Why do we Do That – “Contemporary Worship” Part 2

Apr 28

BenMiscellaneous, Preferences, Why do we Do That? 1 Comment

Last time I asked the question: why do you do “contemporary” or “traditional” worship? In other words, why sing praises in the style you do? In asking this, I realize that worship is not at all about style or singing per se, but rather it is a way of life (in fact, I don’t really like the terms, thus the quotation marks, but we all sort of know what we’re talking about,  so I still use them). Still, singing praise to God is part of worship and most of us have chosen a style to use. So why? Below are some of the reasons I have landed on concerning why I use a “contemporary” style. And by this, I mean we still sing ancient songs of the faith, but we play all of them with modern instruments and cadences (and we sing brand new songs too!). I try not to even categorize music by hymns and contemporary songs anymore. It’s all about what we need to sing that day and what is helpful to the service. So here’s my reasons:

  1. It is a natural expression of our culture/era: Our culture expresses itself in a certain way. When was the last time you passed someone in their car singing their heart out to Bach? Now, this is not the same as following the culture. If I were doing that, I’d be trying to mimick the sound of what’s on the Billboard Top 100. However, if my job as a worship leader is to select songs that will be sung in the voice of the congregation, it is my job to pick both songs that will both accurately address theology and be a natural expression of that theology from the lips of the people. So I ask, “How does our culture naturally express awe? Excitement? Joy? Brokenness? Mourning?”
  2. It guards me from traditionalism: Dr. Jim Ayers at Lancaster Bible College taught me that tradition is a good thing… it’s traditionalism that’s bad. Traditionalism is maintaining a form not because it is helpful, but for the sake of the form itself. Traditions are good: prayer meetings, hymns, Sunday School and organs can all be good. Some traditions are commanded: the Lord’s Supper, Baptism, meeting together regularly, etc. But when we hold onto a tradition for any reason other than the fact that they point us to God and help us keep his commands… for reasons like nostalgia or because we’ve assigned undue worth to them or think that they are themselves the command of God when they aren’t, then we fall into traditionalism (and sometimes worse: legalism). There will come a day when my generation is 80 and won’t be able to let go of “How Great is Our God” done just like Chris Tomlin used to do it… I am constantly praying against that. If your tradition has not become the end in itself , then it’s fine to stick with tradition. Just don’t let it become the main thing.
  3. Worship teams show unity: The contemporary style allows me to use a team of gifted artists to create a unified sound that I couldn’t create by myself. It’s a small microcosm of the body of Christ working together in unity. I get excited about that every time I play with my team. I LOVE working with other artists and I LOVE seeing what they add to the whole. I also recognize the traditional version of this is the orchestra and choir, but in my church of 90 people, I don’t have that amount of volunteers.
  4. It’s what I’m good at: If you heard me try to play an organ, you would want to cover your ears and run out the back door like your pants were on fire. If you tried to follow me waving my arms in song leading, you would think a wasp had entered the chancel. So while this is not a primary reason, I do think it’s a legitimate reason for me to choose a contemporary style. There are many churches that could do traditional worship far better than I could at my church. So I’ll let them do it.

All of this means that if I were to go to a church that has a different style than I prefer, I can still worship. It’s probably not where I’ll stay for good, but it also doesn’t mean I can’t worship. But it also means that I have a good idea of why I do what I do. It’s certainly not a fully developed idea, but it’s a start.

Why do we do that? – “Contemporary” worship

Apr 15

BenMiscellaneous, 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…