Worship Meditations

Worship goes far beyond singing and playing music. I'm afraid the current Worship Movement (supported by the commercial music industry, so it may have gone out of style by the time I finish this) is creating a generation who thinks worship is singing and listening to the latest "praise and worship" songs in church, buying the hottest new worship CDs and going to concerts and other music-related events, with little regard for a genuinely, permanently dedicated life. I praise God for those bands (like the Newsboys among others) who do speak out the truth that genuine worship goes way beyond music and then put that truth into action by doing good works in His name.

"Worship music" is a name that has been given to a style of Christian rock music which, instead of speaking of God in the third person, speaks directly to God in the second person. This, in and of itself, is a good thing because it is more likely that a person will turn his mind to God if he is singing a song directly to Him. However, if it goes no farther than musical style and liturgical form, then the Worship Movement will prove to be just another trend in a long series of religious fads and movements (as opposed to genuine movements of God's Spirit) over the centuries.

I became a Christian in the early 1970s (at a musical event, by the way), during the last years of the "Jesus Movement." That period was a time of great commercial success for many religious enterpreneurs (notably button and bumper sticker manufacturers) and gave birth to Contemporary Gospel music, which soon enjoyed larger-scale record distribution and sales. The Christian recording industry even developed a CG version of the Grammy awards. I think this era proved at length not to be the sort of Enlightenment that could be compared with any of the Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th centuries, during which millions of lives were inexorably altered and entire societies changed course. The Jesus Movement, for all the souls that came to Jesus in its wake, was transitory at best. Similarly, I think the Worship Movement, after it has gone by the wayside as it inevitably must, will prove to be just that. I don't mean to say that good, solid Christian leaders won't arise out of that movement. They will as they did during the Jesus Movement. But I fear their numbers will be few when compared to the masses now showing up (and paying lots of money) for worship concerts and CDs. This is because the focus is on music and musicians rather than submitting to God's leading in daily life.

Maybe I'm wrong and the Modern Worship Movement will turn out to be the beginning of last great era of the Church that ushers in the last days and the Second Advent. That would be my hope.

So I maintain that worship should not be confused with music. Listening to, performing and leading congregations in worship music should not be considered a replacement for true worship, although true worship can and does occur during such times.

Music, of course, plays an important part in modern worship. But when you think of "modern worship," what do you think of first? You probably think of a particular style of music. Go to the Internet and you'll find many sites devoted to "worship" and "worship leading" where the main emphasis is on the latest songs, chord charts, DVDs on "how to play modern worship guitar" and essays on whether in-ear monitors are better or worse than floor wedges. Also (for better or worse), who the latest personalities are in the Modern Worship Movement. But real worship is neither modern nor traditional. It is the same kind of life-changing encounter with the Living God that it has been for centuries. If that encounter is absent, all the hymns in the book set to a rock beat aren't going to help.

Go to any church — especially a Bible church — and tell the pastor, "I want to lead worship." What will his first question be? What instrument do you play? Do you do hymns or just choruses? Can you also lead the choir? Try answering,"Oh, I'm not musical at all, but I really think God wants me to lead this congregation into a deeper, more surrendered worship walk with Him" and watch the blank look come over his face. We see far too many "worship leaders" who are excellent musicians but know nothing of a broken, surrendered heart before God. Music is exalted to the throne and God is displaced.

Maybe the Church needs Worship Teachers as badly as it needs Worship Leaders.

Today, most worship leaders would never come close to even considering going through an entire Sunday morning worship service without at least some music. That is because most worship leaders are in reality music leaders, since music and worship have become, if not synonymous, then at least inseparable. It's much the same as trying to think of a worship service without a sermon. Even the worship rock concerts usually feature somebody — either the front person for the band or an imported preacher — delivering what amounts to a sermon.

Why do I harp (bad pun, I know) on music? This is because I myself am a musician and have struggled to work out what role music should play in worship. I use music to worship God every day. I write, sing and play worship songs and lead others in singing them whenever I can. But if the music and lyrics don't help reach the desired result — a heart surrendered to God and willing to submit to His Lordship — what good do they do? I may as well be performing Beatles covers for wine-sipping socialites (which I do on occasion when money is tight and I need a gig).

Music plays a special role in the worship experience, especially in corporate worship. This I see more as a human phenomenon than anything, because mankind seems to be steeped in music, and makes music a large part of daily life — social, intellectual, emotional, and, yes, spiritual. For example, in the Western world we have disco/dance and country (social), jazz and classical (intellectual), R&B, rock, blues (emotional) and gospel (spiritual).

Ever since Paul encouraged the singing of "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" and John saw in his Revelation the singing of a "new song" to the Lamb of God, music has been an important tool in New Testament worship. Even Jesus, though he never mentioned music as an element of worship, did sing a hymn with His disciples after the Last Supper.

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