If you really want to bring a group of believers together, talk about Jesus.<\/p>\n
If you really want to drive them apart, talk about worship.<\/p>\n
It really is sad, isn\u2019t it? We have so much to agree on in the majors, but we continually gravitate to the minors and fight viciously over stuff that barely matters.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s kind of like two countries that share every single value, but go to war over the cost of the toll bridge between them.<\/p>\n
Yes, I am a veteran of the worship wars (an idiotic phrase, but one that fits all too well). In the churches I have served, the music ministry was often in a state of \u2018transition.\u2019<\/p>\n
This is the worship pastor\u2019s way of saying, \u201cOur worship was something, now its something else, but we hope it will somehow morph into something completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the church we\u2019re constantly searching for that ancient hymn, that only sounds good with distorted guitar which causes teenagers to weep with conviction while simultaneously prompting our seniors to yell at the sounds booth, \u201cTurn it up my man, it\u2019s just not loud enough!\u201d<\/p>\n
… I can dream can\u2019t I?<\/p>\n
Why is worship so hard? On the continuum of musical expression we find many who desire the traditional format. Traditional worship is often mistaken for old, but thats not always the case. For something to fall into the realm of traditional worship, it just has to be \u201cThe way we\u2019ve always done it!\u201d<\/p>\n
You know, the call to \u201cGet rid of them drums and keep the pipe organ, because if the organ was good enough for the Apostle Paul, then it should be good enough for us! Amen and Praisealujah… bless God… bless God… bless God….\u201d<\/p>\n
I find that when most people rail on an on about keeping the faith and real worship, they aren\u2019t trying to stay connected to the ancient church fathers, they are trying to rekindle the fires of the glory days from the 1950s.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll probably be the same way in my later years demanding that the song leader dress and act the way I want it. \u201cThat young man better put on those hammer pants and beat box the way they used to, or I\u2019m leaving this church and taking my money with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other end of the spectrum is no better, where we find the proponents of the contemporary format. Contemporary is a struggle for the church. Most churches who try to be contemporary have this weird time warp thing happening, where their version of modern is 10 to 20 years old.<\/p>\n
So, their attempt at an up-to-date worship service comes off like a rerun of the Cosby Show. Kind of warm and entertaining, but overall… just a little sad.<\/p>\n
By contemporary, the adherent usually means excessively loud sound systems, seizure inducing lights and \u2018relevant\u2019 music.<\/p>\n
Now there\u2019s a concept, relevance. To the contemporary worshipper relevant means anything they\u2019ve heard on the radio, including songs that have absolutely nothing to with\u00a0 Jesus, the church or faith. But, if they\u2019re cool, use \u2018em!<\/p>\n
The rallying cry of the contemporary worshipper, \u201cCome on, we\u2019re trying to reach people here!\u201d Applying the not so subtle implication that if you don\u2019t agree with us, you\u2019re trying to push people away.<\/p>\n
Which is never the case… even though its exactly what happens.<\/p>\n
You know your a contemporary worshipper if you\u2019ve ever had a moment like this in church: \u201cIt was so cool they way they used that Nickleback song for the offering. It was inspired how they replaced all the curse words with ‘Hallelujah.’\u201d<\/p>\n
Right in the middle of the worship war battlefield is blended worship. Fitting snuggly between traditional and contemporary formats, the blended style is the covert agenda of a pastor and worship leader to do what God is leading them to do while attempting to NOT get fired.<\/p>\n
It really is a crime.<\/p>\n
Oh, yes, it is a crime to put pastors in that position, but what I was referring to was the crime of the music produced by the blended style.<\/p>\n
When you fire up the tunes at a blended worship service, it feels like well all just stepped in, the doors closed, and the elevator started its 30 minute climb.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something definitely wrong with taking the worship of Almighty God and reducing it comma inducing, drool provoking, mind numbing choral renditions that sound like they could be softly played over any mall\u2019s public address system to keep the shoppers calm and sedated.<\/p>\n
If blended is your worship style, then pull out your oversized New King James Version from its zippered \u201cHis Pain, Your Gain\u201d Bible cover and… read anything. You must break the connection with the Matrix. Take the red one Neo. Wake up from this nightmare.<\/p>\n
