An interesting, enlightening, and perhaps unsettling, activity for a pastor or church leader would be to stand in the back of a church auditorium and scan the audience during worship. My guess is that in the majority of our churches one would see maybe around one third of the people actively participating in singing, praising, raising their hands, responding and engaging in worship. The others are usually standing there, eyes open, watching what is happening on the stage—perhaps moving their lips along with the song, maybe clapping—but no fervor, passion or fire. Then there are others that are totally unengaged, texting from their cell phones.
Contemporary worship styles can differ greatly from church to church and between cultures or countries, but one thing for sure that everyone would undoubtedly agree on—no matter what differences in setting there may be—is that the focus of worship has to be Jesus. In our doctrine, theology and philosophy most of us would be able to list Scriptural references and even do an in-depth study on it. We sing, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, Jesus.”
However, my great concern in observing and participating in charismatic church and conference worship services in many different places is that it has become mostly a “spectator sport.”
So many songs seem to be “ME” centered—about how I feel; the warm-fuzzies I get when I think about God—and even some songs which are not exactly doctrinally sound. Maybe we need a balance in the use of more God-centered, Scriptural songs that exalt His majesty, His glory; that point to the Cross and the Blood of Jesus.
I’ve wondered for some time now why we don’t hear the “song of the Lord” in our charismatic churches as it used to be. Those of us who have been around for a while remember that beautiful song, where the entire congregation lifted wave after wave of spontaneous, improvised, personal expressions of praise—sometimes a capella. I remember when our "sphere of influence" used to be on the forefront, even leading the way as an example in Pentecostal circles.
God knows that the overwhelming need is for REVIVAL, across the nation and world-wide, and that real worship springs out of this. In our home we pray daily for that fresh wind of the Spirit.
But, the focus in church services so often seems to be on what’s happening on the platform, with what one might call a “concert atmosphere,” rather than leading people into the individual and corporate response of hearts opening to the manifest Presence of the Lord.
I do some teaching of improvisation and playing keyboard for worship. One of my main points that I reiterate to my students is that in order for the focus to be on the Lord, nothing we DO musically, SAY with words, or ALLOW in our physical appearance on the platform should be a distraction to that goal.
I recall a very talented person I heard playing the piano, along with a worship team, who played such “lush,” complex chords that it was a distraction to the over-all purpose. As beautiful and professional the sound may be, the instruments and instrumentalists can, at times, create a diversion from the goal of true worship.
A musically-talented and very contemporary-minded nineteen-year old nephew of mine, observed with unusual insight, that often the words of a song are excellent and appropriate but the chords and musical progressions are that of “rock style” which DRIVES rather than LEADS and FLOWS.
(Neither am I saying that we should have “sloppy,” untaught, or amateurish musicians, nor that we should go back to singing just hymns. I love and appreciate the excellence in the contemporary blend of vocals and instruments such as most churches have today.)
Also, I was at a service recently where the attractive girl leading the songs was dressed in such a way that probably every young male in the congregation was having a difficult time focusing on the Lord. Those who lead worship should always bear in mind that their style of dress must be modest and appropriate.
And I maintain—and I’m sure others share this view—that the decibel level should NOT be a distraction either. It’s undeniably a generational thing (one has to ask if there will be a whole generation of hearing-impaired people?!) and that it is possible that our youth are so accustomed to it that they feel they can’t worship without it.
Yet, worship styles should not be solely youth-oriented. Our mode of worship should be welcoming, inclusive, and encompassing for all. There is an older generation—as well as people with physical and perhaps emotional issues—that are very much a part of the Body, and very much needed to provide balance in the Body.
Many individuals even time their arrival to enter the service midway through, because the loud volume of a driving bass guitar, pounding drums, and pulsing lights not only distract but can create physical and emotional discomfort in the eardrums, head and sight. An example of this is a very dear friend of ours, who is in the ministry, but suffers from bipolar issues (caused by a chemical imbalance) and cannot bear the contemporary hyper-driven style of music. Is our attitude toward these saints, “Just deal with it!”—rather than assuming our responsibility to make some adjustment for them?
Often the issue seems to be with the sound-board people—since they’re the ones that control the decibel level. At a recent event I had to keep my fingers in my ears because the volume was so uncomfortable and strident. But my impression is that often those of us who see it this way are viewed as “hopelessly out-of-touch, out-dated, and out-voted old fogies.”
One has to wonder if pastoral and organizational leadership is involved as it should be in the oversight, input and biblical discipleship on how worship should be done. It seems that often the worship team functions on its own, independently, with few or no limitations or guidelines.
The highest and most profound worship I have ever been a part of was led by an accordionist (yes, really!) and guitarist, with no sound amplification. The entire congregation, young and old, was totally lost in worship, the song of the Lord, brokenness and deep heart response—sometimes for two hours. Lives were being transformed as we worshipped Jesus—with no distractions from our surroundings. No one was just “spectating.”
Perhaps what is needed in our churches is for there to be clear, biblical teaching on “how to worship”—and not taking it for granted that people know how to flow in the “song of the Lord.” The church needs to be taught to move in obedience and faith, rather than emotion. I recall someone quite close to us who thought it was “hypocritical” to respond in worship if one didn’t feel moved upon emotionally.
And maybe the time has come to re-examine our philosophy and culture of worship leading—maybe it’s necessary to emphasize leading more by example, influence and Holy Spirit-flow rather than by hype. A good start might be to just push the volume-control lever down by a few decibels.
