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RSS FeedWhy do we do that? – “Contemporary” worship
Apr 15
Miscellaneous, Preferences, Why do we Do That? 4 Comments
I’m sort of a contemplative person. Sometimes to a fault. But I do believe that this aspect of my personality has helped me as a worship leader. I’m always asking the question, “Why do we do that?” Like a 4-year-old on a never-satisfied quest for a good answer.
So when I thought about what I could contribute to this blog (which is not much at all), I thought maybe the best thing I could bring is to get us thinking about “Why?” If we can think about the things we do through a biblical lens, it will either correct or embolden our actions and/or our calling to be worship leaders.
I wanted to start with a question that is has no direct biblical answer and therefore is more difficult to answer. For those of us who use contemporary worship, why do we use contemporary music instead of old songs played on an organ or piano? Or, on the flip-side, why do we use an organ or piano and only sing songs written pre-1960? I DO NOT ask this question to get the worship wars started AT ALL. There are many great churches that use a “traditional” style and many fantastic churches that use a “contemporary” style (there are many not-so-good ones on each side too!). However, I think it is helpful to think about why we do what we do, and I think that doing so will help us feel more comfortable when someone brings up the issue of style preference and we need to reason with them.
I think we are at a point in contemporary song writing that we can throw out worn-out answers to these questions like “the old hymns have more rich theology,” since in my experience, the hymns that stick around at hymn-sings and the in most churches actually have more experiential content and less theological content than the contemporary songs I choose week in and week out. I mean let’s face it, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” is not exactly a good representation of popular hymnody from ages past (though I love it and use it often!). At the same time, contemporary songwriters in the Sovereign Grace Movement, Harvest Bible Fellowship movement and others are bringing fresh, rich songs with which we can praise both the transcendant and imminent attributes of God.
On the instrumentation side, we can neither say that organs or guitars and drums are the chosen instruments of God. They are not in the Bible, and the instruments we find in the Bible aren’t around anymore (for the most part). I don’t think organs give us a bigger idea of the majesty of God because they pale in comparison. I don’t think keyboard synth sounds cause the Spirit to move more freely either! Yet I choose guitars and drums and synth and loops… why?
There are a million other questions here. Should we go with the preference of the majority? Should we go “blended” to make everyone happy (even though this often results in choppy services with generations staring into space, arms crossed while the organ bellows or the drums pound). Is it right to simply follow the style of the culture? Is it just about what the pastor wants or what we want? Should we just stick with what we’re good at?
So why do you do what you do in regards to worship style? Don’t try to answer why the other preference is worse… just think “Why does our church do what we do?” and see if your reason is a good one. If it’s not, then find a good one and work to change your motivation. I would love to hear why…
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Apr 20, 2010 @ 10:35:08
Ryan:
Children of rock. Love it!
Maybe even better: Children of The Rock!
Apr 20, 2010 @ 11:07:36
My church went through a music transition several years ago when I was in my teens. The new music director was hired to guide the congregation through the transition. We are now very contemporary. He did something that strikes me now as very inspired.
Once the pastor and the elders were on board and the transition had taken place, he pushed to have the old pipe organ removed and given away. His argument to the congregation was that it was outdated and took up space the band needed, and anyway he could always use the organ patch on the keyboard if someone wanted to hear the organ.
His thinking though was this: If that old organ is there, there will always be someone who wants it used, it is an invitation to trouble and division. With the keyboard nobody can see a “patch” and I can decide when to use it (or mostly not).
He got his way. The old pipes were given away to some guy and no one has ever talked about bringing back organ music since.
Apr 21, 2010 @ 17:53:12
I heard an interesting statement yesterday that may apply. God asks us for “new songs” (Psalms 33, 40, 96, 98, 144, 149). Perhaps this is because he wants songs that come straight from our hearts and mouths, not only from the hearts and mouths of those who’ve gone before us. If that is the case, and we are writing new songs, how can we write songs (or sing songs), that don’t resonate with us stylistically or preferentially? I would certainly not write a song that I didn’t prefer or like, and I wouldn’t force others to sing songs that they didn’t prefer or like. It seems to me that we have chosen to do the style we have because it represents the preference of the greatest number of people in our church.
By the way, contemporary means “belonging to the same period of time.” I think “new” fits into that category of contemporary, no matter what the style, right? Perhaps there IS a biblical answer to this question, Ben.
Apr 22, 2010 @ 08:11:46
Yeah, Brett, I thought that comment the other day was helpful. “What is the only kind of music God expressly says he likes? Answer: new songs.” Although, it could be argued that he also commanded us to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
BTW, I’ll by giving my reasons “why” in a day or two.