Toga Party For Jesus (and other thoughts on traditionalism)

Imagine that a group of believers said to themselves, "we want to be Christ-like and Christ wore a toga (really a robe) and sandals, so let's start doing the same". Aside from this being really weird, these well-meaning folks could be said to have totally missed the point regarding the essence of Christ.

Traditionalists, please forgive me or enlighten me.... maybe I haven't been listening well but I'm not so sure you guys have been communicating well either... but traditionalism seems like throwing a Toga party for Jesus.

Yes Christ wore a robe and sandals.... and while you're at it, he had a beard.... but to dress like Christ totally misses the point of His teachings. In the same way, to say that Christian worship has to be expressed with 300 year old music, pipe organs, stained glass windows, a 'table of the Lord', and all the other 'smells & bells', seems to miss the point just the same in my mind.

For both traditionalists and the ancient/future folks, I hear them talking about wanting to connect with the rich history we have inherited as believers. I can appreciate and even value that within the context that G.K. Chesterton explained tradition as the 'democracy of the dead'. The Holy Spirit has spoken to not just our generation, but to generations of believers past.... the historic church.... but I would contend that what He said had nothing directly to do with 'smells & bells'. If we REALLY want to connect with what the Holy Spirit has done historically through the church, I would contend we should affirm the BELIEFS and VALUES that the Holy Spirit has passed down to us through Christ and the Apostles. Those beliefs and values are in the form of loving our neighbors as ourselves, loving God with all our hearts and souls, and expressing worship as the community known as the church chiefly in the form of loving one another but also in the forms of partaking of communion, baptism, and singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to one another.


So if I truly value tradition, tradition isn't found in stained glass windows, choirs, hymns, bells, incense and the like. Christian tradition is found in loving one another, turning the cheek, walking in the Spirit....



The rest can be helpful but shouldn't be our dogma. So if you're a traditionalist and you prefer a toga, that's fine as long as you hold on to your toga loosely. If it helps you express worship, functioning as a symbol, that's great but we err to ever mistake the symbols/styles for the substance, mistaking the medium for the message or mistaking the sign for the truth to which it points.

The greatest tradition of a Christ follower should be to love God and love one another. THAT is how we connect to generations of believers past.

Worship, Purpose by Another Name

In the Old Testament, a believer who wanted to worship God had to go to a place of worship. That place had to have an altar, and a sacrifice. Genesis 22 is a great example of this model as Abraham is trudging up the mountain with his son who unbeknownst to him, is planned as being the sacrifice.

As history progressed, the children of Israel’s place of worship changed from the mount tops to the tabernacle and later to a temple. After the 2^nd temple was destroyed, the believer worshipped in a synagogue.

But when Christ died on the cross, something profound happened. The veil of the temple, which separated the holy of holies, was torn. The barrier between sacred and secular was removed. Why?

Christ said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” – John 2:19. Paul, wrote, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?” – I Cor 3:16.

The temple, the place of worship, is no longer a building or structure, or any other external place. The place of worship is now the believer.

But if worship is doing religious stuff how can this be? How can the temple be subject to the menial tasks of mowing the lawn, commuting to work, or even important, but secular duties such as working 9 to 5?

The monk’s idea of worship was to abandon all of this stuff. Seen as a distraction, the monk left such things behind, sold all of their possessions, and lived in a monastery, where for the rest of their lives, they could do religious stuff like pray, meditate, etc….

However, if this is God’s plan for the worshipping believer, than why did He make life to be such a persistent distraction from these activities? Could there be a better answer?

Could it be that God doesn’t want us to worship Him by abandoning life itself? I believe that He wants us to worship Him IN life. He wants us to worship him while mowing that lawn, taking the kids to school, eating dinner, etc. How can we do this you ask? It is not by turning every event into a prayer, communion, baptism, Bible study or other religious activity. The answer lies in the realization that true, Biblical worship is meaning.

There is a question that haunts every human soul. That question is, “What is the meaning of my life?” This is the God-shaped hole that Augustine wrote about. This is the longing that C.S. Lewis and even nonbelievers like Anias Nin recognized. Only God can fulfill it.

Christian worship is purpose by another name. What makes every moment of my life an act of worship is not whether or not I am attaching it to a “religious” sacrament, but rather the intent of that moment. It is our intentions, our very heart’s purpose, that can make every act of life an act of worship. Just to use the mowing the lawn example, let me demonstrate.

Why mow the lawn when the next week the grass will be long again? Why do something that has such a short-term benefit? The believer worships the Creator while mowing, having a sense of purpose and fellowship with Him in everything he/she does, even when his/her mind is on something trivial. I might be thinking about how I need to scatter some grass seed in some bare spots, but because my life’s purpose is for God’s purposes, even these thoughts are worshipful. I ultimately want even green grass for His glory. And He wants me to enjoy even my lawn because He is a loving father, who wants me to enjoy all of His creation. Worship is our delight of the father. And what’s more is that He delights in us as well!

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4

I also will mow the lawn with the idea that if I don’t, it’s a horrible witness on my neighbors who should know about my faith and not appreciate an unkempt lawn bringing down their property values. Such a bad impression could be a stumbling block in my leading them to Christ.

I can keep going, but the point is echoed in Martin Luther’s statement that even a dairy farmer can worship God as he milks a cow. The point is that worship is 24 hrs/day, 7 days a week to the believer. Our lives are a song to Him.

