“Rock and Roll” worship?
October 20th, 2005 by Matt Heerema | Posted in Ministry Philosophy
A thought on the music at The Rock.
As most of you know, I spend most of my waking hours thinking about music in one way shape or form, and am constantly mulling over how music fits in with worship of God, it’s place in the Church (the church in general, Stonebrook on Sunday Mornings, and at the Rock). I had a revelation yesterday while shaving. (Maybe revelation is a tad strong (and presumptuous). More like an epiphany, or perhaps just the culmination of a lot of thoughts floating around.)
The answer is 42. Trust me, it’s forty two. I checked.
Now for a better understanding of the question:
I have been processing a lot of comments (from people locally, and from other churches around the country/world) about our style of music. Big, loud, flashy, loud, and well… loud. “Rock n Roll Worship” to give it a label. Our worship services emulate, to one degree or another, a rock concert. At least that is what we are shooting for. And there are a lot of evaluations out there, stated directly or indirectly about the effectiveness of this type of music in the church.
Most direct statements are from the side that says that this music is either, ineffective, out of place, or just plain evil. I group these all together not because I disagree with them but because they tend to be the assessments that get vocalized. A lot.
The indirect statements are usually ones affirming or encouraging this type of music. By indirect statement I mean this: voting with dollars. A lot of people purchase this type of music on CD. A lot of people will pay a lot of money to go see this type of music live. And a lot of people attend churches that have this type of music as their typical fair. Churches that move from “traditional services” to this type of service (and do it well…) tend to see an increase in excitement and attendance for the service.
So, here is my several year long though process, finally processed:
The biggest purpose of this type of music for the Church? Entertainment.
Yup. There it is. I said it. It’s entertainment. For who? For the people who come to see it, and for the people who put the service on. It’s primary purpose is not to show a more authentic form of worship, or a more acceptable form of worship, it’s primary purpose is to entertain.
Is this a bad thing? Nope. In fact, I think it is a good thing. And I encourage it. And I want to see it continue. Here’s why.
Why I think “Rock n Roll Worship” is a good thing:
The Christian faith is a drag.
Or so it would seem to those who are in the midst of the party scene, an immoral lifestyle, or generally from a worldly background.
Asking someone to leave this life of pleasure and comfort, in order to pick up your cross, deny (actually not just deny, but to KILL) your “fleshly desires”, follow a book that the world says is a bunch of made up fairy tales, and socially dangerous mores, and serve the desires and aims of an invisible God seems like a HUGE DRAG.
I think that this sort of music, this expression of worship, when done properly can show (in a small way) that in fact there is no greater pleasure, no greater satisfaction, no more exciting a life to be found than a one spent living out the gospel.
It is largely entertainment, and I believe that left by itself, it is largely (though not completely) useless in our mission.
I see this sort of music as sort of the “blue light at the center of the bug zapper”. Not in the sense that it is like bait for a bait and switch move. But more in the sense that it may give someone a reason to come check out what is going on, and may (or may not) give them an excuse to come back. The blue light isn’t what kills the bug, it is what draws them to the electricity that does the frying. (Isn’t that a wonderful analogy?)
So my assessment, crank the music up. Spend thousands of dollars on a sound system, and hours a day for the band to practice. But as soon as we start relying on that to accomplish our mission, we are lost.
This entry was posted on Thursday, October 20th, 2005 at 10:25 am and is filed under Ministry Philosophy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Huh,
I tend to agree with the outlook of the “ineffective” post where it concerns culture and direction. I would add that I tend to thing that we need to develop leaders who are obedient to God primarily in order to achieve the goals he speaks of. I am certainly not a man of great wisdom to be talking or anything, but it strikes me that the kingdom is one “not made by human hands” according to Daniel. I agree that it is going to take men on the ground, and for that, we are going to need men on the ground who aren’t playing around. I tend to think that God is going to have to be calling the shots, even when they make no sense whatsoever to us. When God told Gideon to march around Jericho and then go home it must have sounded a little silly, but he did it, and God showed up.
The “evil” one is a mess. They only bothered to quote one verse about worship in the whole thing:
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Eph 5:19)
They decided that God hated “rock and roll” and then threw a bunch of other verses about evil at it. I don’t think we need to do that since God said plenty about worship directly here are only a few of dozens at least:
Psalm 27:6 Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Psalm 33:1 Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Psalm 33:3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Jesus Himself had some words for people who like to write their own ideas of what God like and doesn’t:
Mark 7:6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.” And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!
I say again:
Psalm 33:3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.
So did God tell us to abandon traditions in favor of God’s commands or not? Did He command us to sing a “new song” or not. Did He command us to shout our worship or not?
How aboot these?
2 Chronicles 15:14 They took an oath to the LORD with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns. 15 All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side.
Ezra 3:11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD : “He is good; his love to Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD,
Psalm 95:1 Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Psalm 98:4 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
You know, the worship leader can say “Lets all shout to the Lord” and the congribots can say “yea,” but I am not sure that is what David meant. I for one would rather stand among men and women who “burst” with shouting and jubilant song. I deeply enjoy hymns and solemnity in worship. I also deeply enjoy shouting aloud to the God of Thunder and Lightning, The God of Super Novae, The Mighty Untamable God of the Universe.
