Art and Worship

A question to my last post was of a nature that I decided to make this separate post to answer it.

Here is the question:   Great thoughts on a taken-for-granted subject. I was helped in this area by Francis Shaeffer’s, “How Should We Then Live?” In this post you said, “We have abandoned the entire field to personal preference. We give ourselves over to whatever tickles our emotions and immediate passions.” I agree. But here’s a loaded question. Don’t know if you’ll take the bait. Do you think the same could be said for the use and practice of the arts in the church? How do we evaluate our worship to keep it out of the shallows?

Answer:

Thanks for the Question. I feel like the hound dog in the old Buggs Bunny cartoons being handed an old fashioned phone by Foghorn Leghorn not realizing the part I put up to my ear is a stick of dynamite. Let me rush in where angels fear to tread.

Musical worship is to be God centered and not man centered. Man centering occurs in a number of different ways. When quality, emotion, sentiment, style, and several other human  desires rise to a place of too high of importance we are off course. Even though it is God centered, it is meant to engage humanity in worshiping Him. Consequently, quality, sentiment, style, etc..... have a necessary place. Where are the lines?  Who makes the call? Is God's desire for worship unknowable?

God's desire for musical worship specifics is unknowable to the extent we would like. If only Jesus would have walked around the Sea of Galilee humming the tunes that were His favorites. Scripture's silence on the subject is noteworthy. We are left to fearfully and creatively extract methods and specifics of worship within the context of a Spirit led community that works to discern the ethos of Scripture. This flies in the face of our desire to autonomously critique and decide on worship methods in the privacy of our own minds. We want to bypass communities and authorities God has placed in the church and become self made dictators of preferences based on our supposed mastery of absolutes.

Primarily we need to keep in mind that leadership is responsible and accountable for worship styles and offerings. The rest of us are responsible only for how we approach worship. This should relieve us of being perpetual critics. Unfortunately, we are too demanding and continue to step in the same puddle of making our preferences into absolutes. It is leadership's responsibility to wrestle appropriately with sentiment, emotion, stardom, quality, style, etc..... If we are invited into that process, we go with humility and deference. If we are not invited and it frustrates us, there is probably something beyond worship that we need to learn about our own hearts.

Leadership, on the other hand, is responsible for what is put forth artistically to lead the community in worship. They too must be humble and open, yet they must ultimately make decisions. They must work hard to guard against empty sentiment, man-centered emotionalism, and shoddy offerings that are passed off as "earthy". Things like timing, quality and and how to feature people in the process is also important. They will miss the mark at times, but so will I in my teaching and writing.

Some  church's boast of their "superior" quality  musicians.  Others prefer using as many  volunteers as possible. Some churches believe in quiet, reverent traditional hymns, while others say "holy" can be witnessed only where freedom reigns. Which is right? I am not sure. I would be very cautious to raise one above the other. Our leadership is responsible for our choices, and their leadership is responsible for their choices. For my part, I am responsible for neither.

I believe a big part of our problem is the amount of choice we expect from the marketplace. It is so much a part of our worldview that church becomes just another consumer interaction where I go to get what I want. Unfortunately, indulging my wants often precludes me from getting what I need.

Often we pontificate about "pure" and "authentic" worship while at the same time we treat our spouses/kids poorly, don't joyfully give our money to our church, don't pray, don't study Scripture, and on and on.  It is as if 30 minutes of music is the sole expression of our spirituality. No wonder we're so demanding. That 30 minutes must undo the hypocrisy of the remainder of our week.

Additionally, we immerse ourselves in crappy TV/crappy movies/crappy romance novels/video games/facebook and more. We literally dumb down our thinking and then show up Sunday thinking the way we think is the way God thinks.

For the participant in musical worship - be still and know He is God and He has put leadership and community in place to bring praise to Himself.

For leaders - understand emotionalism, sentimentality, and shallowness so you may guard against them. Above all else, know the Biblical story intimately and live it, so your music will reflect it.