So what we typically call the “worship” portion of our church services, is not aptly named. Although, I also use this terminology because if you can’t beat em’, join em, technically, a worship leader really just continues a 24/7 worship (think “walking in the Spirit”), but brings it into a corporate/congregational setting.

That special time that we reserve in our church services can be called congregational worship. It is special in that it is the one time during the week where we might worship God not as individuals, but as a church community, enjoying both the fellowship of God and man.

And why do we use music when we could use liturgy for this coming together? Liturgy is certainly valid and Biblical, however the advantages of music for corporate worship are these:

1.      The rhythm of music can be used to synchronize the community. The beat actually unifies everyone so that we’re all singing the same thing at the same time. Just let your heart or the celestial bodies get out of rhythm, and you’ll quickly see the benefits of the synchronizing effect of rhythm.

2.      The beauty (aesthetics) of worship augments the message of the music.

3.      Music converges propositions with the visceral. It is the coalescence of the heart and the mind, the intellect with the emotions. Christianity is truly holistic.

So, to be literal, I would more accurately call myself either a music director, or the corporate worship leader of a church. I prefer the latter, because I believe that God has called me to model and teach worship, NOT simply music.

Shredding Churchiness

In the previous posting “Freedom of Style”, we talked about the “Three E’s” where we explored the Biblical imperative for the church to structure its services so that God is exalted, the believer is edified, or built up, and the seeker is evangelized. I concluded this article by asking what worship music might look like if it conforms to this mandate.

It’s relatively easy to establish music that exalts the Lord. Such music should be Biblically sound, should give Him glory, highlighting who He is and what He has done.  I see this as being primarily a focus on lyrical content, although some styles of music can distract one from God.

Choosing a worship style that edifies the believer is not necessarily any more difficult, except where such a strategy conflicts with the goal of the third E of evangelization. I would suggest that the third E of evangelism is potentially the most controversial, causing a lot of headaches for worship leaders.
As stated in “Freedom of Style”, I believe that God has given us the freedom to use any style as worship music. However, this freedom of style does not mean that we are free from practical considerations.

Drawing from a pool of styles that should all exalt the Lord and edify the believer, we now ask which styles are best suited to allowing us to evangelize the seeker? Which styles are seeker-sensitive? Which styles give the seeker the least amount of distractions from the Gospel? Which present the least amount of speed bumps, and pave the smoothest path to a relationship with the living God?
To think of it in another way, if a seeker were to walk in on a Sunday morning in the middle of a worship service, how can we better ensure that if they ARE offended, that they will most likely be offended by the truth of the Gospel, instead of by an irrelevant or irreverent music style?

Given the fact that popular music is mass marketed, it is easy to determine which musical styles both seekers and believers should be able to relate to. One doesn’t even have to consult marketing surveys (although they can be helpful). Marketing trends are easily seen in pop culture. Just do a scan on your FM radio dial. What styles of music dominate? And out of those styles, which can be used to serve the three E’s?

You will most likely not hear classical pipe organ music with vocals during that FM scan. You will unfortunately find classical orchestra music relegated to non-profit radio stations because of their lack of popularity. It is unlikely that you will find music that sounds like Christian Southern Gospel on secular stations. You will find that the popular musical landscape is dominated by guitars, drums and bass, with the guitar usually being central.  And of course vocal music is vastly more popular than instrumental.

The FM radio scan helps us identify what I call “churchy” music. I define churchy as the things that the church uses to unnecessarily distinguish itself from the world. This can even go so far as to be legalism when taken to an extreme.

“You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." - Mark 7:8
While there’s nothing wrong with more traditional styles of worship music, such music is foreign to most seeker’s minds, especially the unchurched seeker.  What instruments dominate the cultural landscape? What kind of vocal styles are most popular? What sounds are considered modern and what sounds are dated?

The driving force behind these questions is the church’s freedom, given by God to adopt the culture’s styles so long as the truth of God’s word is never compromised. After all, if one wants to catch fish, you have to use the right bait.

Paul did this:
19Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. I Corinthians 9:19-23

Even with this in mind, I do believe that it is good for the church to sing hymns and do traditional music in order to remember where we have come from and to keep a historical perspective. I also see traditional music as bridging generation gaps that can otherwise occur.  In my opinion, all of these considerations serve the E of edification, without significantly hindering evangelization. And in many cases, these elements will even help to serve evangelization.

And by the criteria of the FM radio scan litmus test, one will also never hear choirs or even praise teams singing vocal lines. The use of choirs and praise teams may be limited to church culture, however because I defined churchy as that which the church unnecessarily distinguishes itself from the world, I wouldn’t call this a churchy characteristic.  The very reason for the church is to enjoy the presence of God (worship) in the fellowship of believers (community).

Although the sound of worship team vocalists, or choirs might not be a sound heard on FM radio, the practice of using praise teams and choirs reinforces the Biblical imperative that the church should be a functioning, fellowshipping community. Furthermore, it is very unlikely that a seeker is going to be deterred by this distinction.

Now how do we handle the believer who feels left behind by the whole approach outlined thus far? Galatians 5 indicates that the fruit of the spirit is evident by the fact that we believers should not be driven by selfish desires. We are challenged to be a living sacrifice for God, always esteeming others higher than ourselves (Philippians 2:3).

