Worshipology
Worship weaves God’s beautiful vision of the world together
note by note, voice by voice.
This is why I cannot wrap around the worship music debate.
It seems like an argument for the sake of arguing. It stymies me when I begin
to write music for the church. Shall I write a hymn, or a worship chorus? Why
bother if all that counts are songs written in the last millennium?
The debate is between traditional hymn forms, and
contemporary worship songs. One theologian called worship songs “narcissistic
diddies.” No doubt post-modern attitudes hailing individualism have tainted the
meaning of worship and compromised some lyrics. It’s all part of “feel-good”
church and big money. Self-help church sells, but not like a treasure that
becomes family heirloom; it sells like chicken McNuggets. Hence the revolving
door. Mention a big church and throw a stone any direction and you will likely
hit someone who says, “I used to go there.” Ask why.
Blaming the music throws the stone at the wrong sinner.
A true worship experience is the responsibility of every
worshipper in the congregation.
It ruins the musical expression of God-people love when we
make music a tool instead of art. I love the art of church, stained glass
windows that tell the Bible story, religious paintings, fountains and statues.
Art is a powerful heart-cry; music is one of the most powerful artistic
expressions the church has.
I like the meditative quality of repetitious worship choruses.
They stay in my mind like “whatsoever things.” (Philippians 4:8) “Twitter-lyrics,”
pithy repetitious lines, have a place if every pithy word is carefully chosen. It’s
kind of like the Honk if you love Jesus
bumper stickers. I used to be so insulted by them, until one day I thought
about what it would be like to have Satanic triteness floating around the
roadways for people to ponder at traffic lights. I like seeing the name Jesus,
and I like thinking the name Jesus, and I like how the mere mention of that
person stirs my heart – so I honk.
We must still insist on quality and substance in our church
music, succinct or otherwise. The worship songs work well if they unite us in
worship. They are tragic if they are only about me, me, me or I just want to
feel better so I came to church. Church is bigger than that. Otherwise, you
could choose between church or getting a message, or fishing… or a 12-step
meeting. All are good, but one belongs in a different category, an
Eternal-meaning-of-life category. It’s like the difference between a plastic
magnifying glass from a cereal box or the Hubble Telescope.
The Hubble Telescope discovers things as they are, not
things as we want them to be. It asks questions and finds answers that lead to
more questions. It says, “I want to see beyond this world things that eye has not seen.” (I Corinthians 2:9) Worship is an opportunity for us to see worlds
unseen. It is bigger than the individual, but ultimately blesses the individual.
It is in giving ourselves selflessly in worship that we open up to
possibilities only God knows.
Worship is poetry. When we sing to God, about God, or about
the meaning of life in God, we tap into galaxies unknown, we join a cast of
saints and angels.
What songs will still be around 100 years from now? Maybe
it’s the wrong question. Will God still be worthy of our praise 100 years from
now? 1000? A million? My goal is not necessarily to write a song that lasts
(although I do strive for that), but to participate
in The Song that is Eternal.
