Last Sunday was Easter.
My wife and I arose before dawn and left the house at 6:20 am so we could arrive early for the 7:00 service at a local megachurch.
The service ended around 8:10, and as we got in the car to go out for breakfast, I wondered, “What just happened in that service?”
There was nothing heretical … nothing sensational … nothing offensive … nothing unusual … but nothing memorable, either. In fact, the message – on Easter – barely touched on Christ’s resurrection.
I’m a pastor’s kid. I grew up in churches that had the same order of service every week. The hymn titles and the pastor’s message title changed from week to week, but that was about it.
Services were entirely predictable. We sang all the stanzas of every hymn. The pastoral prayer was around ten minutes long. The choir sang an anthem while dressed in robes. A public invitation ended every service.
I don’t want to return to that kind of service … but right now, I’m wondering why the worship in all too many churches has become stale … boring … and even predictable.
I sense by voicing my thoughts that I’m on somewhat dangerous ground, but I’ll forge ahead anyway … and I am not aiming this article at any church in particular because where I live, most churches are doing the exact same kind of service.
I have four questions about contemporary worship as I see it practiced in a great majority of churches today:
First, why do most contemporary worship services consist only of praise songs and preaching?
There is a strain of thinking practiced among Christian churches today that says that worship = music.
Want proof?
We call the staff member who leads the singing of praise music the “worship director.”
And when the worship director is standing before the congregation, he will often say something like, “Now let’s worship God.” And then we’re all expected to sing … and only sing.
Where do we find this thinking in the New Testament?
The Four Gospels record only one incident where Jesus and His disciples sang: after the Last Supper.
Jesus didn’t hold any worship workshops … encourage His disciples to close their eyes and sing to the Father … or even teach them how to sing.
In fact, Jesus never emphasized singing at all.
And when Jesus told the woman at the well that “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24), do you think that Jesus was referring to singing praise songs when He mentioned “worship?”
I don’t think so … but that’s how we use the term today.
In fact, we don’t have even one example of a Sunday morning worship service in the New Testament, and the only service that’s mentioned occurs in Acts 20:7-12 when Paul visited Troas.
That text mentions a service held in the evening … featuring the Lord’s Supper … a long sermon by Paul … and the resuscitation of Eutychus … but nothing about singing.
I’m sure they did sing, but it certainly wasn’t emphasized by Luke.
Another text that mentions worship elements in the New Testament is 1 Corinthians 14:26, where Paul writes, “When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.”
Paul does mention music … and I’m glad he does … but he also mentions other service elements … and intimates that many members of the congregation brought their own experiences about the Lord to share during their worship times.
I miss service elements like Scripture reading … a pastoral prayer … participatory praying … personal testimonies … performance music … and even creative videos.
My wife and I attended an impactful church in the Phoenix area several years ago, and they changed the elements and order every service. Sometimes we had a live or video testimony. Sometimes the pastor interviewed an expert on an issue. Sometimes a group in the church gave a special report about a mission trip they had just taken.
And we almost always had one or two performance songs every Sunday.
But in most churches, it’s like someone took a giant broom and swept every other element out of our services … except congregational singing and preaching.
When was that vote taken?
Second, why must we sing certain songs over and over and over again?
My guess is that I’m in the minority with what I’m about to write, but I’ll say it anyway.
I am weary of singing praise and worship songs seven times … or for ten minutes … as if singing the same words repeatedly somehow brings us closer to God.
Where in Scripture do we find this idea?
When I grew up in church, we sang three, four, or five stanzas of some hymns … often with a chorus tacked on at the end … but we finished those songs in two or three minutes.
But now, the trend is to see how long we can squeeze the life out of each song … which is, in my view, why so many believers aren’t singing anymore.
I remember when the praise songs from Calvary Chapel were first introduced into churches back in the 1970s. We’d sing a chorus like “Behold, Bless Ye the Lord” twice, and some people would complain we were guilty of “vain repetition.”
What would they think now?
What is to be gained by singing a song multiple times?
Is it guaranteed to bring us closer to God? Obviously not.
Are we singing until we “feel” something that we equate with God’s presence?
Probably.
I know this repetition works with some people … but it doesn’t work with everybody.
But why is it that only singing will produce the desired effect?
Wouldn’t reading Scripture also make us feel closer to God?
Wouldn’t longer prayers also make us feel closer to God?
Why have we elevated singing to a place that it doesn’t seem have in the New Testament?
Let me ask another question:
Why must the singing time go so long … often for at least thirty minutes?
My wife and I sang several hymns in the car on our way home from last Sunday’s service, and after several minutes, I couldn’t sing anymore because I was straining my voice.
My guess is that many believers feel like I did. They would like to sing for an extended period of time, but their voice just can’t handle it.
But how often does the worship leader notice that the great majority of the people aren’t singing?
He doesn’t notice because his eyes are closed. And this leads me to ask …
Third, why does the worship leader close his eyes during all or most of the “worship set?”
I have never understood this.
If you close your eyes while singing, does that mean you’re singing just for God … that you’re blocking out everything around you?
This is how many people view singing in church. You can sense God’s presence better with your eyes closed.
That’s fine if you’re sitting in a pew. But what if you’re the worship leader?
Imagine that your pastor gets up to preach and closes his eyes during his sermon. When asked why he does that, he says that it helps him to become closer to God.
But if a pastor preaches with his eyes shut, how can he adjust his message to the needs of his hearers?
What if some aren’t listening? What if they’re nodding off? Shouldn’t he know that and accelerate his pace … or cut out some material … or tell a story … or do something to get people to listen better?
By the same token, how can a worship leader make adjustments during a time of singing if he’s not aware of what’s going on with the congregation?
Last Sunday, the worship leader at the church I attended for Easter never opened his eyes for 30 minutes … unless he was peeking.
