I wrestled with whether to let Kevin sing during the morning worship service.\nI felt uncomfortable with one of his selections, a soft rock song done in\na falsetto. But I overrode my reservations; the song was theologically correct\nand had a clear message.<\/p>\n\n
Afterward, one church leader told Kevin his song was “an abomination that\ntotally ruined the worship service” and that “this sort of thing has no place\nin the church of Jesus Christ” and that a man singing in falsetto was\n“unnatural.”<\/p>\n\n
It wasn’t long before Kevin left the congregation. “It’s obvious this group\nwill never accept what I have to offer,” he told me. “I want to use the gifts\nthe Lord has given me for him.”<\/p>\n\n
The music-style-in-worship debate is nothing if not divisive. Those who prefer\ntraditional hymns clash with those bringing drums and guitars into the sanctuary.\nPeople on each side of the debate believe they are defenders of the way God\nwants to be worshiped.<\/p>\n\n
Can congregations make a lasting peace over this issue?<\/p>\n\n
Those who prefer hymns and those who prefer choruses often feel their\ndifferences. As pastor to both, I try to emphasize five points.<\/p>\n\n
I remind those who prefer hymns that the songs they consider traditional\nwere once new, radical, and controversial. Hymn writer Isaac Watts composed\nhis music as a reaction against the accepted church music of his day. Today,\nhis works (including “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” “Joy to the World,”\n“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed”)\nare so much a part of the church’s repertoire, it’s hard to believe they\nwere once the new tunes on the block.<\/p>\n\n
God has given new generations new songs in the past, and there’s no reason\nto believe he’s not doing so now; the day Fanny Crosby died was not the day\nGod’s music died.<\/p>\n\n
Those who insist contemporary praise music is the<\/em> way to worship God\nmust not write off two thousand years of church history. Those who have gone\nbefore have much to teach us about who God is and how to approach him.<\/p>\n\n One reason this isn’t always appreciated is that often pastors delegate the\nselection of worship music to a praise-worship team of talented laypeople.\nBut such teams often have a bias toward praise music; they may incorporate\nmore praise songs than the rest of the congregation can tolerate.<\/p>\n\n I seek the input of our praise team, but I have the final say about which\nsongs are selected, how many are chosen, and even how many times each will\nbe sung. This helps to give balance to worship and prevent unnecessary criticism.\nIn accepting that responsibility, I also try to shield the praise team from\ncriticism. The buck stops with me.<\/p>\n\n The New Testament churches were made up of people of different ages, genders,\nraces, and socio-economic levels, who came together because of their common\nbelief in Jesus. Christ gave them their identity and, consequently, their\nunity.<\/p>\n\n In an era of marketing niches-of builders, boomers, and busters-we have grown\naccustomed to having things our way. But do we really need single-taste\ncongregations?<\/p>\n\n What would happen if people with different musical tastes got along because\nof their common commitment to Christ? What a testimony to the outside world!<\/p>\n\n We regularly schedule “Hymn Sings” and also “Praise\/Worship Nights,” on separate\nevenings. Doing so affirms that each musical style is a valid vehicle for\npraise. People are allowed more time for the music they love.<\/p>\n\n What would our worship look like if we asked “How can I join those around\nme?”<\/em> instead of “What will I get out of this?”<\/em> Corporate worship\nis just that-corporate.<\/p>\n\n Individual styles of worship, though valid for an occasional special evening,\nmust sometimes be set aside so the entire congregation can be touched by\nGod. In the privacy of our homes, we may put on the music we love, crank\nit up, and repeat tracks over and over. But during corporate worship, everyone’s\nneeds are valued. This is what Paul teaches in First Corinthians 14:13-25:\n“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body. . . .”<\/p>\n\n Our church board was puzzled when people began complaining, “The church has\nchanged so much since we started singing those new songs.” We had added ten\nminutes of choruses at the beginning of each service, but the rest of worship\nfollowed the same liturgy it always had.<\/p>\n\n We finally realized that at almost every church function-potluck dinners,\npicnics, congregational meetings, missionary weekends-praise choruses were\nalso sung. The choruses were often preceded by, “Now let’s spend some time\nworshiping the Lord,” implying the praise songs to follow were the only valid\nform of worship.<\/p>\n\n We relieved some of the tension by saying during our regular liturgy: “Let’s\nworship the Lord by silently presenting ourselves before him,” or “Let’s\npraise God by reading together Psalm 100,” or “Let’s sing to the Lord a few\nof our favorite hymns.”<\/p>\n\n Scripture calls Christians to love one another in the same way Jesus loved\nthe church (John 13:34). That means sacrifice; we dedicate ourselves to those\naround us.<\/p>\n\n Do you not love me enough to sing my choruses? Do I not love you enough to\nsing your hymns? If the answer is no, then our problems are much bigger than\nwhat type of music to use in the worship service (1 John 3:14-16).<\/p>\n\n Nowhere in the New Testament are believers commanded to spend their time\nand energy trying to reach 100-percent agreement. Instead, the Scriptures\nmake clear that Christians will not always agree (Acts 15:36-40), but we\nmust, in Paul’s words, “[a]ccept one another, then, just as Christ accepted\nyou, in order to bring praise to God” (Rom. 15:7).<\/p>\n\n God creates each local church unique; no two will be exactly alike. The answer\nto the question, “Why can’t we be more like First Church down the road?”\nis, “We’re not First Church.”<\/p>\n\n The issue is not whether the church can change; change is part of life and\npart of a vital congregation. But change is usually slow. Often people complain,\n“So what if the church has scheduled a hymn sing once a month? We still have\nto sing those boring choruses on Sunday morning.” Or, “Sure we do praise\/worship\nsongs, but only for ten minutes before the service even begins. It’s as if\nthe church is saying they’re not important.”<\/p>\n\n People can’t always see that the very thing they dislike on Sunday morning\nmay be a step toward including more of what they want. As the congregation\nwarms to new music, the leadership often becomes more open to making changes.<\/p>\n\n2. Our identity in Christ, not our common tastes, unites us. <\/h2>\n
3. Worship is corporate.<\/h2>\n
4. Love means sacrifice.<\/h2>\n
5. Each church is fearfully and wonderfully made.<\/h2>\n