June 12, 2008

Make me!

As a church musician I have often heard conversations centered around how the musicians can bring the people into a spirit of worship. Fortunately, I have served with many musicians who are biblically astute enough to point out that the Holy Spirit brings people into a spirit of worship—not the musicians.

Nehemiah 12:43
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

I recently read the passage of scripture in the callout box to the left. And it sheds some very important light on the concept of "bringing the people into a spirit of worship."

Why did they rejoice?—Because "God had made them rejoice with great joy." The spirit of praise and worship among the congregation was not because the worship team was playing well or because the songs were fun or even because the songs were inspiring. The spirit of praise and worship was because God moved in the hearts of the congregation to praise Him. It's humbling and awesome to realize that God's sovereignty stretches even to whether or not we are able to praise Him.

So ... we must regularly ask God to grant us a spirit of praise and worship so that we will be able to do what is expected of us, even commanded in scripture.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow.

13 comments:

  1. You are so right -- it is the Holy Spirit Who brings people into a spirit of worsip. It's not something we can conjure up, will ourselves to do, or rely on others to stir up in us. It is only through the Holy Spirit that we can worship in spirit and in truth.

    And true praise is not confined to a few quiet hymns, though there is a time for those. True praise encompasses the whole human experience as we relate to God because He relates to us and makes it possible.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sandy - I have been struck over and over again in recent days with the fact that our walk with God is our personal responsibility. We must attend to our own hearts - we cannot do so for others.

    So then, I think it is best for each of us to ask God to grant us a spirit of worship and a spirit of humbleness as we prepare to worship together with the congregation of saints.

    Thanks for commenting on this one. It's good to know that I'm not alone in the recognition of this.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Richard,

    I heard someone, probably Sproul the Senior, say that we are basically all free will when we first come to faith in Jesus, eventually become something akin to semi-pelagian at some point and then eventually end up with a more determined view of providence (fully appreciating just how much God has worked in us and it was not an effort of our own desire or work). If you had posed this to me twenty years ago, I would have probably said that you were saved but going to one of those "dead churches." I was so drilled by my piano teacher to recognize how important it was to do nothing to hinder worship and how serious worship was that I would have likely thought your comments were harsh.

    Twenty years down the road, having been at about every level in music ministry from the back pew to the spotlight, the sense of my reverence has remained preciously the same if it has not increased, but I have realized and appreciated just how God has taken my oft flawed and inadequate efforts and worked miracles with them. But I could not have agreed with you had I not had the snot kicked out of me, over and over and over again. It's funny to read this and recall what I would have said in response then and how I agree to a large degree. Bringing in the presence of God does not depend on us, but that is different than doing all we can to count His presence as precious and holy. They are different things, but I would not have discerned this in the past.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cindy - I think God takes us through various situations to bring us to a fuller understanding of him.

    I have traveled a similar path to you and was semi-Pelagian when I went to college (possibly full Pelagian because I did not understand original sin at the time).

    I suffered under a seriously flawed church music minister who was determined to force musical styles and forms of "worship" on the congregation, whether they liked it or not. In spite of voluminous complaints against his music presentations, he continued to force what he considered to be proper worship. It came close to destroying the church. All the while he talked of "creating a spirit of worship" by various man-made techniques (like 48 repetitions of the same 4-word phrase).

    That experience made me consider very carefully what the church musicians are intended to be doing. The only thing the Bible says about worship musicians is that the OT musicians were highly trained, skilled and played with excellence (1 Chron 23-25), under the direction of a skilled leader (Neh 12:42), using high quality instruments (2 Chron 9:11) - something seriously lacking in most church music presentations today.

    So I have come to the place that your piano teacher drilled into you (albeit, probably from a far different angle) - we must be careful not to hinder worship, but we absolutely cannot create it.

    I think we have the ability to hinder worship by forcing people to do physical things like raising their hands (or forcing them to not raise their hands) because it draws their attention to their hands and arms instead of Jesus. We can hinder worship by discussing things we want the congregation to notice about the songs ("watch for this word in the song ... it means that this grace cannot be taken away from us"). We can hinder worship by playing or singing poorly so that the focus is on us rather than on Christ. We can hinder worship by not being capable song leaders/musicians because that becomes the focal point.

    Of course, the Holy Spirit can overcome any and all of these things. But it makes no sense for us to do these things intentionally (and even less sense to do them out of some warped agenda). We need to get out of the way and present music with excellence so the congregation may worship musically with ease just as a pastor will preach an exegetical/expositional sermon with excellence to aid the congregants in worship.

    I think today's churches are hopelessly foreign to Christ's concept of Church - and the sad thing is that Christ is the true Head.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You know, that brings up something that bothers me deeply. My teachers gave me so much and did their part to create the place that allowed me to learn all of this. I think I was just finishing high school when the Hosanna worship tapes emerged as a phenomenon, and every televangelist had a set of tapes that held teachings that would get you closer to heaven. I remember when I was in grade school, we loved to hear students come back from Bible School with choruses that were taken right out of the Bible, all in the middle of the wild '70s. I loved the idea of singing the Psalms, though I was given excellent training in hymns and often taught the history of them.

