say that one of the real causes of friction that seldom gets resolved is the issue of lyrical quality. Sometimes, perhaps oftentimes, substance is affected by style. Pop music (including folk, rock, etc.) lends itself toward catchier, more concise lyrics whereas traditional hymns read like theological treatises. Because contemporary (and I mean truly contemporary, not 20 years old contemporary) forms enable contemporary people to express themselves more naturally to and about God, I think it's important to use them. However, not all contemporary/pop/rock/folk music is created equal, and in contemporary worship music we unfortunately have a huge quality problem--especially lyrically. Now I know for a fact that it's possible to write a pop/rock song with profoundly deep and creative lyrics, because many of them have been written over the last decade or so. The problem is, these are few and far between, among a sea of shallow, repetitive, thoughtless, and sometimes plain theologically inaccurate, 'worship' songs. It's been assumed that style compensates for substance, but it doesn't... and a growing number of young people don't know any better.
So one part of the solution to the 'worship wars' is plain (if only so simple): write better worship songs so the traditional crowd can't lambast us on substance. This might mean the recording artists put out a new album every three years instead of every one, and spend more time writing 12 good worship songs instead of 36 mediocre-to-lame ones. Even the top worship song writers of our day have been struggling (IMO) to write quality songs the last few years. Unfortunately, pop music lends itself to creativity burnout.
I was quoted by Ed Stetzer! Best birthday present I've had so far today! Seriously, I resonate with Ed's take on worship war truth - our mutual respect on this subject is based on the truth of God's Word, not on similar backgrounds of expereince or any particular music style (I like country!).You go Ed!!!!! Great blog.
Outstanding post...
This should be required reading for worship leaders and their Pastors!
It is sad music (genre, style) has become so divisive. I believe music is a spiritual 'language' which can communicate deeply to humans. Thus it is more important to focus on content that lifts up Christ and glorifies God rather than style. Certainly if a donkey can be used to teach truth so can an electric guitar. ;) That said, true worship unifies the body and keeps it focused and facilitates the overall goal of ministry.
John 17:23 "I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me"
Thanks to Ed & Mike for taking the time to articulate these biblically centered beliefs on music. The conflict has been raging since the time of Beethoven because people are basically self centered and many times prefer preference over biblical reality. Lord willing we will all make a God empowered effort to put God and others before ourself in these issues.
What a great word, Ed! As the worship leader at a small, growing church, I fight this battle every week, mostly internally. We've always been more contemporary in our music styling, but this is something that could be changing soon due to church growth. This is so great to read right now because it gives me some insight on how to handle it when and if it happens.
I've always been of the opinion that worship is what you do the other 167 hours of the week you aren't in church. Worship is how you live, how you treat people, it is everything you do. Put simply, worship is life. The music that our band does on Sunday is relevant in someone's life for the hour or so that we are up there. The goal is to glorify Christ and lead people to worship. They have to take the reigns from there and worship on their own.
Oh, and country music is evil.
Great post. Thanks for getting to the real issue: our hearts. Music does have a way of showing what's really driving us and how highly we esteem ourselves.
I believe music is a great opportunity for the church to display love and unity to a watching world. If we all loved our neighbor as ourselves, we would stop making so many demands and start asking, "How can I serve others?"
Great post with some excellent, Christ-honoring reflections.
And while I share the concern over the "blended" service as a fear-driven cop-out, blending styles of music is deeply biblical. Christo-centric worship challenges people to worship outside their preference.
Do our worship services help people see that they're taking part in the ongoing, universal praise of Christ? That our worship is an echo of heavenly worship? That Christians will spend eternity joining with people from every tribe, nation and language is praising Christ?
"Two for me, two for you" does reflect wrong motives. The goal is not a melting pot of bland, tasteless mush -- but I don't see biblically that the answer is a buffet of special-interest services with their own uniformity, self-focus, and exclusivity.
I think the goal is that the grace of God shines out in all its various forms (1 Pet. 4:10) in our worship. Biblical worship will reflect the diversity in our congregation and culture.
Amazingly clear and concise discussion of this subject! I second the comments of the poster above who said that this should be required reading. I've never seen this subject handled with more precision.
But I have a question: aren't you supposed to be on vacation Ed? Well...if this is the kind of work you're turning out while on vacation...maybe you should go on vacation more often! Just sayin'.
Thanks again Ed, for yet another great help in advancing the Kingdom!
The new web design is still not working viewed in Google Chrome.
If I am doing something wrong let me know.
Thanks...
Ed, Thanks for sharing your heart. It IS all about Jesus. My personal preference is choral music with organ and piano (Orchestra if available). My worship is toward and from Jesus. It's a hard lesson but one worth learning.