I sometimes feel a little like Job when defending the hearts of worship that I know in the people around me, especially when scripture is on my side about it.
Job 13:
7 Will you speak wickedly on God’s behalf? Will you speak deceitfully for him? 9 Would it turn out well if he examined you? Could you deceive him as you might deceive men? 11 Would not his splendor terrify you? Would not the dread of him fall on you? 12 Your maxims are proverbs of ashes; your defenses are defenses of clay. 13 “Keep silent and let me speak; then let come to me what may. 15 Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.
As far as entertainment goes… I don’t know if I agree with that either. I am not entertained, I am enthralled. I am connected to. We were made for worship. If I am capable of being enthralled with the music and volume of worship it is because God made me to be enthralled with Him and to express it through music and song and shouting. If the same thing happens at rock concerts it is because Satan loves to make cheap knockoffs of the real thing and implement them without the Glory of God intact. Same story with Sex. Same story with celebrity hero worship. “r”ock concerts are a tale full of sound and fury signifying nothing. “R”ock concerts are a tale of sound and fury, glorifying a God of sound and fury, filled with the only eternal significance we can know, worship.
God is a God of pipe organs and four part harmonies that, in their simplicity, thunder with the weight of his glory. He is also a God of Thunder and Glory that, in their majesty, reflect just the faintest shadow of His Might.
Ok, there is my $.02
Oops, Joshua, not Gideon. Sloppy.
Rock out man!
I like the idea of entertaining worship. But I think most people have a slightly skewed view of what entertainment is. They think of sitting down infron of the TV in a vegitative state or playing some mindless Mario game. That’s not entertainment, that’s boredom.
When I sit back and watch a movie, I’m entertained in one fashion. If it’s a brainless comedy, I soon forget all about it, though I may quote lines, I usually pick them up from interacting with other people who are quoting those same lines, not from the movie itself. But if I watch something epic, most recently “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”, I think about it for days. Why? Because it makes me want to participate in something greater than myself.
In the case of the brainless comedy, I remember the things that are repeated in interaction with other people. In otherwords, I remember the parts that are talked about when I’m experiencing fellowship. I remember the parts that are brought up as I’m caught up in my relationship with others, and not as part of the movie, but as a commonality between the two (or more) of us. What makes Nepoleon Dynamite so great isn’t the movie itself, but the quoting of it amongst friends, the immediate connection that happens when someone says “are you drinking 1%? Is that because you think you’re fat?” There’s a connection that happens there, and relationship, biblically defined, is greater than yourself.
In the terms of the epic movie, I want to be caught up into a story that is greater than myself. This is what happens when I worship as well. First off, there is a connection that happens when you worship amongst friends. It is a rare thing that I want to go sit by myself and be alone during worship. More often than not, I want to sit with my team and experience fellowship as I’m pouring out my heart to God. Secondly, I’m caught up in something far greater than just my own story when I do. I’m caught up in God, enthralled in a way that is far, far greater than seeing Aslan roar on the big screen. I’m enthralled with a living God who I am humbly submitting to in worship.
By that deffinition, then, the most entertaining thing is to be pleased in being caught up in something amazing. The best concerts are the ones where you know all of the words and belt them out at the top of your lungs. You participate. True entertainment is participation.
I like the idea of entertaining worship. It’s a hard thing to pour out and be honest when you don’t enjoy what you’re hearing. Let’s be honest here, I can’t help but laugh at 1992 Kirk Franklin stuff. But when I’m the Rock, I enjoy the music. I allow it to move me. I think that’s perfectly fine. I can focus on the lyrics much more when I can enjoy the music.
However, one thing that I think we discovered here is that the music isn’t neccessarily what will keep people coming back, but the integrity of the worship is. We stopped doing radio covers and do 2 more worship songs instead. I think anyone who comes to the Rock and sees what’s going on, the music will aid them in wanting to be caught up in something bigger, not because of the coolness of it, but because of it’s authenticity. The gospel is the only relevant thing that we need, and if people see that we are entertained by that definition, then I think they’ll listen to the message that much more.
Anyway, good thoughts.
~L
I agree to an extent with what you’re saying; however, why do non-believers believe the Christian life is a drag? Is it because of the quality of music being produced under the label of “Christian,” or the inundation of the consumer market with poorly created “Christian” items, or even the “cheesy Christian” programming found on local and cable channels? Personnaly, I believe it is because of how professing Christians are living their lives. The Christian life should not be one of drudgery, but one of joy and hapiness because of our redemption to God through Jesus Christ. John 15:11 says: “These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” The context surrounding this verse is Jesus’ discourse to His disciples on abiding in Christ. Thus, I believe our joy in Christ should be heard in our music; however, the music should be a reflection of the joy in our lives because of Christ. Are we joyful in our everyday lives (while at work, in the marketplace, among friend and family, etc.) and living this joy in its fullest? Sadly, most (including me!) are not on a regular basis, or for some at all.