As a worship leader, I don’t want ANY believer to have to suffer through the worship styles that I might be tasked to lead. However, good ministry has been said to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”. If we believers can’t worship God through the “suffering” of worship styles that we might not like (and I include myself under all the standards that I am laying down in this series of articles), how can we possibly worship God as Job did in the midst of much, much greater suffering?

 ”Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.” – Luke 6:26

If following Christ inevitably leads to displeasing some people, which is preferable? Would it be better to please some immature believers in our congregations and hinder advancing God’s kingdom? Or is it best to allow these immature believers to either suffer the growth pains necessary to blossom into maturity, even at the risk of them leaving our fellowships, thus saving our fellowships from being “infected” with their influence so that the kingdom of God can advance?

Freedom Of Style

Scripture is silent on worship music styles. It is because of this silence, that I can confidently say that God has given us freedom in this area. If He wanted to only sanction a particular style for worship music, He would have said so. He would not have forgotten to mention this in His revelation to us.

So how do we handle this freedom? While there are no Biblical prohibitions in regards to musical styles, there are practical considerations.

If one were to perform “Mary Had A Little Lamb” in a heavy metal style, there would be a sense of conflict between the message of the music and the style that would cause most people to laugh and not take the music seriously. If one were to play a dirge at a funeral in an upbeat, poppy style, or play wedding reception music in a style more suited for a requiem, there would be a cognitive dissonance, a disconnection between the style and the message of the music. This would be akin to a preacher dressing in a clown suit while delivering his sermon on Sunday morning.

These considerations limit the practical boundaries for worship music. There is a reason why heavy metal music tends to have aggressive and dark lyrics. Those lyrics fit the emotions that the style inspires and in its listeners. There is a reason why pop music tends to have upbeat lyrics, country music tends to tell colloquial stories, blues tends to be dominated by themes of struggle and even depression, etc…

Another boundary for worship music is that the music must be congregationally singable. Some songs are great, but difficult to sing. They might work well as a special, but not as a congregational worship song. Some musicians complain about an over-simplistic approach taken with congregational worship music, but this is a necessity for most congregational music, especially congregations who no longer have the liberty of music books with scores where the melodies can be read.

So all of these considerations can help us to identify musical styles that can best be suited for worship. We’re looking for simpler forms of music that are styled in ways to inspire our imaginations to see God for who He really is, celebrate His goodness, the salvation that He has given us, and the fellowship of other believers.

This excludes complex music styles like some forms of jazz, fusion, progressive rock and classical. This excludes dark styles like heavy metal (unless we want to start singing songs about God’s judgment and end times :-). This excludes the “All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down”, country western styles that evoke images of drowning in our sorrows, but not bathing in the goodness of God. None of this is a judgment against these styles as sources for entertainment.  But they fall short of presenting the truths that worship music should carry.

Styles of worship music that might fit the above criteria include, hymns, done in a classical, southern or urban Gospel style. Contemporary worship music, which is really Christian music done in a pop/rock or even modern country style, also fits the bill. But as we will see, the church’s worship music should be “purpose driven”. That purpose is summed up in 'the Three E's':

The Three E’s

I believe that every ministry in the church should be driven by three E’s; Exalt the Lord, Edify the believer, and Evangelize the lost.

Exalt the Lord is as obvious as breathing. I’ve never met a person who was anti-breathing. As a result, you won’t hear a lot of talk advocating breathing. You won’t find a Surgeon General’s warning stating, “Not breathing has been shown in lab studies to cause death in 10 out of 10 cases.” Because Exalt the Lord is also such an evidentiary truth, scripture doesn’t belabor this point, and neither do I, but I clearly believe and affirm it.

The second two E’s are seen in many places in Scripture. I will shine light on their presence in I Corinthians 14. While Paul is building an argument for the proper function of tongues within the church service, the presuppositions of his points can be used to build a case for a proper practice of anything within the church that we might question, including the use of worship music.

In verses 1-19, Paul builds his argument from the presupposition that everything that occurs within the church should build up (edify) the believer.

Verse 12 highlights this presupposition:

“So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.”

Therefore, a priority for structuring a church service is to be “believer-sensitive”.

In verses 20-25, Paul builds his argument based upon the presupposition that the church should always ask, “What if an unbeliever were to be among us”? Here’s an excerpt:

23So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"

So what does worship music look like that ministers to the believer, is seeker-sensitive and pleases God?

I explore this in more detail in my next post: “Shedding Churchiness”

What To Look For In A Worship Leader

The quandary that churches without a worship leader often find themselves in is that they don’t always know what to look for. They might know what leadership qualities to look for given that the search committee will likely consist of leaders, but typically this group of leaders doesn’t have a musician or singer who is knowledgeable about music on their team. As a result, they won’t know what to look for in those areas.

But just to make sure we’re on the same page, the leadership qualities that you want to look for are:

1. Someone who clearly loves God and people
2. Someone who is gifted and called to be a leader and therefore has leadership, administrative and organizational skills.
3. Someone who has a sense of humor can really help, especially to lighten things when difficult decisions and situations arise.
4. A great communicator.
5. Has a strong theological foundation for worship
6. A good teacher

Before I discuss the musical styles, let me say something about this last point, because it is often missed. Do you want the quality of your church’s music department to improve? A worship leader who cannot teach may be able to tell the worship team that they are at level A and need to go to level B, but does not have the ability to equip the team as to how to get there. This would have been akin to Moses coming in to tell the Children of Israel that they needed to go to the promised land, but to not know the first thing about which direction to even point them in.

