Worship Styles - article overflow
I started this Friday's article twice (second time in the car, didn't remember the first time existed), and wasn't able to integrate everything, but I thought some of the things I noted in the car were worth sharing. So, here is some of what I came up with:
Individual preferences are important, as well as individual giftings and location. They are secondary in importance, but they exist for several reasons. So, it is legitimate for people to want to find a worship service where their preferences are respected and, to some small degree, kept in mind during planning and decision making.
I am not, however, talking about mere whims or caprices. Neither of these should direct the path of a congregation one step. The caprices of the day, the fashions and fads, and the base desires of the natural man do not approach the importance of sound doctrine and the Holy Spirit's leading. But what I am saying is that God has given the Body of Christ not only various functions but also various preferences. (Perhaps to teach us to put unity above selfish desires)... For example, your skin likes to be fairly dry and mildly oily, while your eyes like to be very moist and dislike oils. Your teeth hold up well in a watery environment, while your fingers wrinkle up like a prune if left in water too long. The Bible supports the notion of variety in nature and in humanity. Some like to get up early, and some like to sleep late. The Bible talks about different watches of the night. The one who takes the second or third watch is unlikely to get up early in the morning.
While worship is not primarily about enjoyment (in truth, it is all about God, His glory and our sacrifice of praise to Him), I believe God also wants us to be fed in worship. We enjoy giving praise. In worship and prayer, we find God's comfort, peace, encouragement, edification, and joy, among other things. If attending a worship service of a particular style, while the underlying doctrine and intent of worship is sound, helps us to be not distracted by discomfort, I think God is pleased with that choice. We have different temperaments, and I don't think God wants us all to worship the same way (see nature's variety), and I think that churches need to be more concerned with whether they are living up to what they understand in the Bible rather than worrying about what style of worship, nor the smaller concern of what type of music, is likely to bring in more people. Understand that no matter what style of worship you have, you won't please everyone. No matter what style of worship you have, someone is going to feel left out or be uncomfortable there or not feel like it is worshipful. So, don't make decisions based on that. Do what is right according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and if you must make changes, be sure you don't toss the baby with the bath water. And while you shouldn't make changes based on what will be popular, you also shouldn't make changes that the existing members don't see as worshipful. That is, in attempting to engage new people, don't disengage the old ones. If you do, you will push them away.
But all of this is actually silly to use as a focus for decision making. A church should not be focused on the internal (to itself) things, much less the outward appearance of internal things. A church should be focused outward (away from itself) to focus on the things the Bible says are important: Jesus, missions, making disciples, helping the poor, etc. The less you focus on yourself and the more you focus on Jesus and His commands, the more authentic you'll be.
Individual preferences are important, as well as individual giftings and location. They are secondary in importance, but they exist for several reasons. So, it is legitimate for people to want to find a worship service where their preferences are respected and, to some small degree, kept in mind during planning and decision making.
I am not, however, talking about mere whims or caprices. Neither of these should direct the path of a congregation one step. The caprices of the day, the fashions and fads, and the base desires of the natural man do not approach the importance of sound doctrine and the Holy Spirit's leading. But what I am saying is that God has given the Body of Christ not only various functions but also various preferences. (Perhaps to teach us to put unity above selfish desires)... For example, your skin likes to be fairly dry and mildly oily, while your eyes like to be very moist and dislike oils. Your teeth hold up well in a watery environment, while your fingers wrinkle up like a prune if left in water too long. The Bible supports the notion of variety in nature and in humanity. Some like to get up early, and some like to sleep late. The Bible talks about different watches of the night. The one who takes the second or third watch is unlikely to get up early in the morning.
While worship is not primarily about enjoyment (in truth, it is all about God, His glory and our sacrifice of praise to Him), I believe God also wants us to be fed in worship. We enjoy giving praise. In worship and prayer, we find God's comfort, peace, encouragement, edification, and joy, among other things. If attending a worship service of a particular style, while the underlying doctrine and intent of worship is sound, helps us to be not distracted by discomfort, I think God is pleased with that choice. We have different temperaments, and I don't think God wants us all to worship the same way (see nature's variety), and I think that churches need to be more concerned with whether they are living up to what they understand in the Bible rather than worrying about what style of worship, nor the smaller concern of what type of music, is likely to bring in more people. Understand that no matter what style of worship you have, you won't please everyone. No matter what style of worship you have, someone is going to feel left out or be uncomfortable there or not feel like it is worshipful. So, don't make decisions based on that. Do what is right according to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and if you must make changes, be sure you don't toss the baby with the bath water. And while you shouldn't make changes based on what will be popular, you also shouldn't make changes that the existing members don't see as worshipful. That is, in attempting to engage new people, don't disengage the old ones. If you do, you will push them away.
But all of this is actually silly to use as a focus for decision making. A church should not be focused on the internal (to itself) things, much less the outward appearance of internal things. A church should be focused outward (away from itself) to focus on the things the Bible says are important: Jesus, missions, making disciples, helping the poor, etc. The less you focus on yourself and the more you focus on Jesus and His commands, the more authentic you'll be.