9 ways the modern-day* church has gone wrong with worship
- Worship is self-centered. It's all about me.
- Worship is all about the emotions
- Worship songs are not always Biblically accurate
- Worship songs tend to focus more on the death and resurrection
- Worship teams does not lead, but rather performs
- When worship teams do "lead," they are commanding
- There is not always unity in worship
- Worship can get too complex with instruments and sounds
- Worship and the rest of the service are separate, where worship becomes the center
But before I go on, let me say that these observations I had made were in a "scientific" way. How is it scientific? I kept score; I did a survey. In my notebook, I made 7 columns to find 7 things I thought I would find in worship songs: number of times God is mentioned explicitly (Lord, God, Jesus, Christ, Holy Spirit, Yahweh, etc.), number of times God is mentioned implicitly (any title of God or Jesus that does not use God or Jesus, or any time "You" is used mentioning God or Jesus, but not really stated in the verse or chorus), numbers of time the self is mentioned (I, me, my, myself, etc.), number of times "you" is used (an altruistic use of "you," the ones not in reference to God), number of times the church or the Body of Christ is mentioned (pretty much "we"), number of times the creation is mentioned to worship God, and the number of times the passion weekend and redemption is mentioned (this is Christ's death, resurrection, or any redemption themes, like paying for sins, etc.). These are my results:
Times God/Jesus is implicitly mentioned: 138 times
Times God/Jesus is mentioned altogether: 246 times (top 2 added together)
Times the self (I, me, etc.) is mentioned: 247 times
Times the alturistic sense of "you" is used: 1 time
Times the body of Christ/church is mentioned: 6 times
Times the creation is used in praise: 49 times
Times passion week and redemption is used: 56 times
Possible Conclusions:
-We focus more about ourselves rather than God
-We focus more on 3 days of Christ's early life over the whole redemptive history
-While we might understand worship, the non-Christian or new Christian may not
-Very little time is dedicated to building each other up
1. Worship is self-centered. It's all about me.
One of the most eye-opening discoveries in my survey is that the column that won was the high numbers that the self was mentioned, even more than God implicitly mentioned or God explicitly mentioned. I can only naturally conclude that in praise and worship, we sing more about ourselves than about God. In a way, we're not worshipping God, but ourselves, or at least our relationship of God. Do I dare even say we're asking God to praise us for deciding to follow Him? I blame the modern era influence on Christianity during the 20th century. 20th century modern philosophy is very centered around the self. Now don't get me wrong. I do believe that salvation comes with every one's individual decision to follow Christ. But we forget that when we do make this individual decision, we become part of a community, the Body of Christ. One of the reasons we go to church is to help fellow Christians be edified by one another. But the praise and worship time seems to say different. The worshipper sings so little about the church community and even less about others in the church community. It means praise and worship has become narcissistic, which is not Christian.
Are you familiar with the term "sensual"? Today it has a bad reputation because it is often seen as a synonym to the word "sexual". But the etomology of the word shows the word sensual simply means "exciting, arousing, or appealing to the senses". I want to argue that all music gives us a sensual experience. We play music that reflects our emotions. We play upbeat songs when we are happy, we play downbeat songs when we're sad, and we play loud music when we're angry. No matter what genre you like listening to, this is true. May I go further on to this is true for both secular and religious music. The Bible does this. In David's good times, he wrote Psalms of praise, and in David's bad times, he wrote painful laments. So emotional involvement in praise and worship isn't fully wrong, but it isn't fully right. We have to remember our emotions is only one part of us, one part among many (physical, mental, social, spiritual, etc.). We also have to be careful with driving up emotions so high. Emotional thinking and decision-making isn't always the wisest. It may contradict the logical answer. Sometimes feeling good will become more important than expressing truths. And if that gets to an extreme, a wolf in sheep's clothing can sneak in, exchange the truths with lies, and we won't notice because all we care about is the emotional high. It calls for extra accountability to the worship leaders. Lastly, extra attention on the emotions can cause the intellect or anyone who is less in tune with emotions to feel left out of the worship experience. God wants us to worship Him in spirit and in truth, both emotionally and intellectually.