The inability of a worship leader to teach can bring frustration as a result. The best such a worship leader may be able to do is to work within the limits of the current team and not try and grow them musically. Unless your worship team is a group of top-notch singers and musicians, this is not an option. And if you’re a non-musician leader, it is difficult to even make his judgment. It’s true that anyone can know what they like, but a well-trained, knowledgeable worship leader can hear a worship team and immediately hear their strengths and weaknesses, being able to formulate a plan to raise the bar of musical excellence in the spirit of giving God our best.

Now, what are the musical gifts to look for in a worship leader?

1. Can sing and/or play either guitar or piano
2. Music reading
3. Can play by ear
4. Knows music theory
5. Can sing/play in the style(s) that best suit your church’s vision
6. Can use a computer to communicate and create/distribute charts.

Many of the above points may be optional for your church. You be the judge as I expound on each.

1.      Can sing and/or play either guitar or piano/keys/organ

Worship leaders that can only do one or the other are very dependent upon lay people to lead worship. This can work under rare circumstances, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I’ve found that most churches that have a worship leader without one of these critical skills, usually regret their choice later on as problems arise.

The most obvious problem is what the worship leader might do when the key layperson doesn’t show up. Furthermore, such a layperson can come to feel that they are being taken advantage of if the worship leader is getting paid. This can cause unnecessary divisions and strife.

I have seen worship leaders who are successful that play other instruments besides guitar and piano. They still suffer from the layperson dependence, but if they are knowledgeable about music, and don’t lean on one particular musician, but instead rely on the band as a whole showing up, the potential for acrimony is greatly reduced. But rightly or wrongly, there seems to be a cultural expectation that a worship leader, especially a more contemporary one, should be able to play guitar or piano.

If I had to choose between a worship candidate that could only do one or the other, I’d opt for the worship leader that plays an instrument but can’t sing. This type of worship leader is more likely to understand the inner workings of music at a level where they can best equip the team. It’s also usually easier to find plenty of lay people who sing at your average church so as to mitigate the absentee layperson problem.

But a worship leader who can only do one or the other, is more likely to be strong at developing the side they are good at on the worship team, but neglect the other. The vocalist worship leader is often going to be great at working with the singers and choir, but will miss critical details to develop the band. The instrumentalist is likely to be great at developing the band but poor at developing the vocalists. This can cause factions on the worship team as one subgroup will feel neglected and the other favored.

If your worship leader can sing, it is important that they have the ability to sing harmonies. This is even critical if they can’t play an instrument because all they will have left for communicating to the worship team is their voice. They will need a very good ear unless they can at least plunk out a few chords or notes on an instrument as a reference point. Fortunately, many vocalist only worship leaders seem to be able to do this.

2.      Music reading

Music reading is probably most important if your church is traditional or has some sort of blend, however it is definitely useful to all styles. This skill is particularly helpful when the worship leader needs to learn a new song, can’t play by ear or doesn’t have a recording, and only has a score or lead sheet available to them.

Music reading is probably more important for keyboard players than guitarists so much so that usually if your worship leader candidate can play a keyboard, they have most likely already learned to read music at some level.

Because of the nature of the guitar, most guitarists never need to learn how to read music. Since most contemporary worship music is in a chord chart form, this is perfectly fine for the contemporary worship leader. But where I’ve seen this become an issue is when this worship leader needs to do a hymn that they have never heard before. If this worship leader can read music, they can figure out the melody from a hymn book and go from there. Otherwise, they are left with finding a recording and creating or finding a supplemental chord chart.

3.      Can play by ear

Playing by ear is another skill that is not absolutely necessary but helpful in ways that the non-musician might not realize. A worship leader who can play by ear will not have to bury their head in a music stand to watch the music go by. They have the potential to look at the congregation as they lead which makes for a more effective worship experience.

I say that they have the potential for this, because the worship leader who plays by ear still has to know the lyrics of the song that they might be singing. If your church projects lyrics on the back of the wall, or a screen within the field of vision of the worship leader, no distracting music stand will be necessary for them in most cases.

Secondly, playing by ear helps a worship leader to improvise and be spontaneous. This may or not be a priority for your church depending upon your church’s vision of worship.

Finally, a worship leader who can play by ear can draft their own charts for the band simply by hearing the song. This is such an advantage when charts are otherwise not available.

4.      Knows music theory

This is not a necessity, but a worship leader that knows music theory is better equipped to communicate to the worship team. Music theory is a language shared by musicians, which describes music. Not all musicians know the language, but for those that do, the communication process is much more efficient, essentially allowing for practices to go smoother.

It is much easier for a worship leader to be able to tell the team that they need to suspend the V chord in the song when it appears at the end of the verse, than to have to tell the keyboard and guitarists to play a D suspended, tell the rest of the instruments to make sure that if they are playing harmonies that they don’t play the F#, and show the harmony vocalists what this note sounds like.

Granted, in almost all cases you’ll have people on the team that don’t know music theory, however a good worship leader long-term can equip the team with the necessary language music theory provides to make communication more efficient and therefore make practices run smoother. I believe it’s ultimately better to raise the bar as long as you equip everyone to reach it, rather than to always stoop to the lowest common denominator.

