Worship Wars
In a perfect Christian world, worship wars would not exist. But we don't really need to be reminded that none of us are perfect. We all sin, even when we compare ourselves to other Christians. For some reason, many Christians behave as though it's perfectly all right to judge fellow Christians who belong to other denominations or independent churches. It is quite natural for us to feel like our own personal brand of worship is the right way, the only right way, to worship God.
Here in the US, the traditional camp stands firm in their determination to resist change. The contemporary faction is equally staunch in their resolve to worship God with contemporary music and instruments. Some congregations attempt to satisfy both groups, offering blended services that incorporate both traditional and contemporary forms of worship. Other groups offer multiple services that use a variety of music styles.
And that's what this senseless controversy boils down to: the type of music used in individual church bodies.
When the Reformation happened, five hundred years ago or so, and when new Protestant church policies were initiated, Martin Luther is said to have re-introduced music into worship. He wrote many new hymns in the language the people spoke and understood, often set to the popular, bar room tunes of the day, and arranged in four-part harmony for use in a cappella singing, with no instruments whatsoever. That's what contemporary Christian music was like in the 1500's. If you are interested in reading more about Martin Luther's views on the use of music in worship, go to:
http://oneinjesus.info/2011/02/instrumental-music-martin-luther-and-instrumental-music/
The organ accompaniment that became so prevalent in European and North American worship services was introduced a bit later, influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach's prolific compositions, written "to the glory of God," with the pipe organ as his primary instrument.
In recent years, I have attended Christian concerts that have turned into giant worship services in praise of our God, but I have been present at other performances that were just that--performances, where the instruments were so loud that the all-important lyrics were impossible to hear and understand. I have worshiped God in the company of congregations who barely sing at all. I've worshiped with people who give too much praise to the musicians and too little praise to God. Both traditional and contemporary forms of worship can be misused, but such examples of inappropriate worship should not be used as ammunition for blanket condemnation of a worship style that happens to be different from our own preferred form of worship.
I love to hear a congregation full of Christians singing their hearts out to the accompaniment of a skillfully-played pipe organ. I have been thrilled to hear a group of Caribbean Christians playing their steel drums as they worship God wholeheartedly. It is exhilarating for me to worship God with a group of Christians singing their praise to God a cappella, in full harmony. And I love to sing with a fervent congregation accompanied by a variety of contemporary, mostly electronic, instruments. And do you know what? I don't think God cares what form of worship we use. What matters is that we worship him just as we are directed to love him, "with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12: 30)
As far as instruments and style of music are concerned, neither pipe organs, as we know them, nor electronic stringed instruments were around when the Bible was written. However, the book of Psalms, in particular, has a lot to say about the use of musical instruments and contemporary music during worship. In fact, the Psalms themselves are simply a book of songs, many of them written by King David, that would have been set to music and used for worship around 3,000 years ago. The Psalms were actually written to be the contemporary worship music of that time. We still sing hymns and contemporary songs that are based on the Psalms, because good music, especially music that was inspired by the Holy Spirit, has no expiration date.
Psalm 33: 1-3 says: Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. You will notice that two different stringed instruments, precursors to modern violins and guitars, are mentioned here, along with an exhortation to play with skill and shout for joy. So we can infer from this that our worship should be accompanied by skilled musicians who play their instruments to the best of their abilities. In addition, our worship should be joyful to the point of loudly expressing our joy in the Lord. You will also note that the people, even thousands of years ago, were urged to "sing a new song." This sounds to me like we are charged with using new (contemporary) music along with older music when we worship God.
Psalm 150: 3-6 expresses the thought that every instrument in the orchestra should be used as we praise God. The eight instruments that are mentioned in this Psalm include wind instruments, stringed instruments, and percussion. But, the most important thing is included in the last verse: everything that breathes should praise God! Psalm 150: 3-6: Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.
And speaking of dancing, as mentioned in Psalm 150, perhaps we need to encourage our fellow Christians to express their joy by dancing before the Lord. Even King David "danced before the Lord with all his might" to celebrate the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and rebuked Saul's daughter, Michal, for criticizing his undignified celebration. (2 Samuel 6: 14-23)
Recently, I heard someone give the opinion that emotion has no place in church. I admit that I have a huge problem with this statement. We freely express our emotions at sporting events and concerts; why, then, should we not praise our great God just as loudly and ardently when we join together to worship him? God created us to be emotional beings. Now, our faith is certainly not based solely on our emotions, but we can't help but feel some emotion when we think about everything that God has done for us. Showing some emotion should be a natural reaction to God's tremendous grace. The Psalms entreat us over and over to rejoice in our Maker (Psalm 149: 2). Psalm 145:1-2 states: I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.
I don't know about you, but I find it nearly impossible to truly praise God without feeling some strong emotion.
Psalm 145: 4- 7 continues: One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
If one generation wants to praise God by singing 500-year-old hymns to the accompaniment of a majestic pipe organ, why should we complain? Likewise, if another generation prefers to worship God with the accompaniment of contemporary, electronic instruments, and even drums, why should we criticize them? Instead, we can all rejoice that we have a wonderful God who loves us. This is what matters most: that we praise God together with other Christians, fervently and joyfully.
