Worth-ship

Worship


What is worship? Maybe, it would do us some good to consider the word, worship, first. The origins of the word reveal a slightly different spelling that is quite revealing. The Middle English word, worshipe, and the Old English word, weorthscipe connote “worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being” (Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary). The word has its origins prior to 12th century Britain. (Isn’t etymology interesting! The word is still used as a title for British judges, “your worship”.) The origins also specify that the word assign value to the person addressed. Worship might be correctly spelled worthship. So by addressing someone, your worship, you are stating that they are of immense value and that they are worthy (another related word) of respect, honor, and possible adoration. In the context of human judiciary, possible reasons for meaning beyond the formality of the title might include reputation for justice or wisdom in his/her rulings. This brings us back to our initial question, “What is worship?” We may answer in our purely religious context “assigning great worth and value to the Lord for who He is (attributes) and what He has done (actions)”. This is articulated in Scripture clearly, “Praise the Lord, for He is good, His mercy endures forever” and “Know ye that the Lord, He is God; it is He that hath made us and not we ourselves. Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name” (Psalm 100).

Now we can proceed with the matter at hand. Whatever we use to help us express worship must have the idea of attributing worthiness to our Sovereign Lord as it’s underpinning. What I would like to do is to consider how music can play a part in worship, both private and public. In the past two thousand years, we have a number of different musical expressions of worship. There are those who claim that we should sing only the Psalms acapella (voices only, no instruments) and those who think the more sound (instrumental or otherwise), the better. There have been those who have lobbied for more modern instruments with amplification (electric guitar and bass, synthesizer, drum) and those who have argued for more traditional instruments (organ, piano, classical instruments: strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion). There have been those who desire popular songs and those who have wanted more traditional ones. We hear about the Red state-Blue state battles at election time, or the conservative-liberal culture wars. It seems that the Church has its own culture war brewing. My question is “Do these things really matter?”
We can all agree that styles have changed throughout the centuries. Though we have little written record aside from Scripture, we can clearly recognize the use of musical instruments such as the trumpet, the flute, and the harp. Despite Psalm 150’s reference to a grand variety of different types of instruments, there is not much record of other instruments elsewhere. The different families of instruments developed in a very lopsided way. Most of what dominated the scene for many years in church music was the voice. The instruments were used primarily for dance and other secular types of music, and maybe as background for motets. The woodwind family grew from recorders and slowly developed in the Renaissance to more modern instruments. The modern flute (an instrument without a reed) as well as the oboe and bassoon (double reeded instruments) appeared in the Renaissance but became common in the Baroque era (17th century). Later instruments such as the clarinet didn’t appear until Mozart’s classical era (18th century) with the high-pitched piccolo appearing in the 19th century as the range of instruments expanded. The brass family grew during a similar time framework, trumpets and horns developing earliest and experiencing change in the Baroque era, while adding trombones in the Classical and Tuba in the Romantic eras. The percussion instruments are greater in number with a wider versatility of expression. Percussion (the rhythm family, instruments either hit, scraped or struck) is one of the oldest. Its transformation into modern instruments probably occurred in the Baroque/Classical era with the advent of the timpani. Soon to follow were the bass drum, the snare drum, triangle and the xylophone. Instruments such as the harpsichord developed into the clavichord and modern piano. The String family is one of the older families as well since all the patterns used in constructing modern stringed instruments were set with the advent of the 17h century. Makers such as Stradivari, Amati, and Guarneri assured this standard by creating instruments that also set the standard for quality and worth. Throughout the growth in number of instruments types within these four families, from 1600 to the modern day, styles of music have changed drastically. Not only has traditional classical music metamorphosized but national folk music has entered the fray, expanding the influences on the styles of classical music. But what was the church doing throughout this period in time? The Western “Church” in the general sense was busy employing composers to write for them. I think we are very fortunate to have beautiful hymns written by great composers with gorgeous melodies and rich harmony. During and after the Enlightenment, composers felt less beholden to the Church as an employer (of course, much of their resources had dried up with the Protestant/Catholic Wars) and many composers followed a more secular path with occasional religious commissions. Our hymnody represents some of this variety with Celtic songs like “Be Thou My Vision” and Finnish songs such as “Be Still My Soul” taken from Sibelius’ Finlandia. The church (catholic and Lutheran) continued to use great classical works in their services (masses primarily). Composers such as Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi wrote music for such services but others were not as interested in doing so. After the Reformation, as a result of the excesses of worship as performance in the Catholic Church and in an attempt to recapture Biblical worship, Protestant churches abandoned the role of classical music in the church (instruments and professional choirs), deciding instead to sing acapella as a congregation or play much simpler tunes accompanied by a keyboard instrument. One may ask, can one worship with the larger instrumentation or with a choir? This may seem trite but it probably was a question that was discussed in the days soon after the Reformation begun in 1519. No one would argue that music has a key role, not only in the life of the Church, but specifically in the service of worship. But with the changes of the 16th century came some difficult questions in terms of worship. The regulative principle of worship (as stated in the Westminster Confession) says, “But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.” This was a point of great controversy because some believed worship could also include things that Scripture didn’t speak against. So we had those who believed we should worship only with what Scripture stated and those who believed we could worship with everything Scripture did not outright condemn. What instruments were “kosher” or what styles were acceptable was never ironed out. Basically, the old was rejected because of its association with the Catholic Church and the new replaced it.