    And I am ashamed that, though I've done all I can to pass on what I've been given, I feel like what my generation has to pass on to the next does not compare to what I was given. That deeply bothers me. I gave it my best, but most people in music ministry don't even read music anymore, let alone have interest in what I was given.

    I don't quite know what to do with that disappointment, but I honestly did all I could to preserve and perpetuate all the good that I was given.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cindy - I completely understand your feelings in this. I feel the same way. Here's a comparison:

    What we were given by the previous generation:

    A Mighty Fortress is our God
    A bulwark never failing
    Our Helper, He amid the flood
    Of mortal ills prevailing
    For still our ancient foe
    Doth seek to work us woe
    His craft and pow'r are great
    And, armed with cruel hate,
    On earth is not his equal

    Did we in our own strength confide
    Our striving would be losing
    Were not the right Man on our side
    The Man of God's own choosing
    Dost ask who that may be?
    Christ Jesus, it is He
    Lord Sabbaoth His Name
    From age to age the same
    And He must win the battle

    And though this world with devils filled
    Should threaten to undo us
    We will not fear for God has willed
    His truth to triumph through us
    The prince of darkness grim
    We tremble not at him
    His rage we can endure
    For, lo, his doom is sure
    One little Word shall fell him

    That Word above all earthly pow'rs,
    Not thanks to them, abideth
    The Spirit and the gifts are ours
    Through Him who with us sideth
    Let goods and kindred go
    This mortal life also
    The body they may kill
    God's truth is living still
    His kingdom is forever

    What we are passing along:

    Father of lights you delight in your children
    Father of lights you delight in your children
    Every good and perfect gift comes from you
    Every good and perfect gift comes from you
    Every good and perfect gift comes from you Father of lights

    Second verse, same as the first:

    Father of lights you delight in your children
    Father of lights you delight in your children
    Every good and perfect gift comes from you
    Every good and perfect gift comes from you
    Every good and perfect gift comes from you Father of lights

    Repeat ad nauseum until "spirit of worship" has been reached. Here's my blogpost about it. That post was written during the tenure of that unbelievably bad worship minister. Check the comments out. Steve is Steve Gaines, the pastor who took over Adrian Roger's church when Adrian died. He pastors a church of thousands and has time to leave snide and snippy comments on a blog read by 3 or so people a day. The Church in America is in big trouble--passing on schlock like "Father of Lights" to a generation being trained by the likes of Steve Gaines, the straps of whose sandles are worthy to be tied by even unrepentant virulent anti-Christians.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Goodness gracious! (Sadly, not the first phrase that came to my mind!)

    I just looked at the responses of "Steve" in that post, and, though I was tempted to see if his name linked to his church website, I think I'm better off being ignorant.

    Richard, it was approaching my elders and pastor about the music ministry that got me into mega trouble at my former cultic church.

    We did a joint service for a funeral or something, and our elders decided that we should be more like the other church's "WORSHIP TEAM." This was at a big meeting that some select elders and pastor called with all the people who did music. I asked just how it was that we were to achieve this, and the one idiot elder said "fast and pray." At the time, I was on day ten of a dilute vegetable juice fast (for which my metabolism is still messed up more than 10 years later). With the hypoglycemia that comes along with the fasting, I started to shake all over because I was so upset and I laid down on the floor because it was so bad. About 4 months later (and after speaking to three elders privately at length), I wrote a letter that I mailed to all the elders at their homes, using some books on the subject (one written by one of their fans from Elim College, Bob Sorgee). I explained that what they wanted was not possible and the pressure that they put on us to change into something would require them to find different musicians.

    We can change songs and we can practice, but we can't be different musicians. We'd all need brain transplants or something! The pastor and a few select elders were more concerned that I was guilty of the sins of the sons of Korah, and another woman, I believe, was instructed to come and tell me that I had leprosy like Miriam. There were 6 people on my "worship team" and four of them are long gone and no longer attend church there. We are not in contact with one another, either.

    The best that I could do there was to put old hymns to new music or teach jazz versions of some more upbeat hymns so that people could at least know that hymns exist. And as I recall, there was usually some huge argument amongst the musicians when we messed around with a hymn.

    So my one experience of approaching the elders was useless as to the desired outcome that I had in mind.

    I was also the pianist at my Assemblies of God church for a few years, and we didn't even have the chords written out for some of these new choruses. I was on a missions trip a few years ago, and some kid used "I can see clearly now, the rain has gone" (from the 70s secular music) as a worship song for church -- ON A MISSIONS TRIP! I got to "jam" with the nationals at the Sunday service which was fantastic, but the teens that we met up with from another church took over everything. It was less worship and more about entertainment for them. They were completely disinterested in ministering or learning about the nationals, their music or what they thought of "I can see clearly now..." But the place was ripe with mind-numbing Vineyard tunes that I still can barely tolerate.