3. Worship songs are not always Biblically accurate
This piggy-backs off the last point. When all we care about is the emotional connection, we ignore the heresies and blasphemies that enter our praise songs. We need to make sure the songs we sing speak Biblical truth. Anything else is a lie. I can go on and on with this, but I will try to limit to a few examples. First example: "Come, Now is the Time to Worship." The song says in one line, "Come, just as you are to worship." This is not right. The Bible says we need to prepare and cleanse our hearts and minds as we enter God's presence. This is found in both the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Second example: "Above All." Yeah, it's a cute song about how Jesus died for us, but the biggest error is what i said in point 1: it's self-centered. Hello, Jesus was thinking about [God] the Father's Will above all. Because Jesus always put the Father before His ministry, just as we should. Third example: "Blessed Be Your Name." Now this one isn't as bad because it is taken from Scripture. The only problem is that it is used out of context. It's true that the bridge is a taken right out of the book of Job. But when Job says that, he is lamenting in the deepest sorrows. We sing it in a upbeat, happy praise. Trust me, it's better sung as a lament. Fourth example: "The Heart of Worship." It says "I'll bring you more than a song." Hello, this is a song! And people get caught up in the song, too! I don't know, I just never got it. And there is enough more. I once heard this one song (forget what it was called, but it's not like I want to remember) where the song said that something is missing in life, and that the writer is searching for it, but left it at that! No mention of the Lord, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or how God gives more to life. Worship songs have to come back to praising Jesus in a Biblical way. Furthermore, I call for worship songs to mention God and Jesus more explicitly. Notice in my survey that Jesus and God's name usually came in the form of "You" or some title given to either part of the trinity. Yes, the mature Christian on spiritual meat knows what the song is about, but the non-Christian or the newborn Christian on spiritual milk may be clueless, and it wouldn't be edifying to them. It is key for church to be edifying to all, which means understandable to all.
4. Worship songs tend to focus more on the death and resurrection
My survey alone should show that is true. The survery showed we sung more about redemptive themes than even the creation. Now in writing this, I don't want it to seem like I'm favoring hymns in worship just for the sake of favoring hymns, but if there is one thing I like about hymns, it's the variety. Open a hymnal (if you can find one), and you'll find hymns on peace, hope, love, joy, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, suffering, wisdom and so much more. You can find hymns on the advent of Christ's birth, Christ's birth, Christ's ministry, Christ's works, Christ's death, Christ's resurrection, Christ's ascension, and Christ's Body, filled with the Holy Spirit. But when it comes to comtemporary praise and worship, most, if not all, songs can be placed in two categories: praising God for His creation or praising God for his sacrifice. And the survery shows which one is more used. Is it wrong to sing praise of Christ's work on the cross. Not at all, or at least not fully. Where does it go wrong? When we can't move on. Let me explain better by explaining how worship has ended up just focusing on passion weekend (Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday). To briefly sum up the Bible and redemptive history, it can be done in 4 stage: creation, fall, redemption, re-creation. To say it in sentence form, "God created you, you fell into sin, Jesus saves those from sin who receive him, and makes them a new creation through sanctification." But over time the 20th century evangelical church has shaved off the ends of the redemptive story, leaving only the fall and redemption side in. So the evangelical's method of evangelism is saying to non-believers, "You have fallen into sin, but Jesus can save you from sin if you receive him." Is there anything wrong with this saying? No, but I believe this saying robs people of the full picture, of being wonderfully made in the image of God and, as Christians, being remade into a new creation. But no. Instead, it's just fall & redemption. The four parts are now: humans sin, Christ died, Christ, receive the gift. And this idea has sneaked into our worship time. Our worship singing is all about the fall and redemption. We keep reminding ourselves that we are fallen sinners, totally dependant upon Christ. Is this a lie? Not at all. But it does have a negative effect on us when we don't have the full redemption story on it. Ever feel guilty of your sin, even after being saved. Why would you be? Hebrews tells us that once we are saved, God remembers our sins no more. Romans says that if we are in Christ, there is no condemnation. So why do Christian still feel condemned? They are constantly reminded in worship they are sinners dependant on Christ's salvation, so they keep worshipping God in that aspect, as if God will not forgive them if they don't. Instead, what should be happening is we should be hearing more praise and worship songs that talk about re-creation and sanctification, so that we can grow in those areas. Sometimes I think God can do so much more with us if we moved on in the way of sanctification, and stop groveling at the cross, thanking for forgiveness that we have already received. It is like Jesus is crying out to use, "Yes, I get it you're thankful you're saved. Can we move on to working in my kingdom and in my ministry?" Or better yet, it is like Jesus is saying, "I am off the cross. Are you?" Finally, I'd to close with pointing out a Biblical proof for this: the Psalms. There is not just 1 genre of psalms. There are quite a few: laments, praising God for rescuing, praising God for who He is, and wisdom psalms. If the Psalms are in variety, shouldn't the comtemporary worship be as well?
