Wednesday, March 21, 2007

"Relevant" Worship

You can't be around discussions of the nature of Christian worship for long without hearing the word relevant batted around. Relevant is a word with baggage, however. Relevant is shorthand for "cool music that the highest percentage of people like"--which means it is a code word for style.

There is a place for discussion of style, but I'm fairly ambivalent about style. Styles of music change constantly and each has advantages and disadvantages in its own way. Bach's style accomplishes things that Chris Tomlin's style cannot, and vice verse. You won't find any scriptural commands about style, nor will you find any discussion of the style of music used in the early church.

The music of the early church would, I'm sure, be so foreign to us as to be distracting in worship. When I was in the Middle East in 1994 every song I heard sounded exactly the same to my ears. I thought there was just one song endlessly droning throughout the region. I could almost hear the radio announcer saying, "And the number one song for the one billionth week in a row..."

I guess that means that the Spirit of God is absent in their music. After all, if I don't feel the Spirit then the Spirit must be absent. Right? Can I get a witness? Somebody? (insert cricket noises here)

When the church battles over style and calls it a battle over relevance, then we've fallen into a very shallow trap. There is a relevance we should be more diligent to insure, the relevance substance. The reason we're less likely to do battle here is that relevant substance can be a real downer (a definite no-no if we're going to reach masses of people who want to pretend everything is wonderful).

I was reminded of that yesterday morning when I heard the news out of Baghdad that the insurgents used two children to get past a military checkpoint, then (with the two children still in the back seat) the two adults scrambled away from the car just before it blew up--two innocent children gone.

That's just one story. How many other tragic, senseless, stories of suffering are a part of the news today? And, yet, on Sunday morning many churches will only sing songs of celebration. Shiny happy people singing songs.

John Wesley wrote (and, yes, I'm at a Methodist school right now, reading Wesley's works) that people who never grieve don’t understand reality and are not distraught over the evils in the world. But it wasn't just Wesley who made it clear that mourning should be a part of the religious life. Jesus made it clear to the masses that the ones who mourn will be blessed, be comforted.

But for many churches, grieving is a downer. Mourning is irrelevant . Someone sitting near you may have lost a job, may have just realized that his or her marriage is on the rocks, may have a child struggling with addictions, may have a daughter in Iraq, may have always wanted a family but never found the right person to marry--may be rearing children on her own after losing her husband. But the worship leader will say "GooooooooodMooooorrning!" and if the congregation doesn't respond with enough vigor then the worship leader will accuse the people of being poor worshipers of God. Disappointed in the response, the worship leader will then play a song that is relevant because it has a kickin' bass line.

I'm not saying we should start letting Tim Burton design our worship services or that we should hire My Chemical Romance to be the worship band--the church does need to make celebration of God's ultimate victory the center of the service--but if we're going to be authentic (relevant) we also need space for people to grieve.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are so right. I mentioned a while back that I miss southern gospel choir on the occasion. That doesn't mean I should up and leave Grandview. Our personal enjoyment isn't the first priority of worship, anyways. Downstairs, I will occasionally have the children sing a cappella hymns, or at least songs that I know they haven't probably heard in a while. They point blank tell me they don't like it (Miss Amber, this song is boring!). I try to explain to them that I'm teaching them songs that will connect them with other people...maybe one day they will get it?

Anonymous said...

Aaron,
During the time my life was falling apart before my very eyes, the one thing that was enjoyable was going to Grandview's 9:30 service. I knew I could enjoy your humor, a catchy beat from the music, and youthful energy from the congregation.

The dark bleak path of uncertainty my personal life was going through was forgotton for an hour in church. To this day I refuse to watch unhappy movies or read sad books because I have had my fill of unhappy. I'm sure in time my feelings will change and I will once again read a good sad book or see a movie that is not rated "comedy" but not yet.

I understand what you are saying, but I am thankful I had a happy place to go-Grandview.

Anonymous said...

This blog is not going to help you in your search for a position as a worship minister, young man. Just 2 weeks ago I was having a discussion with a leader at what would probably best be characterized as a post modern church, and he relayed that "worship is what it's all about." I guess I enjoy a worshipful song service as much as the next guy (assuming 'the next guy' has a flat affect), but I'm not sure I know the full answer to the meaning of life. I do wonder how the perception of the church would change if 75% of those involved in church music gave up music and spent their practice and rehersal time volunteering in the community.

Anonymous said...

Aaron - did you know there's a new church coming to town? We got a flyer in the mail about it today, and there's a billboard advertising it on the old jonesborough highway -- their website is www.highlandsfellowship.com
Check it out.