    (Not to say that every Vineyard worship or Hosannah tune is worthless or annoying. Some are better than others. But in the long haul, I don't know what their overall contribution has been to the church. I wouldn't rank "Father of Lights" up there with the best ones. And don't get me started on the doctrinal errors!!!! Hymnology is questionable enough.)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Cindy - Sorry about that link to the search for Father of Lights. Here's the proper link. Perhaps this is a topic we need to collaborate on. I've wanted to address this for quite some time. It's very interesting to hear your experiences and see how closely they parallel mine.

    Although a very sad term, I think the "worship wars" is a reasonably accurate phrase. Voddie Baucham has argued that those who demand contemporary praise music are saying "God lives in the 1970s" and those who demand hymns are saying, "No, God lives in the 1930s." I think he's missing the point.

    There is good poetry and bad poetry. There is good music and bad music. There is good musicianship and bad musicianship. We should always strive for the better - giving our "first fruits," so to speak.

    I love some contemporary worship and despise some of it. I love some old hymns (and despise some of them). It all comes down to the quality of the lyrical message, the quality of the poetry involved, the quality of the melody and subsequent harmony (if any), and the quality of the performance.

    I wrote another post during the time previously mentioned in which I discussed the fact that in an effort to "promote worship" many current worship leaders are blocking worship - or at least discouraging it.

    This time I'll give the actual link, rather than a link to the search. (Sorry about that)

    We try too hard to force our own views on others and when it enters the arena of congregational worship it becomes particularly agregious.

    I would love to collaborate with you on an article or something about this topic. I think an article on this topic written from the perspective of a church musician is long overdue.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Richard,

    I've got to think that our experiences parallel any trained musician. My piano teacher gave private lessons at Valley Forge Christian College and earned a Masters in Music from West Chester (in PA). She taught piano and organ in her home after her regular job to just about every Assemblies of God and Pentecostal kid in the Lehigh Valley, PA. There were a few that went on to study music including her son. I am tempted to try to get in touch with him. And I can't help thinking that, for those who studied seriously, that those former students can only have the same opinion as I do.

    Then, there are those who taught themselves or the guitarists who grabbed a Mel Bay chart and figured out how to play (that's what I did, but after I knew music theory, etc. from piano). There are the hot dogs who play piano by ear, and can be good, but do not really practice or appreciate what a trained musician does. I am odd in that I can do both (or could do both a million years ago). I've worked with some great musicians who were not trained but who approached worship with the reverence that I was raised to have, and those who fly by the seat of their pants. In recent years, I am familiar only with the latter. (or the ones that still think it's 1930).

    My husband, a former member of the Bethlehem Moravian Trombone Chior and Class of '91 Drum Major for the Highty Tighties (military corps band) at Virginia Tech, etc, etc, has a billion thoughts on this as well. [He once got into trouble for having the band play "Liberty Bell" and marching the band around like a mess of pipes at a game, in honor of the Monty Python theme, BTW.] He has always wrestled against the very "70's" mindset of just worshiping and not feeling compelled to offer God the very best offering. We have to offer God excellence, at least our excellence. I thought that's what music programs at Christian colleges were supposed to be teaching, but I can't figure out where all the graduates are?

    Let me know where you want to go with this... I loved theory better than anything and composition (writing stuff I cannot even play!). I've found more of a niche in singing.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your husband was the 1981 Highty Tighty drum major - and both of use got in trouble for the infamous Monty Python pipes drill (of which I wrote). Later we were both fired over the Second Connecticut March.

    Who knew marching bands could be so controverial?

    Steve Prevette
    Music and Performance Officer
    HT 81

    Say hi to Gary.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Praise God for the Gettys, who are contemporary hymnwriters. They understand the need for good lyrics and an easy to remember tune -- so that the truths of God may be sung in our hearts over and over. The Power of the Cross is just one of several Getty songs that I love. Here's there website. http://www.gettymusic.com/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Richard and Hi Steve!

    I mentioned the Virginia Tech Highty Tighties and the infamous Liberty Bell march because Richard has an appreciation for Python. I never expected another Gang of Four member to end up here!

    For some strange reason, I said he was class of '91 which was a typo. It was '81. That is probably age denial or something.

    The Gang of Four was an infamous group of VT Military Corps Band Cadet buddies.

    There was the good (Steve C)
    The bad (Wayne S)
    The ugly (Steve P who posts here who wrote out the Monty Python Liberty Bell march interpretation for the field under Gary's direction)
    and
    The Obscure (my husband, Gary the Drum Major in '81)

    Thank you, Richard, for letting us invade your blog with silliness, giving us an opportunity to catch up with one another.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Mary - I love Keith Getty's music. It is absolutely some of the best Christian music written in the past few decades. "In Christ Alone" is my favorite hymn ever.

    Everyone else - feel free to "invade" my blog anytime. The welcome mat is out.

    ReplyDelete

No personal attacks. No profanity.

Please keep your comments in good taste. Leave a name so we know who you are. Your comments are welcome, but anonymous flames and sacrilege will be deleted.