5. Worship team does not lead, but rather performs
It's typical for the worship team, especially the leader of the team to be incredibly talented musically. Is there anything wrong with that? No. In fact, it seems like they are the first ones willing to do it. Do I think that musical talent should be the discerning factor in choosing a praise and worship band. I don't believe so. I do believe there is a difference between the spiritual gift of worship leader and musical talent. But the problem I am about to discuss can happen to worship leaders who are talented and not as talented; it just seems more prevailant in those who are musically talent. It might be because the worship team is musically talented, or it might be because the stage is set up like a concert. But whatever the cause, it seems like the worship team is performing than leading worship. First sign of a performing worship team: singers, especially the lead singer, uses his/her/their full octive range in singing. Obviously less talented singers in the audience/congregation aren't going to be able to reach these notes. So why are doing it? Second sign of a performing worship team: instrumental solos. Yeah that's cool to hear at a concert, but how is it edifying the rest of the congregation? I won't even rule out it's an act of worship to God, but the soloist is not leading the rest of the church with the soloist. Pretty much, today's worship scene is set up like this: the worship team is the performers, and the church congreation is the audience. It needs to switched as God is the audience, and the performers are both the worship team and the rest of the church congregation. It's time we define the lead in "worship leaders." They are worship leaders, not worship performers.
6. When worship team does "lead," they are commanding
Ever have a worship team tell you what to do, what to think or how to feel? I have a problem more with the last two then the first one, but let's go in order. Now I don't have a problem of worship leaders telling their audience to sit or stand. It tells the congregation, both members and visitors, what the appropriate stance or position is while worshipping. But I think when the worship teams tells the congregation to sing a certain way, say a certain line, or put their hands in a certain position, that goes to far. Those actions are suppose to be something that comes from the heart. Speaking of which, I can move on to my dislike of worship teams telling the congregation on how to think or feel. This is just wrong inside and outstide of worship. If you're telling me how to think or feel, and it's contrary to how I really think or feel, then changing it would not be genuine. And I might be getting something else out of the worship time, but if the worship team tells me to think/feel another way, I might feel wrong, and lose spiritual growth. God made everyone individually special, and the Body of Christ must recognize that it will create different worship styles. I believe the worship team's job is to encourage worship, no matter what the style.
7. There is not always unity in worship
This goes beyond the fact of the powerpoint not matching the worship team. Ever have this happen: half the worship team repeats a verse, another repeats the chorus? Or have the singers repeat a verse, while the instrument players repeating the chorus? This can lead the worshipping congregation confused on what to sing! Heck, that happens, too! The worshipping congregation goes to continue to song as normal, and the worship band decides to change order. Now we, as Christians, claim that the Holy Spirit is with us in worship, and that the Holy Spirit unites. This is true. But what do you say when you the above incidents happen? It is embarrassing! It's a bad witness of the Holy Spirit. If the Holy Spirit is there at worship, uniting us, this shouldn't happen. Now don't get me wrong: I claim both statements about the Holy Spirit as truth. So that leads me to want to question the motifs of the praise band when it does happen, especially if the praise band has been practicing too. But I will not question too much, so I don't have to face judgment. All I'm saying is that at least at hymns, the hymn leader would say what verse are being sung ahead of time.
8. Worship can get too complex with instruments and sounds
Sometimes I think worship can get too carried away with how we sound. First is the instruments. I think the biggest worship team I saw had 10 performers on stage: 4 guitars (lead, rhythm, bass, and acoustic), 2 pianists (baby grand piano & keyboard), 2 drummers (full drum set & double bongos), and 2 singers. Another time I saw 3 acousitic guitars. I turned to one of my friends, who is musically talented, and asked him, "Is there really a point to 3 acoustic guitars?" and his reply was "No, not really." Doesn't this kind of seem ridiculous? Truth to be told, if we really cared about sound, the better worship teams I've heard are the ones with the fewer instruments, the better. Ever listen to the Amish? They don't believe in playing instruments, and their voices are wonderful. Second in this subject is the singing. As I said above, some worship leaders will sing full octives. Others coordinate the church into 4-part singing. Still others don't care and just have everyone sing in unison. The worst causes is I heard worship leaders say in a low-tone, implicit, "nice" way, "If you can't sing, don't sing" (they will say something like "pause and silently think about the words" but that's what they mean). Last time I checked, Psalm 100:1 says to make joyful sound unto the Lord, not necessarily a pleasant sounding one. Point is that it's about the heart. It may even be true that the worshipper who sings "badly" might have a better heart in worship than someone singing "well." Third part would just be sound in general. This ranges anywhere from designing the church building to have good acoustics to installing microphones and speakers in the right place. For this I say the same I said for singing. It's not how we sound, but where our heart is.
