Wisdom From All Directions
One of the most well-known ancient proverbs from scripture is a push to humility: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
So, in that spirit, I’d love to share wisdom from nearly 25 years of worship leadership—not because I’m incredibly wise, but because God has granted me wise mentors, diverse experiences, brilliant peers, complex contexts, and plenty of failure along the path God laid out in front of me.
I hope this series will serve as an invitation to think well about our gathered worship. Perhaps you can share with your fellow worship planners and leaders, adjusting them for your context or arguing with them altogether. No doubt you’ll have your own nuggets of wisdom to add as well. Please share them with us at Reformed Worship, contact@ReformedWorship.org.
THE BATTLE FOR RELEVANCE
The 90s were incredible. Beanie Babies, the rise of the internet, the Hubble telescope, the end of the Cold War. We saw a swing from grunge music to mainstream hip hop, the introduction of the Toy Story franchise, and the first Harry Potter book. And worship became an entire industry unto itself.
Since roughly the mid-90s, mainstream conversations about worship have often centered around the battle for relevance. Of course, the “relevance” conversation is much older than the 90s. The reformers’ understanding of the need for relevance is one reason your services probably aren’t in Latin, and the hymns that use “thee” and “thou” were once revolutionary in some communities because they weren’t a direct translation of the Psalms. In fact, “what’s relevant” is arguably a backdrop for some of the Apostle Paul’s first century letters to the church.
But the mid-90s came with a confluence of complexities, including the advent of “worship” as its own musical genre and business investment. And with the rise of record sales, major tours, and worship celebrities came a demand for worship in the church to be “relevant” to the cultural moment—relevant in style, language, aesthetics, and more. Since then, the struggle at the local church level has been painful.
PARTICIPATION, NOT A PAGEANT
With conversations about cultural relevance, came the demand for “excellence.” It’s well-motivated, and a worthwhile pursuit. But in many contexts, there was a shift away from the community of faith sharing in worship together and a shift toward a professional-style performance and presentation, particularly in music. If we’re competing with the world, we need the charisma, talent, and production quality of the world, right?
But we would do well to remember that our public worship isn’t for “the professionals.”
Blessed is the worship leader who knows worship is participation and not a pageant, for they’ll celebrate the full family of God.
It’s often true that worship leaders know how to put on a good show. Many of us are trained musically, or in other performance traditions. We are in tune with our emotions and know how music and words affect people; so we understand how to shape an event that flows well, and can be rather moving. And as humans, all of us are drawn toward a leader with charisma. These are all good gifts that can be used within worship to serve the church in glorifying God together. And “performance” in and of itself is not a bad word: preaching is a performative act, making music is a performative act.
But if the liturgy is truly “the work of the people,” it’s not just for the professionals. I’ve appreciated The Worship Sourcebook for naming the marks of healthy Christian worship. The authors name, among other things, that our worship should be a “generous outpouring of ourselves before God” as a community (Faith Alive Christian Resources, 2013, p. 17). I love this because it still lets us care about excellence in worship, but it gives us new ways to think and talk about excellence. While performative worship driven by church celebrity is exclusive and strictly for the elite, excellent communal worship is participatory, driven by the family that God’s knitting together and the story he’s telling in our midst.
Cultural relevance is good. Excellence is good. God and our community are worthy of both. But those are lesser things that can’t become ultimate things. It’s not about one dominant, charismatic voice; it’s about a community responding to God’s grace with one voice.
NOT JUST A “CONTEMPORARY” PROBLEM
By the way, before anyone gets excited about judging contemporary worship music and contexts from the lofty perch of liturgical tradition, we’d be wise to remember this battle can—and does—take place in every worship context. There’s no shortage of elite snobbery among some organists, and plenty of megachurch worship teams care deeply about communal participation. Avoid judgment based on a style of worship.
Instead, ask, “Who is being excluded? Who’s being held up, intentionally or unintentionally, as a sort of celebrity?”
THE MEASURING STICK
When working at a megachurch in a past era, we talked about valuing community, but we didn’t know how to really practice it in our worship. We were good at the showy production, but we missed out on including some of the people that made our church family awesome. At the time, it wasn’t a context where our kids could lead us, and our friends with special needs certainly didn’t have a place in reading scripture, praying, or singing with us. We missed out on their gifts, because our worship services were elite. They were excellent in order to be relevant. These were good things that became ultimate things and shortchanged the beauty of our full community.
And now, being in a church family that values the full sharing of gifts, I often find myself overwhelmed by wonder and awe at this faith family that lays claim to me. It’s a marvel to lead with them and be led by them. Our young adults with special needs and unique abilities have led us through scripture, song, and dance. Our kids write and read prayers for us. Our music team last week had a junior in high school on the drums and a 70-year-old on guitar.
I find that excellent. And that type of sincerely excellent worship is always relevant, because all can be welcomed in to participate and encounter the risen Christ.