5.      Can sing/play in the style(s) that best suit your church’s vision

A lot of lay leaders, being non-musical type of people, might miss this. I’ve seen this symptom emerge in many churches that I have visited. You will have a worship leader whose vocal style is ideal for southern gospel or classical, leading contemporary worship. This often happens because that worship leader was at the church when it was more traditional. At some point, the church made the decision to contemporize the  worship. The non-musician laypeople may have the ear to hear that the something doesn’t sound right, but they might know what it is to even realize that it’s the worship leader’s style not fitting the new contemporary vision.

Ideally, you want a worship leader who is versatile in many styles but most everyone has limits. I’m a pretty versatile worship leader, but even so, I’m not cut out to sing southern Gospel or classical. I can play these styles and lean on other vocalists, but if those styles are the heart of your church, I’m not the best candidate for such a church.

6.      Can use a computer to communicate and create/distribute charts.

Some might judge this as an optional trait, but computer skills are critical to most efficiently organizing and leading a worship team. In one e-mail, I can send out a hyperlink to a web site to all of my worship team members. On that web site I have uploaded the lyrics, multimedia slides, MP3s for downloads and listening and chord charts. Without such skills, I am left with making individual phone calls and with trying to hand deliver music to each individual.

Musician-speak

I want to briefly mention some things that are often missed when preparing a worship team for excellence. I have found that the difference between “good enough” and excellence is usually not found in identifying one showstopper defect. It is instead found in a worship team that is able to focus on a bunch of small details, each one of them when viewed in isolation can seem so small as to be inconsequential, but when viewed as a whole, make a huge difference. I often see many established worship leaders missing these details. As I have heard their teams, the things on this list usually are the culprits:

• Vocalists (lead excluded) who sing all the time
• Musicians who play all the time
• Vocalists who constantly harmonize
• Vocalists with too wide of a vibrato
• Vocalists with too much vibrato
• Vocalists/musicians out of tune
• Lack of dynamics
• Poor mix
• Musicians who play over top of each other instead of leaving room for others
• Guitarists and keyboardists who use sounds/tones/patches that don’t suit the music or its style
• Poor vocal enunciation causing words to be difficult to understand or giving the music the wrong style
• Musicians playing the wrong style for the music
• The wrong instruments used for the style of music being presented

Handling the Lone Dissenter's Complaints

We’ve all experienced it before…. One person complains, “IT IS TOO LOUD!” It’s not that we are insensitive to this complaint. It’s not that we’ve dug our heels in with the attitude that if it’s too loud, you’re too old. The problem is that this complaint is only coming from one person, and it is usually the same person….

My suspicion with such a person is that they’ve made themselves too big. They’ve eclipsed everyone else out of their world. They are so big that their world is too small…. In other words, they assume their experiences equal reality…. the ultimate definition of narcissism.

I therefore have a very simple refutation to this person. When I hear a person like this complain that it is too loud, I retort simply with, “It sounds fine to me”.

My retort isn’t an attempt to offer an answer. It is really a question. I’m really trying to get the complainer to think outside of themselves…. to exercise discernment.

Christopher Hitchens (no friend to Christianity) once wrote, “That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence”. This retort could devolve into the following exchange:

“Yes it is”

“No it’s not”

“YES IT IS!”

“No it’s not.”

And maybe it would be better if it did go this direction. The point is to get the complainer to try to resolve the difference by looking for an OBJECTIVE reference point (like a dB meter) to support or refute their complaint. Without such reference points, we are left with a “he said, she said” impasse. Does Christ not call us to be reconcilers (2 Cor 5:18)?

You see, the complainer has never stopped to consider whether or not their perception is reality…. They’ve never stopped to consider whether or not the problem is with the volume level or with their hearing or tolerance levels….

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes the music is too loud, but if you’re going to give feedback, positive or negative, at least demonstrate that your perspective has been humbly thought through. After all, it is not WHAT we believe but WHY we believe it that ultimately counts.

Spirit Planning

Pastors and leaders, have you considered how much it will cost you and your church if your worship leader truly succeeds at fulfilling the commission you, your church and God have given him/her?

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? – Luke 14:28

One of the most challenging things many churches face is that they might like sausage but they have no idea how it is made. And should we expect anything different when most people on church hiring teams are not qualified or experienced worship leaders?

In addition to the limitations of the interview process, this is further complicated by the fact that a good worship leader won’t simply be a good musician but needs to be a spiritually healthy person, a good organizer, disciplined, passionate, humble, a good communicator and able to meet people where they are even at the expense of his/her ambitions or desires.

If you ask any church, they are going to say that they want their worship leaders to do the best jobs they can. That’s a no-brainer right? No church is going to suggest excellence be compromised. Granted, differences will arise in the definition of excellence, and excellence should never be made into a ‘golden calf’ where we sacrifice people and relationships in the process.

And why might we value excellence? That reason is found in the story of Cain and Abel (see Genesis 4). It is also summarized in Romans 12:1-2 which says that our act of worship is to give God our all. How does a compromise in what people call ‘worship music’ hold up to communicating such a truth?

Disclaimer: worship is MUCH more than merely music. Again, see Romans 12:1-2.