9. Worship and the rest of the service is separate, where worship becomes the center
I've noticed the typical pattern for worship is: call to worship, praise and worship music, announcements, offering, sermon, prayer requests, bendiction. Sometimes prayer time comes between offering and sermon, but not the point. Somehow this setup is group in sections, instead of one whole thing. Thus, sometimes more attention is given to one than the other. The popular choice is the praise and worship time. I've seen people give their all in praise and worship, singly loudly and waving their arms, but then after they are unlively, so unlively it's like they are do. They zone out for rest of the service. Heck, I've even seen some people leave the sanctuary, and even leave the church, after the praise and worship time, as if church is done. Why is this? It could be something as simple as they put in all their energy in the beginning, and by the time praise and worship singing is over, they are out of juice and pooped. But I think there is something more. I think it's because they are in the wrong mindset. They believe that the preacher giving the sermon is merely the preacher's act of worship, not theirs. But this is only paritally true. Sure the preacher is worship God by preaching, but he's also doing it to edify church. He's giving you just as much spiritual food as praise and worship will. And if you believe as I, that the Holy Spirit is speaking through the preacher, then the Holy Spirit might be speaking to us in the sermon as in praise and worship singing. Then those that zone out will be missing out on God's Word. I know that I truthfully get more out of the sermon than the praise and worship music. If you give it a try, you might find that out as well. As an LBC chapel speaker once said, "If you refuse to listen to God through His Word the Bible, then why would God speak to you any other way?" This kind of goes back to my second point. Church, it is time you stop just feeling, and start thinking.
In closing, I want to leave you with a verse and an experience I had. The verse is Hebrews 5:13,14- "Anyone who lives on milk, still being an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by cosntant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." I love the imagery the author (possibly Paul, because Paul uses the same imagery) uses here. When infants start eating, they have to start on milk first, but as they mature and need more calories, they move on to solid food. In fact, a lot of infant nutritionists say it's unhealthy to push solid food on an infant. But you ever think of this way: is it unhealthy to keep an infant on milk when it needs to move up to solid food? That might be denying the baby the important nutrients, like calories, that the infant needs to keep growing. I will tell you of the experience I had. I went on a fast for five days, having nothing but a quart of milk for every meal (which is about a half gallon a day). See what happened to me and try to connect it with the verse. Did I survive? Yes. Was I hospitalized? No. Did it keep me alive? With the help of God, yes. So on the surface level, it did its job. But deep down inside, I was lacking something. At the end of my milk "meals," I was still hungry. Even though it gave my the nutrients to stay alive, I robbed myself of other nutrients that were neccesary to grow. I could feel inside that I was lacking solid food, and I craved for it. I crave for something to fill me. Some days I felt aching muscles, and I wondered if that had anything to do with the fast. See the connection? While milk keeps us alive, we need to eventually move on to solid foods to keep growing strong. This is true in the spiritual aspects, too. See, I believe that when we are only focusing on a praise & worship time where the individal is center, where feelings are more imporant than thinking, and where passion week and redemption themes are the only themes mentioned, we are just feeding ourselves spiritual milk, the same we did as when we received Christ. When people who have been Christians for a long just feed themselves spiritual milk, they are depriving themselves of the nutrients they need to continue growing spiritually. This will leave them as weak as infants, depending on a "spiritual high" to keep themselves going. They will be aching and yearning for something more. Look at Hebrews 5:13,14 as an encouragement to grow up. Many of you Christians are ready to grow up after many years in the faith. But you must move on from your milk and eat solid food. I believe if we can approach and conquer these 9 ways, we as a church can move on to bigger and better things. Once again, I call the church to grow, taking on solid food instead of staying milk, and to start thinking.
*I chose the term "modern-day" although I was tempted to use "evangelical" instead because these problem seem prevailant in the evangelical church. Yet I've noticed these problems sometimes in the emergent church, as well as the pentacostal/charsmatic church. The only churches who have less of these problems are the older churches with older traditions. Therefore, I think the problem isn't a church movement issue, but rather a time period issue. Thus, I settled with the term "modern-day"