The next item to consider is association. Just as the reformers (with the notable exception of Luther) associated classical instruments and their use in Church services with the corrupt Roman church and its excesses and lobbied for no instruments and no choir, we also have deal with our associations. For some of us, we can sympathize with their rejection for those fancy, distracting classical instruments don’t do much for us. Most of us today have no real connection between things classical and our popular music. It is just one more archaic antique of the past. On the other hand, there are some who view the more contemporary style as being too closely related to the rock and pop of the 70’s and 80’s with the use of soaring electric guitar licks, heavy beats, and dance which harken back to the drug and rebellion days of anti-war sentiment, woman’s liberation and free love (free, it was not!). This association may be equally hard for those who were not a part of this cultural movement, because of age, as well as for those who were so involved in the movement that their obsession with the freedoms promised and the lack of ability of those promises to bring happiness, destroyed part of their lives. We may say that association is subjective and I think we might be right. Many today (especially the dominant baby boomer generation) grew up with this style of music and consider it normal but may I ask do we have an obligation to consider those whose association may cause them to dredge up bad times. Do we have an obligation to “bear with the scruples of the weak” since much of the beginnings of hard rock and roll were surrounded by a drugs and sex culture. (Does anyone remember all of the drug paraphernalia that lined the shelves of record stores in the 70’s?) On the other hand, guilt by association is not necessarily condemning in legal matters, and neither should it be here. As we’ve seen, the classical music atmosphere of the 16th century was their drugs, sex and rock ‘n roll scene. Works righteousness and the system of indulgences gave them a culture of easy believism, antinomianism, and easy forgiveness by penance. Regarding the instrument aspect of music, I think that a key in understanding this issue is in realizing that God has created all of the families of instruments (electric or acoustic). God refers to woodwinds and brass, strings and percussion, in Scripture. There is no intrinsically evil instrument, but rather, evil in the way one might choose to use it. We will come back to particular instruments in a moment.