Is a servant greater than his master? If Christ had to sacrifice, will we not at times have to do the same? Anyone who has succeeded at anything will tell you that success comes by having the courage to stare your weaknesses in the eye without flinching. That is the very definition of humility. You can’t become a great singer without first knowing that you have a pitch issue. Otherwise, how will you know what to practice? Growth starts with working on our weaknesses. When we get offended, not because of the critic’s intentions, tone or sensitivity, but by the very fact that they spoke the truth, who REALLY has the problem?

The tendency that I’ve seen in the church is for us to bury our own weaknesses and to enable others to bury theirs as well. This certainly ensures a ‘feel-good’ experience but it is short-lived and ultimately paralyzing.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – I Corinthians 12:10

It is difficult to delight in our weaknesses. I’ve noticed that both insecure and proud people refuse to look at their weaknesses.

Of course, a worship leader, like any servant of Christ, is supposed to always serve in love.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ – Ephesians 4:15

But often times, I find worship leaders can follow this truth and STILL get burned. Could it be because we sometimes have ‘itching ears’?

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. – 2 Timothy 4:3

So where are you in your ministry? Are you the people pleaser who is afraid to tell people the truth lest you risk offending them? Or perhaps you find yourself indiscriminately firing the truth to everyone without practicing the love prescribed in Ephesians 4:15? Or maybe you find yourself throwing pearls at swine (Matthew 7:6). Perhaps you find yourself lacking the patience and discernment to wait until some people might be ready to hear the truth. Many people will unfortunately never experience such growth. Are you willing to offend them? Does your Pastor and church give you such permission (see Luke 6:26)?

In love, are you willing to take the risk of telling people the truth? If you have a vocalist who is pitchy, are you willing to sit down with them, and sensitively and discreetly address the issue, not with condemnation but while offering a helping hand of hope for improvement? Does your church recognize that truly good things come at a price? Is your church willing to risk losing people in the short term in pursuit of God’s greater kingdom?

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble – James 4:6

After examining ourselves to make sure that we do not have planks in own eyes (Matthew 7:3-4), are we as both a church and as worship leaders willing to take people on the journey of facing their weaknesses so that they can overcome fears and insecurities in order to become the people God has called us to be? The journey can be painful and seems paradoxical but I’ve found in my walk with Christ that paradoxes bear his fragrance.

Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39

Counting the Cost

Pastors and leaders, have you considered how much it will cost you and your church if your worship leader truly succeeds at fulfilling the commission you, your church and God have given him/her?
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? – Luke 14:28

One of the most challenging things many churches face is that they might like sausage but they have no idea how it is made. And should we expect anything different when most people on church hiring teams are not qualified or experienced worship leaders?

In addition to the limitations of the interview process, this is further complicated by the fact that a good worship leader won’t simply be a good musician but needs to be a spiritually healthy person, a good organizer, disciplined, passionate, humble, a good communicator and able to meet people where they are even at the expense of his/her ambitions or desires.

If you ask any church, they are going to say that they want their worship leaders to do the best jobs they can. That’s a no-brainer right? No church is going to suggest excellence be compromised. Granted, differences will arise in the definition of excellence, and excellence should never be made into a ‘golden calf’ where we sacrifice people and relationships in the process.

And why might we value excellence? That reason is found in the story of Cain and Abel (see Genesis 4). It is also summarized in Romans 12:1-2 which says that our act of worship is to give God our all. How does a compromise in what people call ‘worship music’ hold up to communicating such a truth?

Disclaimer: worship is MUCH more than merely music. Again, see Romans 12:1-2.

Is a servant greater than his master? If Christ had to sacrifice, will we not at times have to do the same? Anyone who has succeeded at anything will tell you that success comes by having the courage to stare your weaknesses in the eye without flinching. That is the very definition of humility. You can’t become a great singer without first knowing that you have a pitch issue. Otherwise, how will you know what to practice? Growth starts with working on our weaknesses. When we get offended, not because of the critic’s intentions, tone or sensitivity, but by the very fact that they spoke the truth, who REALLY has the problem?

The tendency that I’ve seen in the church is for us to bury our own weaknesses and to enable others to bury theirs as well. This certainly ensures a ‘feel-good’ experience but it is short-lived and ultimately paralyzing.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – I Corinthians 12:10

It is difficult to delight in our weaknesses. I’ve noticed that both insecure and proud people refuse to look at their weaknesses.

Of course, a worship leader, like any servant of Christ, is supposed to always serve in love.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ – Ephesians 4:15

But often times, I find worship leaders can follow this truth and STILL get burned. Could it be because we sometimes have ‘itching ears’?

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. – 2 Timothy 4:3

So where are you in your ministry? Are you the people pleaser who is afraid to tell people the truth lest you risk offending them? Or perhaps you find yourself indiscriminately firing the truth to everyone without practicing the love prescribed in Ephesians 4:15? Or maybe you find yourself throwing pearls at swine (Matthew 7:6). Perhaps you find yourself lacking the patience and discernment to wait until some people might be ready to hear the truth. Many people will unfortunately never experience such growth. Are you willing to offend them? Does your Pastor and church give you such permission (see Luke 6:26)?

In love, are you willing to take the risk of telling people the truth? If you have a vocalist who is pitchy, are you willing to sit down with them, and sensitively and discreetly address the issue, not with condemnation but while offering a helping hand of hope for improvement? Does your church recognize that truly good things come at a price? Is your church willing to risk losing people in the short term in pursuit of God’s greater kingdom?

