More Thoughts on Music and Worship…

So I’ve continued to ponder some of the things discussed on this blog last week, particularly about music and worship. I shared how I’m bored with Christian music in general, and how even “secular” music has been speaking to me…and I use the word “secular” loosely since I’m really getting rid of the whole sacred/secular hangup, and I only use the word now so you’ll know what I mean. Knowhutimean?

Anyway…I’m still grappling with all this because I am a musician and a worshiper, and I don’t mean by all this that I want to forsake using music to worship God. That, to me, would feel even more empty than being bored with the music we currently use. Like I said, I think I’m just anxiously waiting for something fresh and new to emerge…and I think it will. Lemme splain.

Worship and music are not synonyms, although we wrongly use them interchangeably in church meetings. Worship is an expression and attitude of the heart, and music is, well, music. But there is no doubt in my mind that music exists to evoke worship. (I’ll unpack that statement in a later post, in case you’re wondering about it; so stay tuned. For now, just track with me.) There is a wonderful symbiotic relationship between music and worship, and I think that’s why sometimes we confuse one for the other in church meetings. The music itself feels sometimes like it’s lifting our souls to God, although it is only a vehicle for worship. I know what it is like to have a large roomful of people raising their voices in song, enraptured in that moment of intimacy with God. To me, few things carry more fulfillment than moments like those; I absolutely love those times.

That said…no matter how beautiful it may seem now, if you keep doing the same thing, using the same little “combination” over and over–same format, same style–ten years down the road it’s going to feel a little stale. With all the brainpower God has given us humans, it’s amazing how quickly we gravitate to “no-brainers” and mindless ritual. The heart of worship will eventually go out of anything that becomes rote, no matter how amazing it was when you first discovered it. Make no mistake–anything can become religious over time. Anything.

Another thing to consider is that the purest worship is not an attempt to get God to do something, but an honest, heartfelt response to something He has already done. This is why everytime there is some sort of spiritual move of God or “revival”, there will come a fresh wave of music and artistic expression. God stirs the hearts of people, and songs will be written, sometimes even spontaneously, to reflect and respond to what God is doing in that moment. You can often trace certain song styles, or even “sounds”, to certain revivals for that very reason.

Here’s another statement I’ll have to unpack later, but I believe the current migration of more and more people away from traditional church structures is actually part of something God is doing in His church. He is up to something, and what it’s all going to look like is probably anyone’s guess right now. But one thing’s certain–the status quo is over. Change is happening; you don’t have to like it, but it’s happening nonetheless.

So putting all that stuff together–the staleness of “worship music” today, the sense of change that is happening, and so on…I think the reason I feel so ambivalent about worship music right now is I’m waiting for the fresh wave of expression. I’m expecting God to stir our hearts afresh, and I’m looking for the artistic ones among us to pick up on it and begin to reflect it. Call it a new sound, call it whatever you will. But it’s out there, and I think it’s coming. Not a new way to do religion (please, God, no). But a freshness in our response to God.

With all the deconstructing I’ve been doing, I still feel in my heart a deep love for Jesus. Sometimes I feel it so strongly I just want to burst. I just don’t know how to express it right now, and the ways I’ve done it in the past just seem hollow and weak.

There has to be more.

Addendum 4:15 PM: If you are in the Tulsa area tonight, we are playing for “GodConversation: a worship experience”, held at Agora Coffee, 51st & Memorial, Fontana Shopping Center, starting at 7pm. (We are in the “big room” behind the coffee shop.) It is “Arts Night”, and there will be an open mike for poetry, an area for free dance, and space designated for drawing or painting (bring your own supplies). We’re looking for more; you’re welcome to join us.