Ed
I think that you do not clearly define what makes something a preference!
Because I hold to the Regulative Principle I would never compromise on that as a preference.....but rather hold to it as a command.
http://www.apuritansmind.com/PuritanWorship/McMahonRegulativePrinciple.htm
Robert I Masters
From the Southern Baptist Geneva
Oustanding post Ed. As an adult convert with no love for "traditional" or "contemporary" (btw, the ""'s are because I consider them neither), but strong preference for various "alternatives", I have had some intense struggles over the years, eventually coming to many of the same conclusions you have here, though never so well articulated. Worship is not about me and my preferences, worship is about putting God above me (a conclusion that causes me to question quite a few worship song lyrics).
Well said.
The human heart is an idol factory, per Calvin, and this is precisely what is at the root of the WW.
Nicely put, Ed.
To add to my last comment I do not think that music is the primary problem in the present church; instead 1)the proclamation of the Word 2)the focus of the Lords day gaithering.....should be focused to gaithered believers. The primary focus should not be on reaching the lost. Praise God if people are saved while seeing people of God worship but that should not be the primary focus of gaithered worship.
Robert I Masters
From the Southern Baptist Geneva
It would be a total tragedy if people walked away from this conversation thinking that the heart is all that matters. The heart is where everything starts and ends, but more than a right heart is required of those pastoral leaders who are responsible for leading their congregations in worship, and of those who write the lyrics and compose the music of the songs we sing. It does the church no good whatsoever to evade responsibility for dealing with all the issues involved in the "worship wars." The heart is the primary precondition for dealing with them, but it is far from the be all, end all.
Good Post
I like the new blog format but wish very much for a printer friendly option.
Thanks
CW
This is good equipment for perspective and understanding, thanks. Collective ministry efforts tend to unify the hearts of each of those whose hands are on the “plow”; group evangelistic efforts tend to unify and revitalize all who are investing in a particular mission or evangelistic project; fellowship, by design, places more than one “fellow” in the same “ship” (so, unity is implied)…so, what’s the deal with worship? How can it possibly be divisive? Should the worship service (title used intentionally, not disagreeing with worship being 24/7, but speaking only of the congregant expressions at the proverbial “eleven o’clock” hour) be unified, as if in one voice? It seems as though it can be the most divisive time of church life, as opposed to the most unified. Are we expecting too much? I’m uncomfortable thinking that any type of music is “right” and other music “wrong”. If Joe-Blow worships with one title that is 3 years old, and Golden-Voice prefers another title which is 130 years old, and others desire Psalms that are 3000 years old, it becomes the exciting challenge of the worship leader to creatively offer each a reason to worship using someone else’s preference and an opportunity to worship using their own. In some cases it appears that the “war-paint” is donned with regard to the accompaniment. A capella erases some battle plans and eases some tensions. It is not a cure-all, but is sometimes a partial solution. Another creative challenge for the worship leader is to honestly recognize that some worship songs are instrumentally driven and some are vocally driven. Congregants worship differently with each. Songs that are vocally driven are becoming more scarce in trendy services. But vocally driven songs offer the ability for the voices to unite in harmonies that instrumentally driven songs don’t allow. Unless vocally driven songs are allowed re-entry in worship experiences congregations simply have no opportunity to unify in harmonies, and are rather destined to compete with the instruments for prominence in the expression.
One additional thought from the video (good work, guys)...If we could extract the worship leader's plan from the church schedule and observe how the congregation worshiped on their own, "unled", we should take the hint and include some of their preference (their individual choice of expression) in "our" plan. Accepting the value of a leader, but also accepting the location of the followers.
Love your post.
We no longer blend our worship, we unite it. We are blessed with a worship leader who has been nominated for five Grammy's and is a phenomenal songwriter.
He has taken about 180 hymns and rewritten them for today's music.
Our older folks love it because they know the lyrics, our younger folks love it because of the music ... then they discover the lyrics and say wow! these lyrics are awesome who wrote them?
We tell them that someone in 1734 did and they are stunned.
If you would like to here a sample of what we are doing just click on my name to enjoy.
Ed,
Great post. It is instructional and approriate for my church family at this time. I linked to it on my site. Thanks for making a difference!!
I think one of the greatest tragedies in the church began when we started referring to church music as "worship." I have no problem with a corporate expression of praise to God, but nowhere in scripture do I find that called worship.
Worship is the lifestyle of obedience. The priests in Amos put on a good show, but God told them to shut that noise if they weren't going to live committed lives.