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble – James 4:6

After examining ourselves to make sure that we do not have planks in own eyes (Matthew 7:3-4), are we as both a church and as worship leaders willing to take people on the journey of facing their weaknesses so that they can overcome fears and insecurities in order to become the people God has called us to be? The journey can be painful and seems paradoxical but I’ve found in my walk with Christ that paradoxes bear his fragrance.

Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39

I have a friend who just recently interviewed for a worship leader position. He has zero worship leading experience so he asked me for advice. Here are some things that I shared:

1.       Build relationships

2.       Organization and efficiency will redeem your time

3.       Using organization and efficiency to save time can risk your relationships

4.       Sometimes you will be tested as to whether or not you want to be a good worship leader, or keep your worship leading job.

5.       If you don’t let vision and mission drive your decisions, people will treat you like a juke box.

6.       Pastoral support frees you to say ‘no’ to everyone else when your job requires it.

7.       When conflict arises, let empathy drive you to where people are, without leaving them there. Use as few words as possible. It is much better for you to be a question to them than for you try and give them answers.

Space in this article won’t allow me to unpack all of these points but perhaps I can expound on the less obvious ones.

Organization

Organization saves me a ton of time. I heard of a worship leader who came to mid-week rehearsals without even having a set list prepared. He’d consult with the worship team and build the set that night. Did he carry a brief case of music charts and lyrics to distribute after the set was built? I don’t know but because I plan worship sets weeks (sometimes months) in advance along with uploading them along with charts, lyrics and MP3s online, our mid-week rehearsals are only taking about 30 minutes. We are able to spend the remaining time in other ways like Bible studies, learning music theory and other music aspects, practicing things like improvisation, scales, how to harmonize and in prayer.

On the other hand, because technology equips a lot of organization to occur online, sometimes this can come across as being impersonal. For instance, I have told my team that it might take 30 seconds to send all 7 of them a text or an email but if I have to pick up the phone and call them, that could take 30 minutes of my time. But obviously a phone call is more personal.

Be a Good Worship Leader or Keep Your Job

This can get very subjective very easily but sometimes leadership might be insistent on you doing things that clearly sacrifice the quality of your ministry. For instance, I have often found myself working for Pastors who would prefer for the worship team to be large even if large meant lowering the bar and thus sacrificing the sound or being a distraction to the congregation. At these moments, if I can’t convince my Pastor of my point of view, I have found myself left with this difficult fork in the road. More often than not, I have lost a few worship leader jobs as a result. But my conscience is clear. Of course this is easier for me as a bi-vocationalist than for those of you who might be full-time.

Vision and Mission

If you’re not careful, people will treat the worship leader like a ‘juke box’. “Will you play my favorite song?” or “I play flute and would like to play with the praise band”. Saying no can be much easier if you can depersonalize things. If you can communicate your church’s vision for worship and explain why and how you are driven towards it, you can depersonalize your rejection.  As a quick example, I have sometimes told certain vocalists who want to sing a solo that because of their vibrato and enunciation, they have a style more suitable for traditional. But I have also been able to affirm that they might be great singers and encourage them to find a traditional context (or get training to transition to a modern style).

Pastoral Support

It is inevitable that people will complain about you. But it doesn’t matter unless those complaints hold weight with the Pastor (and other leadership). If leadership has your back, then you can steady your course in the face of unwarranted criticism. OTOH, if you don’t have leadership support, get it or find yourself marching towards the door.

Conflict

The number one thing I’ve found useful when dealing with conflict is empathy. I am learning to proactively put myself in the shoes of the other person and validate the feelings of the other person in my communications. The next thing I do is try to meet them where they are. Paul said in I Cor 9:20, “to the Jews I become like a Jew… to those who are without law, as without law…” I mentally ‘profile’ people by listening not only to WHAT they believe but for the reasons they believe it (WHY). If they aren’t producing reasons, then I try to give them questions to hopefully inspire thought. I say as few words as possible because my job isn’t to give them answers but to cause them to ask questions. This also gives less ammo to the antagonist merely looking to snare you in your words. If that doesn’t work, I smile, nod, reaffirm my love for them and agree to disagree.  If the person brings reason to the table, THAT is when it gets interesting. Not only is such a person much easier to deal with but I might learn a thing or two.  Now transformation can happen.

Veiled Worship

Islam veils women because they share a value also found in Christianity. That value is modesty. However, veiling advocates mistakenly seem to place the onus only on the person being observed (usually a woman) and none on the observer. I think we make the same mistake as Christians sometimes with our attitudes regarding excellence when it comes to worship music.

Psalm 33:3 says, “…play skillfully…”

I Chronicles 25:7 says, “…all of them (the musicians) were trained and skilled in music for the Lord…”

Lest we get the picture that these passages might only refer to basic skill, verse 8 in I Chron, describes the ‘worship team’ as teachers and students, painting us a picture of perpetual learning being driven by this longing to pursue excellence in worship. The story of Cain and Abel alone is enough to indict anyone who would claim we should suppress excellence in worship. Since worship music is a picture of the worship to which Romans 12:1-2 calls us, why shouldn’t it reflect giving God the best of our lives by giving nothing less than the best musically?