Hmmm… I guess I may have been a little hard on these different styles. You may be wondering which style I like.<\/p>\n
And, that\u2019s the issue!<\/p>\n
Worship is about so much more than music. It\u2019s about life, relationship, service, prayer, laughter, worship is about everything! But, we reduce to it to music, styles and preferences.<\/p>\n
When we ask which style do you like we reveal what worship wars are all about: our personal preferences. They have nothing to do with reaching non-believers, keeping the real faith and especially have nothing to do with God.<\/p>\n
The worship wars are all about us. Again, it\u2019s very sad.<\/p>\n
In John 4 Jesus met a woman at a well and after a display of His ability to know what your thinking (I love Jesus, but that really is creepy), she recognized He was the Messiah.<\/p>\n
What was her first response?<\/p>\n
Nope. She asked wether her church, or that other church was worshipping right.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a long war…<\/p>\n
John 4:19-24 <\/sup>\u201cSir,\u201d the woman said, \u201cI can see that you are a prophet. <\/sup>Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.\u201d\u00a0Jesus declared, \u201cBelieve me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. <\/sup>You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. <\/sup>Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. \u00a0God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
First, look at her position. She begins with \u201cOUR\u201d showing that she has a set of preferences and practices she is holding to. When she says \u201cOUR FATHERS\u201d she shows her grip on traditions and patterns that she grew up with and probably wants to keep. Finally, she says \u201cBUT YOU\u201d and begins to draw lines between her church and other churches and she becomes one of the original Joan of Arcs in the millennial struggle of the worship wars!<\/p>\n
Jesus\u2019s response is amazing and simple.<\/p>\n
First, He doesn\u2019t pick either. He doesn\u2019t give credit to her style or any other style being the right one.<\/p>\n
Second, He says that worship is not defined by style, place, time, language or any external.<\/p>\n
Real worship is done in SPIRIT<\/strong>: not in the preference of our flesh, in what might appeal to our ears or eyes. You can worship in your spirit whether or not there is \u2018worship service.\u2019<\/p>\n
Real worship is done in TRUTH<\/strong>: not dictated by traditions and practices no matter how old or relevant they might seem. You need not worship the past, or the latest. Worship the One, True, Living God.<\/p>\n
So, two things I want to encourage you to do.<\/p>\n
One, learn to worship God as a lifestyle out of your spirit in all things you do and in the truth of who He is from Scripture.<\/p>\n
Two, set down your hymnal and back away from the electric guitar; quit fighting the worship wars. Even if you don\u2019t like it, you worship in spirit and truth and trust that God is leading your leaders. Follow them and God will bless you.<\/p>\n
I guess we won\u2019t know much more about worship until we get to heaven and hear the worship there.<\/p>\n
I sure hope they let Stryper lead every couple thousand years.<\/p>\n
That would rock… just a thought.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you really want to bring a group of believers together, talk about Jesus.<\/p>\n
If you really want to drive them apart, talk about worship.<\/p>\n
It really is sad, isn\u2019t it? We have so much to agree on in the majors, but we continually gravitate to the minors and fight viciously over stuff that barely matters.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s kind of like two countries that share every single value, but go to war over the cost of the toll bridge between them.<\/p>\n
Yes, I am a veteran of the worship wars (an idiotic phrase, but one that fits all too well). In the churches I have served, the music ministry was often in a state of \u2018transition.\u2019<\/p>\n
This is the worship pastor\u2019s way of saying, \u201cOur worship was something, now its something else, but we hope it will somehow morph into something completely different.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the church we\u2019re constantly searching for that ancient hymn, that only sounds good with distorted guitar which causes teenagers to weep with conviction while simultaneously prompting our seniors to yell at the sounds booth, \u201cTurn it up my man, it\u2019s just not loud enough!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[274,226,218,277,276,102,275],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=862"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862\/revisions\/865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.crosseyedlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}