Here in the US, the traditional camp stands firm in their determination to resist change. The contemporary faction is equally staunch in their resolve to worship God with contemporary music and instruments. Some congregations attempt to satisfy both groups, offering blended services that incorporate both traditional and contemporary forms of worship. Other groups offer multiple services that use a variety of music styles.
And that's what this senseless controversy boils down to: the type of music used in individual church bodies.
When the Reformation happened, five hundred years ago or so, and when new Protestant church policies were initiated, Martin Luther is said to have re-introduced music into worship. He wrote many new hymns in the language the people spoke and understood, often set to the popular, bar room tunes of the day, and arranged in four-part harmony for use in a cappella singing, with no instruments whatsoever. That's what contemporary Christian music was like in the 1500's. If you are interested in reading more about Martin Luther's views on the use of music in worship, go to:
http://oneinjesus.info/2011/02/instrumental-music-martin-luther-and-instrumental-music/
The organ accompaniment that became so prevalent in European and North American worship services was introduced a bit later, influenced by Johann Sebastian Bach's prolific compositions, written "to the glory of God," with the pipe organ as his primary instrument.
In recent years, I have attended Christian concerts that have turned into giant worship services in praise of our God, but I have been present at other performances that were just that--performances, where the instruments were so loud that the all-important lyrics were impossible to hear and understand. I have worshiped God in the company of congregations who barely sing at all. I've worshiped with people who give too much praise to the musicians and too little praise to God. Both traditional and contemporary forms of worship can be misused, but such examples of inappropriate worship should not be used as ammunition for blanket condemnation of a worship style that happens to be different from our own preferred form of worship.
I love to hear a congregation full of Christians singing their hearts out to the accompaniment of a skillfully-played pipe organ. I have been thrilled to hear a group of Caribbean Christians playing their steel drums as they worship God wholeheartedly. It is exhilarating for me to worship God with a group of Christians singing their praise to God a cappella, in full harmony. And I love to sing with a fervent congregation accompanied by a variety of contemporary, mostly electronic, instruments. And do you know what? I don't think God cares what form of worship we use. What matters is that we worship him just as we are directed to love him, "with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12: 30)
As far as instruments and style of music are concerned, neither pipe organs, as we know them, nor electronic stringed instruments were around when the Bible was written. However, the book of Psalms, in particular, has a lot to say about the use of musical instruments and contemporary music during worship. In fact, the Psalms themselves are simply a book of songs, many of them written by King David, that would have been set to music and used for worship around 3,000 years ago. The Psalms were actually written to be the contemporary worship music of that time. We still sing hymns and contemporary songs that are based on the Psalms, because good music, especially music that was inspired by the Holy Spirit, has no expiration date.
Psalm 33: 1-3 says: Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy. You will notice that two different stringed instruments, precursors to modern violins and guitars, are mentioned here, along with an exhortation to play with skill and shout for joy. So we can infer from this that our worship should be accompanied by skilled musicians who play their instruments to the best of their abilities. In addition, our worship should be joyful to the point of loudly expressing our joy in the Lord. You will also note that the people, even thousands of years ago, were urged to "sing a new song." This sounds to me like we are charged with using new (contemporary) music along with older music when we worship God.
And speaking of dancing, as mentioned in Psalm 150, perhaps we need to encourage our fellow Christians to express their joy by dancing before the Lord. Even King David "danced before the Lord with all his might" to celebrate the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and rebuked Saul's daughter, Michal, for criticizing his undignified celebration. (2 Samuel 6: 14-23)
Recently, I heard someone give the opinion that emotion has no place in church. I admit that I have a huge problem with this statement. We freely express our emotions at sporting events and concerts; why, then, should we not praise our great God just as loudly and ardently when we join together to worship him? God created us to be emotional beings. Now, our faith is certainly not based solely on our emotions, but we can't help but feel some emotion when we think about everything that God has done for us. Showing some emotion should be a natural reaction to God's tremendous grace. The Psalms entreat us over and over to rejoice in our Maker (Psalm 149: 2). Psalm 145:1-2 states: I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever.
I don't know about you, but I find it nearly impossible to truly praise God without feeling some strong emotion.
Psalm 145: 4- 7 continues: One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works—and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
If one generation wants to praise God by singing 500-year-old hymns to the accompaniment of a majestic pipe organ, why should we complain? Likewise, if another generation prefers to worship God with the accompaniment of contemporary, electronic instruments, and even drums, why should we criticize them? Instead, we can all rejoice that we have a wonderful God who loves us. This is what matters most: that we praise God together with other Christians, fervently and joyfully.
Well said, Janet. I have had to repent in the past few years for judging other Christians whose preferred worship style is different from mine. What is truly important is worshipping God with our whole hearts, in spirit and truth. Musical style matters little.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dan for your encouraging words. I am so tired of hearing Christians bicker with each other about worship. If only we all spent as much time truly worshiping God...
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