BTW, I’m not implying that all worship team members should be virtuosos. I’m advocating excellence in attitude not excellence in aptitude. But if that excellence in attitude leads one to virtuosity, when tastefully executed and handled in humility, I’m suggesting we as a Church should not place it behind the veil.

We as Christians believe in modesty. So yes we believe that a Christian virtuoso has the responsibility to bear their gift in humility. But veiling a virtuoso would mean that the listener has absolutely NO responsibility.

But we can dispense with veils because Christian listeners aren’t off the hook. The above Scriptures don’t paint the picture of God calling us to suppress skillful displays. Excellence gives God glory. We as listeners are responsible to give Him that glory for the skills He has given the virtuoso.  We can even praise the virtuoso as long as their ego can accept it, with the understanding that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above.

It is only in this ‘unveiling’ that we can see freedom. You see, this article really isn’t about music. It isn’t about virtuosos. It is about pious believers, who have an unhealthy view of God, seeing Him as a cosmic kill-joy, feeling guilty for every pleasure of life and wanting to make sure everyone else shares that misery. Being so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good, they can’t imagine beauty being held by anyone who isn’t haughty, intelligence held without condescension, virtuosity held in humility, excellence used as a gift to God as an offering of worship.

We can choose to have our worship excel in mediocrity because we have a fear that a jealous Cain will rise up and kill an Abel. Or we can let our hearts be captured by a perfect love which casts out all fear. If we choose the former, we lose freedom behind the veil.  But the truth can set us free.

Worship Out Of Context

I’m convinced that the expression of worship we give when the church gathers in community is too easily misunderstood. I’m convinced that those of us who lead worship often do so out of context. We cannot assume that the average person in the church understands why we worship the way we do as we gather as a church.

Even our language is confusing. When a church service begins, usually to segue the beginning of the music, we often say we gather to worship, but according to Romans 12:1-2, worship is the act of believers giving their entire lives to God as an act of worship. This is why Colossians 3:23 says that whatever we do, we should do it with all our hearts as working for the Lord. Those guys and gals we often call ‘worship leaders’ are really ‘congregational worship music leaders’. The latter would make a horrible title but as a description it certainly clarifies. So as you can see, even our language and job titles work against our understanding.

Each expression of worship, no matter how clearly Biblical, can be easily misunderstood. Take Solomon’s temple for example. A temple makes it too easy to see God as small, fitting within its confines, or so weak as to even need a building at all for His home. Solomon was aware of this inadequacy when he says in 2 Chronicles 6:18, “The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!”

Sometimes I wonder how our pride might contribute to our misunderstandings. In 2 Samuel 6, Michal, David’s wife, is offended by David’s humility expressed in His worship as the ark (representing God’s presence) is brought to Jerusalem. In Genesis 4, Cain’s pride makes him jealous of Abel and his offering, spurring him to commit the first murder.

While teaching and communication isn’t an antidote for pride, it certainly is necessary to bring clarity to that which is too often easily misunderstood. But I often wonder if the reason the church seems deficient in explaining worship is because many of us who might have the influence of a pulpit, or lead Bible studies & small groups don’t really know ourselves WHY we worship.

Socrates said an unexamined life is not worth living. I believe that an examined faith is not worth believing. II Peter 3:15 says we should always be able to give a reason for the hope that we have.

So of course, while space doesn’t permit me to tackle every question (nor could I answer every question), let me at least address some of the major ones:

So why do we worship? As stated earlier, Romans 12:1-2 calls us to offer our lives as an act of worship. The Westminster Catechism correctly concludes that worship is the very purpose of man. Worship is the very reason we live. It is not to be reduced to Sunday morning church services. We gather in services to worship as a community. The chief way we do so is by loving one another (I Cor 13).

Why do we worship in song? Col 3:16 says that the Word should dwell among us as we teach and admonish one another through all wisdom through psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Worship music is liturgy augmented by art. Art in general (not just music), awakens the imagination of the heart. Worship music, marries the heart and the mind. They that worship God are called to worship Him in Spirit & in truth (John 4:24).

Why do we incorporate X style? Paul said in I Corinthians 9 that he became all things to all people to reach as many as possible. If your church is trying to minister and reach the average person living in a modern world, they are probably best suited to using modern music. If they are called to reach traditionalists, traditional music is better suited. The same goes for Black Gospel, Southern Gospel, low or high church, etc…. Where the Scriptures are silent, we are free.

If the worship leader/band/orchestra, sets the bar too high, or is ‘too good’, isn’t that a performance? Yes it is a performance but you are not the audience. How are you giving YOUR best with what God has given YOU to God as an act of worship according to Col 3:23?

But what if people get the wrong idea of our worship? Christ never withdrew from saying or doing anything because He risked being misunderstood. He stood before the temple saying, destroy the temple and in three days He’d raise it up again. He told his followers that unless they drank His blood and ate his flesh, they could not be His disciples. Why did He do this knowing He’d be misunderstood? And why did God sanction the temple given the danger of it being misunderstood as His literal home? The question is not IF you will be misunderstood. The question is WHO will misunderstand? It is Christ like to be misunderstood by the shallow.

I’m fortunate as a worship leader to regularly be able to also preach. I have found ways to sometimes use the pulpit to bring clarity to our corporate worship. But many worship leaders aren’t so fortunate. Do our Pastors realize the importance of giving context to our worship? What is your church doing to give its members reasons for why we worship as a community?