Christian performers Shane & Shane were in concert, and getting enthusiastic response from the mostly teen and college-age audience. The music was good. loud, up tempo and heavy on the guitars and drums--just the kind of music a youthful audience craves, right?
And then something interesting happened. The band totally down-shifted and one of the Shanes began to lead the crowd in a series of old hymns sung a cappella. By old hymns, I mean Baptist Hymnal old. (If you don't remember the Baptist Hymnal, don't feel bad. Quite a few Baptist worship leaders have forgotten it, too.)
The interesting part was that most in the audience knew the songs. They sang words with great passion and solemnity, many with open hands swaying slowly in the air. They left no doubt that as much as they were into new music, they were moved by the old. The moment was very powerful.
For quite awhile now churches, including my own, have been trying to bridge the generation gap through blended worship. I'm sure many worship leaders would say that in their own way they are doing what Shane and Shane were doing--attaching something old to something new in an effort to appeal to every age group, every individual taste, every expectation.
But that is not it. The key to the power we all experienced at the Shane & Shane concert was not the blending, it was the variety, offered up with sincerity and excellence.
The very idea of blended worship seems a contradiction and a mistake to me. What is worship? It is selfless offering of love and praise up to God. But the concept of blending injects self to the center of the worship process. Blended worship becomes politically correct worship, an effort to touch all the demographic and cultural bases so that everyone goes home a little less put off. The focus shifts off God and on people.
Blended worship has another negative side effect--it is formulaic and boring. Every worship experience becomes one part new, one part old, one part choir, one part soloist and pre-recorded band. That's the routine--keep it constant, keep it safe. When you need to inject a little enthusiasm, just turn up the volume.
It is interesting that in the Psalms there is an emphasis on variety in worship. Some Psalms call for stringed instruments and some for a single lyre. Some call for a flute. Some are intended to be sung and some spoken. Some are intended as musical chant, apparently to be sung by boys with high voices. In some there are pauses for reflection and meditation.
The opening verses of the Gospel of John reminds that through Jesus Christ all things came into being, including life and light. That means the God we serve, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, is the creative genius behind everything--from stars to starfish, from June bugs to juniper trees, from wetlands to wet kisses. His creative energy boggles the mind.
So why do we use so few tools in the worship toolbox? Choirs are great, but do we need a choir every Sunday? An organ or an orchestra is great, but do we need a them every service? What would be the impact of a bluegrass band on occasion? How about nothing but a harp? What about an all a cappella service, or all acoustic, or bongos, a single piano, a jazz approach or simply, every now and then, poetry?
What if the flavor of every worship service were a surprise, led by sincere worship leaders who are not motivated to show off, but to honor and reflect the creativity of God through their own God-given creative abilities? What if the only constant was a dependable focus on the Lord, and offering up worship to him?
Variety, sincerity, creativity, excellence and unwavering focus on Christ--those are the solutions for the worship wars. We don't need a blended worship service. We need a blended worship life, filled with anticipation about what is going to happen next.
And then something interesting happened. The band totally down-shifted and one of the Shanes began to lead the crowd in a series of old hymns sung a cappella. By old hymns, I mean Baptist Hymnal old. (If you don't remember the Baptist Hymnal, don't feel bad. Quite a few Baptist worship leaders have forgotten it, too.)
The interesting part was that most in the audience knew the songs. They sang words with great passion and solemnity, many with open hands swaying slowly in the air. They left no doubt that as much as they were into new music, they were moved by the old. The moment was very powerful.
For quite awhile now churches, including my own, have been trying to bridge the generation gap through blended worship. I'm sure many worship leaders would say that in their own way they are doing what Shane and Shane were doing--attaching something old to something new in an effort to appeal to every age group, every individual taste, every expectation.
But that is not it. The key to the power we all experienced at the Shane & Shane concert was not the blending, it was the variety, offered up with sincerity and excellence.
The very idea of blended worship seems a contradiction and a mistake to me. What is worship? It is selfless offering of love and praise up to God. But the concept of blending injects self to the center of the worship process. Blended worship becomes politically correct worship, an effort to touch all the demographic and cultural bases so that everyone goes home a little less put off. The focus shifts off God and on people.
Blended worship has another negative side effect--it is formulaic and boring. Every worship experience becomes one part new, one part old, one part choir, one part soloist and pre-recorded band. That's the routine--keep it constant, keep it safe. When you need to inject a little enthusiasm, just turn up the volume.
It is interesting that in the Psalms there is an emphasis on variety in worship. Some Psalms call for stringed instruments and some for a single lyre. Some call for a flute. Some are intended to be sung and some spoken. Some are intended as musical chant, apparently to be sung by boys with high voices. In some there are pauses for reflection and meditation.
The opening verses of the Gospel of John reminds that through Jesus Christ all things came into being, including life and light. That means the God we serve, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, is the creative genius behind everything--from stars to starfish, from June bugs to juniper trees, from wetlands to wet kisses. His creative energy boggles the mind.
So why do we use so few tools in the worship toolbox? Choirs are great, but do we need a choir every Sunday? An organ or an orchestra is great, but do we need a them every service? What would be the impact of a bluegrass band on occasion? How about nothing but a harp? What about an all a cappella service, or all acoustic, or bongos, a single piano, a jazz approach or simply, every now and then, poetry?
What if the flavor of every worship service were a surprise, led by sincere worship leaders who are not motivated to show off, but to honor and reflect the creativity of God through their own God-given creative abilities? What if the only constant was a dependable focus on the Lord, and offering up worship to him?
Variety, sincerity, creativity, excellence and unwavering focus on Christ--those are the solutions for the worship wars. We don't need a blended worship service. We need a blended worship life, filled with anticipation about what is going to happen next.
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