If you’re a worship leader or Pastor, you’ve likely seen
rants (disguised as blogs) on ‘why aren’t people singing’ in church. I don’t
think anyone has all the answers but for what it’s worth, here is what I’ve
observed.
First the Obvious
Let’s get these out of the way. Most every worship
leader knows that people will not sing if they don’t know the songs, the songs
are too difficult, they are presented in a style that is foreign to the culture
or the songs are too high. These are the obvious things.
If we major on the obvious, we risk rendering
ourselves irrelevant. So yes worship leaders, we need to get these things right
and just because they are obvious, doesn’t mean they aren’t important. But
these are prerequisites. These things can all be in place yet people still
might not sing. So what are the less obvious reasons people might not sing?
It LOOKS Like A Show
Don't get me wrong, it may BE a show if the worship team is bringing the wrong attitude to the platform (notice I don't call it a stage). Bright lights, smoke machines, camera crews and big screens don't help the case here but that doesn't necessarily mean these things are bad. But even without these things, some people simply associate a band (especially a good one) as being a performance. Why? Because that's what they hear OUTSIDE the church. Inside, they expect mediocrity. That's unfortunate too because the Bible says we should play skillfully for the Lord.
There is nothing inherent about a well-polished worship band that prohibits singing. Pastors and leaders just need to tell their congregations this and lead by example. Furthermore, even if someone can't get it out of their head that it's a 'show', at most U2 concerts for example, people STILL sing.
Volume
Volume is complicated. For instance, one school of
thought says that if things are too loud, people can’t hear their own voices so
they won’t sing. Another school of thought says that if the volume is too soft,
people won’t sing because they CAN hear their own voices (and more importantly
their neighbor can hear them).
So which is it? I’ve found no definitive data. But I
suspect that it depends upon the person. However, if your church gets its
theology right, the latter can be mitigated. Keep reading and I’ll explain.
Denomination
I was born and raised Pentecostal. One thing I can
tell you about Pentecostals is that they sing. Not only that, but they shout,
dance, hoop, holler…. they are generally far less self-conscious than their
counterparts. Matt Redman had a song called Undignified that describes it very
well:
“I
will dance I will sing to be mad for my king
Nothing
lord is hindering the passion in my soul…
And
I’ll become even more undignified than this
Some
would say it’s foolishness…”
On the other hand, I find that mainline
denominations (as an example) tend to not be very expressive with singing. Why
the differences? I believe they boil down to culture and theology…. keep
reading….
Culture
Those Pentecostals and Charismatics have a theology
that breeds and attracts a certain culture. Their DNA produces people who are
expressive. They are hungry for a faith that is emotional so of course they are
going to sing. On the other hand, a lot of churches are more reserved. Many
churches hunger for an intellectual pursuit of God. Human nature tends to swing
from one extreme at the neglect of the other. So one side values the heart at
the expense of the mind, while the other does the opposite… No wonder the
truths of Christ are filled with the tension of opposites we call paradoxes.
What is the culture of your church? What
attributes of your church’s culture should you accommodate as a worship leader?
Which attributes should you challenge in order to lead a body to conform to the
image of Christ?
Another cultural factor is shyness and insecurity.
But this is also tied to theology so keep reading….
Theology
“O clap your hands all ye people, shout unto God
with a voice of triumph." - Psalm 47:1
"Thus I will bless Thee while I live: I will
lift up my hands in thy name." – Psalm 63:4
“Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and
shout for joy.” – Psalm 33:3
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel
before the Lord our Maker;” - Psalm 95:6
“Let them praise his name with dancing… “ - Psalm
149:3
So the fact that the Bible speaks of the raising
of hands, shouting, singing, dancing and kneeling as valid expressions of
worship is indisputable. But what is your church’s theology? Does your church
view these passages as prescriptions or only descriptions? Are these commands
or are they simply examples of what CAN be done but aren’t required? This
largely depends upon your theology.
I won’t go any deeper here but let me encourage
you to study how Jesus handled Scripture in terms of descriptions vs
prescriptions. At the same time, we do know that just because Noah built an ark
doesn’t mean we are to do the same so tread carefully. The greater point is
that interpreting God’s word requires careful study and a pure heart. The
answers to these questions are in the hands or preaching Pastors and Bible
teachers more than in the hands of worship leaders.
Closing Thoughts
I personally believe it is usually safer to assume
a Scripture is prescriptive unless it is blatantly obvious that it is
descriptive. The old joke is that the Scripture teaches that Judas hung Himself
and it later says, “Go do likewise”. The
point is to always take Scripture within context.
I get the sense that many churches prioritize
making believers feel comfortable instead of challenging them through the
transformational cleansing of the Word.
Does God’s word tell us to bring the comfort of praise? Or isn’t that word
supposed to be sacrifice? Does the expression
of such worship look like the rocks that Jesus said would cry out if we don’t,
or does it look more like David who in self-abandon, danced before the Lord?
Preachers, teachers and leaders, what can YOU do to get people to sing? Your
worship leader is in charge of the prerequisites but you have a part to play as
well.
