Worth-ship

Dear Family in Christ,

This past week of two I have been reading a magazine called "Christian History", and more particularly the edition called "The gospel according to JS Bach". The interesting thing for me which has been stirred up in me is the issue of contemporary worship. I have written this article for my own personal amusement in the hopes of sparking a discussion of the topic and learning from the resulting correspondence, that I might have a more Biblical definition of worship.

The phenomena of "contemporary worship" is a modern invention, or is it? Each age has had to grapple with a church community of varying ages, ethnicities, and cultures. There are those who find a certain type of music familiar while others find it alien. During the reformation the issue was one of polyphony. The reformers rejected this modern notion of music which Catholics had embraced with the exception of Luther. People like Zwingli and Calvin believed that polyphony (with its variety of voice line and use of instruments) was distracting from the single melody line of plainchant which ornamented the words (the Word of God). While their emphasis on the Word of God is admirable, they missed out on the beauty of musical development and change, and the corresponding opportunities to use this new music to glorify God.

This, my dear brothers and sisters, seems to articulate for us the problems of change, whether within the church or without. It is not hard for us to comprehend this, being not too far from the 60's and 70's. This turbulent era in modern American culture has left an indelible stain on the relationships between parents and children, those in authority and those under it, the old and young. The change of music which exploded on the American scene with the advent of such musical giants as the Beetles (what an odd name for a group; why not the Silverfish?) and Elvis, created a divide between young and old. The young scoffed at the old as being old-fashioned, out of date, and not "with-it", while the old sneered at the young as being rebellious and uncouth. While conflict is normal within the family (and different generations) this wedge seemed to create a tremendous separation of cultures. Is this the legacy we are left with inside the church?

Similarly, the church is divided in its worship. While most younger worshipers like the stronger beat of a drum set and the sound of an electric guitar, some older worshipers like the more reserved sounds of acoustic instruments (non-electric), piano, and organ. But while the population of those who have grown up with and have come to consider this modern music as their own has grown, should such division of taste and style be tolerated within the Body of Christ with generational population shifts. In past ages, styles have changed within the covenant community and as a result, a variety of styles were embraced. We must admit that the older styles were probably more dominant but newer styles eventually became normal, accepted and even embraced, depending on the music minister. Just look at your hymnbook. We have music by Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley, and Fanny Crosby. We've come a long way from the plainchant music of the middle ages. This is evident not only in the styles of musical expression but in the instrumentation. We no longer use viols, gambas, sackbutts, recorders, and trumpets with no valves. Instruments have changed dramatically in the past 400 years, adding to the collection of mainly 19th century instruments, the modern acoustic guitar, the electric guitar and bass, the drum set, and the synthesizer.

While we may speculate as to why we have experienced this split in the late 20th century church, we must pose the more important question, what should we do? In order to give you what I think is the answer I want to focus on a single word, worship. Worship comes from the English word, "worth-ship". This was used of judges in England for centuries and refers to the importance given their position. If we consider it in terms of what God is due, it takes on a more significant meaning. Though God is of infinite worth and value, we tend not to see Him as He is. This is due often to the sinfulness of our hearts, confusing situations, understanding God's purposes and character, and poor teaching. We are commanded to "magnify God" in Psalm 34. This is not because God is too small but rather we are not short sighted, but blind. God gives us sight in Christ and then the Holy Spirit enlightens us that we might we see HIm more and more clearly through the Word of God. If the issue is truly worship, attributing sufficient value to God, and we tend to sell Him short, worship becomes not something that we sense or feel (though we do have wonderful feelings sometimes as we worship Him) but a question of purpose and will, volition and decision. This goes a step further when considering how to worship HIm, with what musical style or instrumentation. We naturally gravitate towards certain styles and genres of music, as well as certain instruments. We naturally are also repulsed by those we dislike or have negative association with. Personally, I love the Baroque and Classical time periods for worship music. Whether a Handel Messiah, a Haydn Creation, a Mozart Ave Verum Corpus, or a Beethoven (well I'm sure there is something I can't put my finger on at the moment), the music is glorious. I also love the hymns of Charles Wesley. I love the piano, the violin, viola, cello, bass (surprise, surprise, to quote Gomer Pyle), the oboe, the French horn, and the clarinet. I don't tend to like the electric guitar (which I associate with drugs), the saxophone (which I associate with bars), and the Euphonium (don't ask), nor do I like the more clamorous style of music that tends to boost the volume, associated with electric guitars, basses, and drumset so loud that I can't think, not to mention worship. But when faced with worship music in this style and with this instrumentation, what should I do? The answer is simple, WORSHIP. While I think the responsibility of ministers of music and worship teams is to provide a wide variety of beautiful music which glorifies God and edifies the soul (God is not only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-the past-but also of the living-the present), the responsibility of the worshiper is to worship God. As Psalm 34:3 says (my marriage verse), "Magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt His name together".

God is the God of all ages, past and present, and God inspires men and women of every age to write music to glorify Him. Let us worship Him with that music wherever we may find ourselves.