Last week's post opened the discussion on worship by focusing on how music is used in our church services. Concentrating predominately on the more charismatic, Pentecostal, non-denominational employments of music we asked the all important question: is it a crutch rather than an impact-full part of our services? We asked with difficulty if worship was preoccupying our focus from the Gospel and being Christ's hands and feet, being cultivators and creators of culture, restoring broken people and elements of our world. Personally I think there are large indications we are, namely the lack of increase of Christians in America and the absence of restoring work in our cities. Sure there are good works happening and Christian groups are doing great, edifying activities, but they are few and far between. We have churches with great worship services and exceptional musical capacity, however many of those fail to connect to their cities, fail to meet the needs of the people they desire to recruit, and often divide more than unite. Is worship a crutch, in many churches yes, but what conclusions do we draw from that?
Regardless of it being used as a crutch or being the embodiment of a church service, it still serves a purpose. Churches have just as much responsibility to cultivate the people in the walls as it does in reaching those outside. So, if attendees are being edified, brought closer to the Lord, praise God's essence, relish in God's works, and brought to repentance, then worship is serving a great purpose. God is not angry with our worship, though there are many Old Testament stories referencing His displeasure with sacrifices and vain worship, so let us be quite careful in that we do not forget our commission and particular vocations.
Third we talked about a "How He Loves Us" dilemma in which we do not cultivate worship. This is where I have the largest problem. Good worship points us to Christ, understands personal experiences, and pushes us out into the world to show love in the daily opportunities we have. Church worship leaders are not being cultivated, and many are not respected by church staff. Some have that respect and honor, but are not pushed to contribute to the church in a unique way which edifies that body. Many are pushed but not reimbursed, thus they have a form of taxation without representation or reciprocity. Then you have the churches who want the band to sound like Tomlin or the new female vocalist to fall in line with Kari Jobe's level of talent. Thus there are many unrealistic expectations and worship becomes pedantic. Perhaps the best way to sum up the last post, rather than rewriting it, is to check the song below out. It is amazing and challenging.
Well, let's skip to the new stuff, worship on the college campus, specifically the College of Charleston. I asked students questions about worship, following the questioning in the last post, and received a few responses. I will not use their names since I did not ask for permission, but I will share quotes and summarize points as well as possible. Everyone responded according to the five questions, so we will follow that model here.
Question 1:Why do we worship in campus ministries? Is there a purpose? Do we really understand why we do music in campus ministry?
Answers and conclusions 1:
One says "we worship to praise God"- I say very true and straightforward. Two others responded differently yet raised such a good point, namely that it provides a variety. Specifically, we use music to give students something else rather than the sitting, studying, listening to speeches or lectures, etc. One of those in that realm of thought also mentioned that it is one of her favorite parts of the week since she can enjoy the peace and calm. She also goes back and mentions the purpose as being to glorify God, so there seems to be a consensus that there is a purpose, that being to praise, but that does not really satisfy my question. I think the why is deeper and want to know what others think. What's the deeper discussion about the why? Lastly, another says that yes the worship does bring a variety but it also contributes to the enjoying of the whole weekly meeting. I have a bone to pick with this conclusion in that we don't know the basis of enjoyment. Are we enjoying the singing, or the results of praising together with others of like faith? Are we enjoying the variety from the daily grind or cherishing discussion, music, and fellowship? I know this person and believe his conclusion is much more developed than he said, yet that is the challenge. Let's think hard, make solid, developed conclusions, and use those as goals for how we conduct our meeting times.
I really do not believe there is a consensus on the "do we understand why" portion of the question. I firmly believe we do it because that is what we do, overall. Bad worship serves no good purpose when you can be studying the Bible, discussion critical questions, and figuring out how to create culture. We do worship with music, maybe subconsciously, because that's what Christians do or because we want weekly meetings to look like church. Thankfully, like with The Journey, there is a huge focus on developing the music weekly in what is sung, how it is sung, and what purpose it provides. There is great discussion going on with the leadership and musicians on how best to use the music to praise and cultivate a culture within the community. It will be great to see how that operates throughout the year. Hopefully more ministries are doing similar things, and from what I know it is to some degree. As I find more out, I will let you know.
Question 2: Is worship helpful? Is it helpful to non-Christians who come to experience whatever is going on with a particular group?
Answer and Conclusions 2:
This will be the last part of this post so it does not get too long. Discuss and comment here on these two questions and whatever else is mentioned in this post. More opinion is desired and welcomed!
One responds " As a strong believer in the idea that music connects everyone I honestly believe that worship music, if its not in a "we're shoving God down your throat" kinda way, can be helpful to anyone.
There are some songs that tell stories that can just reach to your soul you know? I don't think that has to be
specific to one kind of person."
Another responds similarly stating that helpfulness depends on the person and the setting: " I think worship is helpful depending on the setting. I think it is helpful to non Christians who are visiting as well. I think that it depends on the setting because sometimes one needs quiet to reflect what is going on during a service. At times worship can then be a distracting. The use of music has to be appropriately used in the context of what is taking place."
Personally I agree, to a degree, with both of those because they are totally valid observations. The response I agree with the most, since it really gives the hard to hear answer, is the following: "Worship can honestly be a big turnoff to non-Christians, however, I do think it sends the message that we are not only here to reach people, but to grow ourselves. We don't tailor Christianity to reach non-Christians. We just aim to show them love while still growing ourselves."
Worship at colleges really do not do much other than attempt to edify those who think and act the same way. Ministries are not growing, with the exception of The Journey and Intervarsity, and more people are really not reflections of growth but rather collections of like-minded people. What purpose is a church made up of people who all think alike and are disconnected with those outside their ministry? Nothing but to focus on themselves! Christians should inherently be the most outgoing, gregarious group in that their purpose is to reach people and share a message of good news. Thus their music and worship should reflect that goal. If it is not, then scrap it! We are not commanded to have worship services with music but instead to go and make disciples. We are called to protect the innocent, bring justice, take care of the widows and orphans, and create culture which leads to a productive and blessed society. If music does those things, then praise GOD! If not, it serves no productive purpose.
