As I pointed out in a previous posting, I have read a lot of criticism of contemporary worship. I figured it was time to offer a defense.
1. Contemporary worship allows us to worship God in our own “language”. In many senses it is similar to when the Bible first got translated into the vernacular, and people no longer had to worship in Latin. Today, only a small percentage of people listen to classical music. Yes, many like myself appreciated classical, but it isn’t the music of my generation or the generations that have followed. In the same way that most evangelical churches have switched from the King James Version to the New International Version (and other versions), the move to contemporary music has also allowed Christians to worship God in their own heart language.
2. The extended worship that many churches have today has its basis in scripture. It reflects the praise that we see in the Psalms (and in many cases borrows directly from the Psalms) and it gives us a glimpse of what Heaven will be like. As I said in a comment to a previous post:
When we get to heaven, if I am reading the book of Revelation correctly, we are going to be doing a whole lot of worshiping. I appreciate the fact on Sunday Morning that I can get a glimpse of what that will be like.
Michael Spencer picked up on my comments in a post on worship where he wrote:
Michael makes what is probably evangelicalism’s best case for its particular approach to music-dominated worship: the eschatological visions in the Book of Revelation…
While Jesus has always been what he is and will be in essence, his roles as mediator, intercessor, empowerer and eschatological Lord of the universe are seen more clearly post-ascension.
I also agree with Michael that the book of Revelation is a dependable source for the liturgical design of worship, and the place and content of musical worship in particular. Revelation is a book that is closely tied to the actual words of the resurrected and ascended Jesus, especially his evaluation and commands to his church. We should pay attention to it…
Contemporary worship does have a solid theological underpinning. There are of course other alternatives to contemporary worship that also have their own biblical and theological support. We have to be careful not to fall into the trap of says, “My worship is biblical, your worship is different, therefore your worship is not biblical.”
3. One of criticisms of Contemporary Worship is that it has lost the sense of lament. If we compare the songs that we sing today with the Psalms for example, we will find that the Psalms had significantly more elements of lament than we find in today’s music. But if our Worship reflects worship in heaven, we see why there is not much lament in our songs today. (It also may be why we see more repetition that some people are comfortable with.)
Here is the list of the top 10 worship songs in the U.S. (from Feb. 2008) as tracked by CCCLI.
1. How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Ed Cash
2. Blessed Be Your Name – Matt & Beth Redman
3. Here I Am To Worship – Tim Hughes
4. Open The Eyes Of My Heart – Paul Baloche
5. Shout To The Lord – Darlene Zschech
6. Holy Is The Lord – Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio
7. You Are My King – Billy Foote
8. Forever – Chris Tomlin
9. Lord I Lift Your Name On High – Rick Founds
10. Come Now Is The Time To Worship – Brian Doerksen
These are truly uplifting songs of worship, the sorts of songs that would fit right in with a heavenly choir. Yes, only one of the songs, “Blessed be your name” has elements of lament, but I am not sure that the hymns that I was singing back in the 60s and 70s contained that much lament either.
4. Modern worship is experiential. Some have noted that worship today is more about singing to God, rather than singing about God. Others have complained, that there is too many intimate “Jesus is my boyfriend” kind of songs. A look through my hundreds of worship songs that I have song over the years shows that as an overall genre, this is hardly the case. I could find at most two percent of songs which had a “Jesus is my boyfriend” kind of feel.
To those who have an issue with the experiential, I ask: “What is wrong with wanting to draw close to God?” Jesus commanded us to “love the lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength.” Worship needs to be a participatory experience that involves your whole body. If you feel that this is outside your comfort zone, maybe you need to look at stretching your comfort zone.
One of primary Hebrew words for praise, “YADAH”, has as its root the Hebrew word for hand “YAD”. Praise is an expressive thing, people used their hands. One of my key frustrations is being in a church where an expressive song is played that has words like “I lift my hands”, and seeing the majority of hands left down by people’s side. I think their is a need generally for people to get both more expressive and experiential with their worship. A good worship leader is key in facilitating this. If you feel that your worship leader is not up to snuff in this area, approach your board about making resources available so that your worship leader can broaden his horizons. Most worship leaders will not turn down the opportunity to go to a seminar or two.
5. I like many different varieties of music. I find that if I go to church with the attitude that I am going to worship God no matter the type of music, I feel that worship tends to come a lot easier. If I say instead, I am not going to appreciate worship today if it is “X” type of music, then I am really preventing myself from receiving everything that God has for me on that day.
Michael Bell
Joshua Hearne
Tim Melton
Joel Black
Isn’t it interesting that when people talk about “contemporary” (or “traditional”) worship, 90% of the time what they’re really talking about is musical styles? What I’d like to see just once is a full blown liturgy with Gloria, Kyrie, Sanctus, and the rest, all sung in a contemporary style, complete with drums, guitars, and lifted hands (at the appropriate parts).
I too would like to see MUCH MORE VARIETY in our services. One of favourite services of all time was in Charismatic Anglican service in Regina, Saskatchewan. It was an amazing combination of liturgy, contemporary worship, traditonal hymns, waving banners, and charismatic elements.
It is an exceptional individual who has had exposure to many worship traditions who is able to plan and organize that type of service. I would love to say that I could plan that sort of service, but I am not sure that I could pull it off.
Instead there are little things that I would like to do to make our services more interesting. Scripture reading is one area that could easily be a lot more dynamic. (Divide the congregation in half, have them face each other, and alternate reading of the verses, or have several people pop-up around the congregation, each reading a couple of versus – This is one way to include younger people.)
One of the few traditional hymns that has been updated in a new style, and done well, is Rock of Ages by Graham Kendrick. The new version is hauntingly beautiful and fits the lyrics much better than the old.
I found your blog through Darrell’s blog: http://www.pursiful.com. After reading a little, I figured I’d keep reading and when I started my blog I put the blogs on there that I regularly check.
Good stuff.
I have no idea why there are so many baptist congregations (or congregations in general) in Danville. Danville’s population used to be more along the lines of 80k instead of the 40-45k it is now. There are only four CBF churches here, though. It creates its own set of challenges and advantages.
I appreciate the kinds words and enjoy what you’re writing.
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Worship is just that… celebration. Think about the days when you weren’t rolling with the Lord. Instead, you were rolling with a fifth of JD in your passenger seat looking for that next party.
Some folk like loud, headbangin’ parties. Others appreciate the demur house music and lines of well, ‘stuff’ on a glass dining room table. And even others like their parties to be more mundane with adult beverages and fire on the grill.
All of that is relevant for this reason – we carry that same persnickety attitude into our search for a church home. If it’s not rockin’ and rollin’ as we PREFER, we don’t go. It doesn’t mean the church is bad in anyway, it’s just your preferred method to celebrate Jesus.
Worship is wonderful, and if there are THAT many different opinions of celebration when it comes to Christ, imagine what the second coming will be like.
That alone should make someone worship a little better.