How did he know we were singing without looking at our mouths? With a monitor in his ear, I’m not sure that he knew one way or the other … but he was going to plow ahead regardless.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t close our eyes from time to time during singing. It’s a great way to block out the world around us and focus on God.
But if you’re the worship leader, isn’t your job to mediate worship between the congregation and the Lord? How can you do that if your eyes are continually closed?
Finally, why have so many churches given worship leaders so much power?
Many years ago, I was on the staff of a church, and a young man from the congregation came home from seminary and asked if he could preach. The pastor said yes … he could preach on a Sunday evening.
The young man stood in front of the congregation where he grew up and blasted the people because he now knew how to worship … and they did not.
He came off as ungrateful … arrogant … condescending … and self-righteous.
I see this same attitude in all too many “worship leaders” today: they know how to worship … and most of the congregation does not.
So it’s their job to teach them. This includes:
*Singing for at least 30 minutes
*Singing with your eyes closed
*Singing the same song over and over
*Singing until you feel “something”
But in the process, these worship leaders equate worship almost exclusively with music and avoid using elements other than music during the “worship time.”
For example, why should we sing for thirty minutes rather than sing for ten … pray for ten … and read Scripture for ten?
Why fill the entire 30 minutes with music?
And why do we all need to stand during those 30 minutes? (That’s fine when you’re younger, but as people age, it’s harder and harder to stand still for long periods of time … especially when you’re expected to stand with your eyes closed!)
And in many churches, why is the music volume so loud? If the worship time is for God … as many worship leaders claim … does the Lord have a hearing problem?
Could it be that the worship director has been given 30 minutes to fill and that he would prefer to fill it with just music?
And let me ask the most subversive question of all:
Since the New Testament is filled with sermons … and prayers … and exhortations to prayer … but says little about music except in the Book of Revelation (when the singing is confined to heaven) … why do so many churches sing for 29 minutes and pray for just one?
The cynical part of me believes that pastors hire “worship” directors so the pastor can delegate those first 30 minutes to someone without having to be involved in the planning himself. “You take the first 30 minutes; I’ll handle the sermon.”
But the even more cynical part of me believes that those worship directors want to justify their importance by making everyone sing for those entire 30 minutes … because music sells better than prayers and other elements … because many people want to “feel” something during the service … and maybe, in some cases, because the singing time puts the worship director front and center.
But while many people may indeed feel something during today’s worship services, I remain unconvinced that those feelings are resulting in lives of greater holiness and service.
I once knew a young man who led an immoral lifestyle. He came to our church and tried to hit on various women. He left before we ordered him off the campus. One night, I started watching a time of singing from a local megachurch on television, and guess who was in the front row … with his eyes closed and hands raised to heaven?
He may have looked spiritual, but he was anything but.
After 36 years in church ministry as a pastor, maybe I’ve become cranky. I certainly hope not.
But now that I’m no longer planning worship services or preaching, I’m looking at matters through more objective eyes, and my mind is filled with all kinds of questions.
Where am I going right? Where am I wrong?
I value your thoughts.
I’m cranky, too. It’s getting to be too loud at church. And honestly, I would be fine if they skipped the music and went with prayer and teaching.
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I feel the same way, Dave, and told Kim that very thing this past Sunday before the service: “Could we just skip the music and hear the message?” I love music … as you I know you do … but doing 30 minutes of praise and worship songs every Sunday seem to have diminishing returns with some people. And here’s what gets me about your volume comment: we’re told that the worship time is primarily for God … not for us … but is God so deaf that He needs that music cranked up high? I don’t think so …
Jim
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I currently attend a church in Alaska with a shorter music time (about 20 minutes) which intersperses contemporary songs with traditional hymns. The congregation can actually be heard singing, since the amplified music is not deafeningly loud. Also incorporated into that time is pastoral prayer, spontaneous prayer requests, and, for the offertory, special music. It’s been a while since we’ve gone to a church that isn’t like what you describe (only music and message). Overall it’s been a refreshing change.
In defense of music in worship, I find that either the words of a hymn or the memories evoked by a piece of music can soften my hard heart like nothing else. In my case, tears of repentance, sorrow, relief, joy, are rarely shed in response to words alone. Music unlocks something on a different level for me. I cherish that emotional openness – it’s part of what I look for in a church. If the music is expressionless and fails to move me for weeks on end, it’s time to look elsewhere. After a time of musical worship, I am more receptive to the message, because my attention has been turned to God.
I could rattle on about churches I’ve visited where the worship leaders “on stage” were like performers at a concert, with the congregation just listening. I’ve also endured the endless repetitive praise songs with empty lyrics. Wow, nothing highlights the spiritual poverty of some modern songs better than seeing the words on the screen! But I love singing hymns with their beautifully expressed spiritual truths written up on the screen. Much as I also love singing out of a hymnal, I lose track of the hymn’s meaning when I’m focused on the notes.
Just some thoughts.
Tricia
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Tricia, thanks so much for interacting with me on this important issue. I’m glad you’re in a church that seems to have some balance in worship. I’d love to sing both hymns and contemporary songs! And I’d love to attend a church where I knew even one of the songs. They’re changing so fast these days that it’s hard to learn them all.
I agree with you wholeheartedly on how music can open us up to God, and have made that point in previous blog articles. I’m glad your church has “special music” as well because most churches here in SoCal have completely done away with it. Where are people who are gifted vocally supposed to use their gifts? Seems like a local church is an optimal place to do just that.
I think I’m reacting against the cookie cutter approach to worship that predominates our area. Nearly all the churches have 30 minutes of music followed by preaching. It’s good that it’s working in some situations, but I believe that God is so creative that He doesn’t make two people the same, and I’m wondering why so many churches are doing worship the same way.
Jim
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