Rethinking "Worship"

A couple days ago I posted a response to a conversation started by my Twitter friend Tami about "Why I Can't Listen to Christian Music." Something I wanted to address (and made very brief mention of, or eluded to in the post) was this notion that worship is founded in music. Don't get me wrong, I love singing songs of praise and love to my King, but worship is so much more than singing once or twice a week in corporate worship. Worship is my living response to God and His grace and mercy (and patience!), not the songs I sing. Now that I've said this some people are going to instantly jump on me (or become defensive, at a minimum) for insinuating that some people think music is the only way to "worship," but I beg for your patience before raising arms against me. :-)

I was reading an article by Dan Kimball called "Communicating Well in a Fast-Paced World" that discusses the misuses or misunderstandings of certain words used by the Church/believers and the theological (the way people know and understand God) ramifications of those words. The first one mentioned is "worship" and I think his words are worthy of repeating:

"...if you were to grab a 20-year-old who is part of your church and ask him or her “What is worship?” there is a very high probability he would say “music” or “singing.” After all, we call the musician who leads the singing the “worship pastor” or “worship leader.” After the sermon is over, the worship leader usually says something like, “Let’s now worship,” essentially equating worship with the singing. So naturally, when we ask a 20-year-old to define worship, the first thing that comes to their mind is singing. As they are in a conversation with someone and say, “I love to worship at my church,” it usually means they love the music. We know as leaders that singing is but one very limited understanding of what worship is. But week after week we let it go, reinforcing the common perception through our language. In the hectic and fast-paced nature of life and ministry, we may not be stopping to wonder if the people we lead are understanding theologically what “worship” really is. This does have theological implications to our day-to-day living. If the people we lead subtly begin equating worship with singing together, then we aren’t understanding the concept of holistic sacrificial worship as Romans 12:1–2 teaches. So worship takes place mainly at a meeting when we all sing, not as a lifestyle. An extreme dichotomy can occur in one’s spiritual formation and how they live their life and view themselves as a worshipper."

Could not have said it better (hence the reason I didn't!). Interested in seeing his views on some other key words ("church," "pastor," "sanctuary" or "meeting place")? Check out the rest of his article here (highly recommended!).

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Why I Can't Listen to Christian Music: My Response

This is my first inter-blog dialogue. My Twitter friend, Tami (a worship leader from Illinois), wrote the blog “Creativity or Why I Can’t Listen to Christian Music” and invited me to write a response to her post. I encourage you to click the link to her article (it’s a great read from the heart of a musician) before continuing my response.

MUSIC IS POWERFUL. Music is wonderful. Music is inspiring. Music is an instrument of worship.

As powerful and useful as music is, however, it is not the object of worship. It is man using God-created notes, and utilizing our God-reflected creative ability to sing about the Creator and His work. Any time it becomes more than that we have to step back and ask “who is really being worshipped through this music?” Unfortunately, the conversation about music usually talks more of the music (its uniqueness or creativity) or the musician(s) than the Creator. That is problematic – especially in “Christian music.” See Romans 1:25.

“Worship music,” as it is labeled (and a topic worthy of its own blog postings), is the musical section at a Christian bookstore. A true musician who is transformed by God knows of no other type of music. If they write and sing a “love” song, it is based in and reflects upon real love that is given by God for man and wife to share together. If they write a song about “What a Wonderful World” they rejoice in God’s Creation. The motivation for the songs they produce, the intended audience and their hearts as musicians are all founded in the same place – God, Himself. Music written solely as “worship” is odd to me because I did not know I was to classify or categorize my musical listenings, singings, and enjoyments. Worship is our attitude and response to God, not a musical selection.

Musical style is highly subjective. As Tami points out – what one person likes, another may loathe. I am not a major fan of K-Love for the same reasons as Tami; however, I know that my reasons for not liking it are because of my taste in music: (I like) indy-rock type music, some alternative, some rap, and not a lick of country (sorry country fans). I like music that sounds different, not cookie-cutter. I like deep lyrics that lead me to think and ponder. I also like fun songs that sing of true love, beautiful creation, passion, and that tell wonderful stories. I do not like much of K-Love-type music for two main reasons: (1) they seem to play the same music (or types of music – stuff that sounds the same) repeatedly, (2) I do not like a lot of the style(s) of songs they play (as I stated before).

To respond a little to Tami’s post, specifically…

“Now I know I’m coming off as a music snob; but music tastes are, you must admit, quite subjective.”

A danger indeed (sounding like a snob or pretentious) for all people in giving their opinion, especially since she conceded the fact that tastes are subjective (different from one person to the next). For Christians, however, being pretentious not only turns people away from us and our music, but away from the God we sing about and desire others to know.

“…I find what’s out there to be (overall) lyrically trite, musically lackluster and monotonous, and somewhat “un-anointed”…to be perfectly (and probably shockingly) frank.”

This is a pretty tough statement to make. I understand (and agree in large part) what she is saying, but to call music “un-anointed” is a slippery slope and all together problematic. Only God and His Spirit know what is anointed, we as fallible people can only guess. We do know what we like. We also know what moves us, but to call something “anointed” or “un-anointed” simply because it inspires or speaks to us (or doesn’t) is a conversation we are not capable of having because we are not objective beings.

“We need to starve in our hearts the notion of consumer Christianity, take the stars out of our eyes, stop wishing for Dove awards and seek the reward of knowing this Man who knows us so well.”

What a powerful conclusion! How different would much of Christian music look (on the radio or *gasp* in the church) if this happened?!?!

I appreciate your heart Tami – to serve Him, to love Him, to know Him and to help Him be known. I appreciate your passion for this subject. I just pray that as this dust settles, music or no music, we are all satisfied with and moved by the King of Splendor, the God of Wonders, the Great God, the Awesome God.

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