Worship Talk. It's been a familiar discussion topic for many years. I often say that "if I had a dollar every time I discussed, wrote, addressed, read anything about "worship wars", I could comfortably retire. It's been a hotbed of discussion at seminary, work, around friends and at home. It's on the mind of so many people. We are almost obsessed with the polarizing politics of worship.
When a new person considers visiting a church, the first thing that comes to mind is "How's the Worship?"
And rightly so. We want to attend a place that defines us...that fits our style. "I don't care for that other church down the road with the music they use." "If they don't do something about the music, I'm moving my membership, or at least holding back my tithe." "This kind of music can't be Godly." "This kind of music does not prompt me to worship."
With today's culture, variety of music in worship and our "Have It Your Way" mentality, people shop churches like they shop a car. When it "feels" right, I'll get in and drive a while, but I'm not committing my whole life to this one place. I may need to switch down the road.
Ok.. Here's the deal. I understand all the angles we use today to rationalize worship style preferences. Yes, we want to equip people to worship. Yes, we want to "try" to be all things to all people. Yes, we want to connect to those who need Christ. Yes, we want to honor the saints. When will we realize that worship isn't for us.
We say that "we understand this concept" but do we really? We say "I worship God" but our feet speak louder than our words. I believe that we idolize our style of worship. It's a continuation of the "me" generation and it's been around for a while. Yes, music is the universal language and certainly is a tool to reach others for Christ. I agree. But there is something that seems foul in our churches today when the kind of musical style we select heralds over the people and the work of the church. We've drilled the church down into a consumer mentality that is frantically trying to market itself to reach more at the risk of being true to not ourselves but to God.
Think about this: Maybe God wants you to worship Him when things don't quite "feel" our "sound" right to you. I'm sure the the Apostle Paul didn't quite feel right when he worshipped God in prison.
I just wonder what God thinks of our worship wars.
What do I think? Let the church be the church and not the music. And the church is the people. When you don't like the music, focus on God and then focus on people. Let God be the driver. You sit in the passenger seat. Don't trade the car in for another. Give yourself to the work of the church and let God take care of the music.
I just read an awesome post by my friend, Rich Kirkpatrick. His post, "What do you do when you are no longer the focus of your church programming" is a very well-written post on this topic. Check it out HERE.
Comments