Next I would like to discuss a cultural phenomenon, which is affecting the church. This evening, my family and I went to a local restaurant only to find ESPN blaring throughout the dining room. While I love sports, it is amazing to me that we are so entertainment obsessed. I think this says something of a culture when the public is willing to pay athletic entertainers millions of dollars for a performance and abandon the weaker elements of society. Musical entertainment is no stranger to this either. The Jonas brothers reportedly receive roughly three million dollars a performance. I am not taking a swipe at the entrepreneurial spirit but rather the audience that is willing to pay such extremes in the hopes of “hearing from the oracles”. (It’s no wonder that music played such a prominent role at the Oracles of Delphi.) The Scriptures say, “They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” As a public, we want our “ears scratched”. Is the Christian public any different? Today, I also happened to frequent a local Christian coffee house where Christian artists are often features on a screened TV system. I was amazed at the broadcast of thousands and thousands jumping, screaming, raising hands, and swaying with the crowd. It seemed less like worship and more like a grand emotional experience, summoning a spirit to lead them in a fanciful, ear-tickling performance of much loved and familiar songs. The group seemed enraptured with the music they were creating while the crowd seemed captivated by the music, the group dynamic, and the band. Though this wasn’t a worship service it was meant to be a worship experience. Is this what worship has been boiled down to, an experience of emotion in God’s name? In the local Church, on a Sunday morning, this spirit has invaded our sanctuaries. Though the previous illustration is depictive of a contemporary music scene, it is no more lacking in traditional services. Often, the musical worship selections are no more than beautiful performances that are applauded, whether played or sung by soloists or choirs. (There is a reason that the many of the Reformers rejected choirs to lead the congregation.) Let’s not kid ourselves, when we clap, how often are we clapping to the Lord, lauding Him, and not giving some type of praise to those who have “performed”, whether talented musicians, or cute kids whose sincere praise Jesus describes in Scripture, “Out of the mouths of babes and infants, You have established strength (perfected praise)”-Psalm 8? Despite the importance Christ places on music in the life of the church, and particularly the worship of God, are our musical selections any more than performances with appreciation for those involved? Are we just stirring our hearts or are we magnifying our King and surrendering our hearts before Him?

The last item I would like to discuss is what music invokes. Music can and should be a wonderful aid in our worship. If we review what we said about the role of certain musical instrument in the life of the OT Church, we can see that their purposes were particular. The trumpet or ram’s horn, for instance, sounded the assembly for meeting or war. May I ask why he didn’t use the choir or a flute? Is there something intrinsic within a trumpet that lends itself to “announcement”? I would argue yes. Instruments, though sometimes varied in their sounds and abilities, do have a general sound and association. One would not choose a trumpet to play a lullaby only because it is a louder instrument but also because its timbre and function is more to alert and rouse people not put them to sleep. The Scripture says, “The trumpet shall sound” as Christ returns. It is not just a loud instrument but also one that sounds alarm and attention by its piercing sounds. This is the purpose behind this Scripture. The trumpet will call God’s people to Himself at the end of the age. On the contrary, harps and stringed instruments are primarily used in laments. See how many Psalms are dedicated to “strings”. Those particular instruments (probably strummed or plucked and not bowed) create chords, harmony and rhythmic patterns all together which allow for a free flowing of emotion, especially in lamentation. When we consider a worship service, and what is appropriate and worthy of inclusion, we should consider this. The most important aspect of our worship is the words, theologically and doctrinally pregnant, beautifully and poetically arranged. If we review the literature which is sung whether short fragments in many books of the Bible, Exodus 14, after the Red Sea experience for one, or the beautiful books of Psalms, Lamentations or the Song of Solomon, poetry is evident everywhere. So to them it was not just about words of soundness but of beauty. As Math might tell us about the complexities of God, and Language, how God communicates to us, Music basically describes the Beauty of God and His creation. Our services should reflect that in doctrine and in poetry. Furthermore, the music, whether in dynamic, or style, or instrumentation, or in song, should support the message of the song. Though music has gained a rather primary role in our culture, its role, especially in the church, since it evokes feeling and emotion and stirs the soul to something great, should be to support the grandness and beauty of the text.

In conclusion, I would like to recall that worship should be worthship if it is to be true worship. Our styles are not to dictate what is used for music, for they all will fade away at some point. Indeed, God is the God of every generation. Our music can reflect that without fear of being archaic and useless. (Do we want to go back to Gregorian Chant? I don’t know.) This all leaves a lot of room for choice in worship. We may choose different styles, different instruments, different orchestrations and arrangements but we must keep in mind that our choices should promote the depth and beauty of sound and Biblical texts and not steer us to the sin of performance for man. God is beautiful, God is awesome, God is majestic! Let us not rob Him of glory by suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, but let us honor Him for who He is, the Most High, Majestic, and Glorious Savior and Redeemer, who came in human flesh, to show us the Father, and then to have the sins of His people imputed to Him, suffer the wrath we deserved, die, rise from the dead three days later, and grant us His righteousness, forgiveness, peace and life that we might live for Him. Now there is a reason to worship!!!