So stop elevating church music to such a lofty position and pay attention to the things that matter. That'll quickly demonstrate that this isn't a war worth fighting.
As long as the church body is more concerned with the location of the pulpit and communion table, there will be no progress on the issue of worship (or anything else for that matter). You are right, Ed, that it is a heart issue. And we pastors have our jobs cut out for us.
Great post, Ed!
Great post! I have one perspective that I don't believe has been shared. I am concerned to see that those who choose the specific style of service are identifying their church with musical styles rather than the message of the Gospel and truth of God's Word. Often "church growth" is based upon attraction to or success of the different services. Is this not the ultimate in consumer focus rather than Christ-focus? This mentality funnels into "transfer growth" rather than conversion growth of the church and further degrades the church in its missional purposes. As a Worship Pastor, I have served in two churches that have approached worship services from this viewpoint. I long to see local churches build a consensus rather than settle for the "Burger King" mentality of "have it your way".
May the Holy Spirit empower our churches toward unity of the body. Jesus said the world would know us as His disciples for our LOVE for one another! We can't express love and be "at war". May God forgive us for the casualties we have caused in the name of music style!
My wife and I recently returned from a 3-year assignment with a Missionary sending agency in a large East Asian city. One of our assignments was to seek out and document house churches and churches too small to be 'known.' After three years we located 225 and personally visited 185. These represented about 60 different denominations. The average size was 30 attendees.
Our observation was that in these 60 denominations the 'visible' differences were only the music and/or worship style. If someone had no clue as to the deep theological differences, he/she would think that they were all of the same 'denomination.' The preaching was always from the Bible and was always relevant. To someone who was a 'seeker' visiting any of these churches, it would seem that they were all identical in their preaching; the only differences would be in the music. The theological differences do not surface on a typical Sunday morning.
Obviously, there are major differences in theology in these 225 churches. But for someone who is a first-time visitor, the churches appear on the surface to be identical. Hence you see what has been going on in the USA on a typical Easter Sunday morning - "We can go to church anywhere; after all, they are all the same."
Great post! It's sad that this is one of the things people will draw a line in the sand over. I wouldn't put it past some people to try and stomp out of heaven because they don't like the music. Make God change our hearts and bring unity where there has been division.
Ed
I'd love to use this post in our church newsletter. We'll give appropriate credit of course. This fits our current struggle so well. Thanks.
Billy
I noticed this morning that the worship wars are over, and it appears that the "blended" folks have won. While they may have been doing so for some time, I noticed for the first time this morning that the Crystal Cathedral now includes a "praise and worship" team, which includes hand raising by the congregation and other accoutrements of contemporary worship.
I am not sure about other areas of the country, but in cold New England, evangelical churches have overwhelming adopted blended or even more relevant worship forms. I would like to add, although it was not raised in Mr. Stetzer’s post, that the “relevant worship” movement is not just about adopting contemporary music but a contemporary attitude as well. The contemporary or blended worship services that I have observed are characterized not only by the music but by an atmosphere that could best be described as informal, relaxed, and folksy. That type of atmosphere is very necessary in church life, but should it invade every aspect of church life? Should there not be a place in our church experience where we acknowledge the holiness of God and worship Him in the spirit of holiness. I fear that we have given in to the spirit of the age that devalues respect, awe, and reverence and demands that we are all equal…even god.
Ed,
Could you provide a downloadable copy of this interview? It would be very useful in training leadership. Thanks!
Frank: I grew up in a church where "reverence and awe" and giving proper respect were the reason to expect suits and ties, dresses, hose and heels and a "reverent attitude". Out of that church I have seen great teaching, but nowhere were people allowed to admit their failures, their weaknesses or their flaws. While the casual atmosphere of many or most churches may be offensive to some who see them as disrespectful, I don't recall the atmosphere of the traditional churches having any particularly positive effect on the hearts and lives of those in attendance. In fact, the hearts and lives of those in attendance reveal whether one has a reverent attitude and that is true whether one is traditional or contemporary.
A pastor friend of mine coming from that tradition with their 200 year old hymnbooks, exclusivity and so-called reverent style of dress, found those very things the cause of the self-righteous and judgmental attitudes that damaged so many people, has thrown out everything associated with that tradition. I understand, coming from the same background, but I disagree with him. There are great hymns and poor ones. There are great contemporary songs and awful ones. And there are as many gossipy, rude, unkind, selfish, self-righteous, un-biblical people walking around in their suits and dresses as you are likely to find in the sneakers and jeans set. I've been to both. I've worshiped with, studies with, and lived with both. Both can have similar heart conditions toward the other that are unbecoming in the bride of Christ. Or so it seems to me.