I always like to post a little excerpt before I send people to an actual post, but if I posted everything I liked about his post I’d have to re-post the entire thing here and that wouldn’t be nice. But I will post a bit as well as a few comments I appreciated.
Here’s a sampling (and I’m not going to put snip every time I snipped, but there are several):
One of my major premises in the writing I’m doing these days is that evangelicals have become a movement actually destroying itself.
At no point does that seem more obvious than in the recent evolution of worship within evangelicalism.
We have, within a matter of 50 years, completely changed the entire concept of what is a worship service. We’ve adopted an approach that demands ridiculous levels of musical, technical and financial commitment and resources.
We have tied ourselves to the Christian music industry and its endless appetite for change and profit. We have accepted that all of our worship leaders are going to be very, very young people. Traditional worship – a la Tenth Presbyterian in Philly- is on the verge of becoming a museum piece. (Note from Sallie: I added the link. If you like traditional worship, check out their streaming audio. Insert huge sigh of delight here.)
Diversity, generational compatibility, even simplicity are all being blown up. Worship is now a major audience event, led by skilled entertainers, aimed at a demographic and judged by the audience reaction.
God? God has been moved around to be things like a reluctant Spirit we sing down with our songs or a divine innovator always blessing as much radical change as possible.
Worship has now become a musical term. Praise and worship means music. Let’s worship means the band will play. We need to give more time to worship doesn’t mean silent prayer or public scripture reading or any kind of participatory liturgy. It means music.
We have a lot of happy people right now. They have no idea what Biblical worship is outside of the context of their favorite songs played by a kickin’ band. They have little idea of worship in vocation, in family, in ordinary work or in silence. They credit their favorite songs as major spiritual events.
Wish I had said that.
From the comments (and there are around 150 of them):
I can not possibly tell you how much I agree with this post. The chief aim and purpose of the Sunday morning worship service is not evangelizing non-Christians. To view it as such is entirely to change the purpose and meaning of worship and to shift its focus from God to man.
We Lutherans have a word for the chief Sunday service: “Gottesdienst” which means “God’s service.” It has an intriguing two-fold meaning:
God’s service to us with His grace and mercy, delivered through what we call the “means of grace” which are the Gospel and the Gospel sacraments (Baptism, Absolution, Lord’s Supper).
It also can mean, “Service to God” by which we gather and in receiving His gifts respond with prayer, praise and thanksgiving.
Turning the Sunday worship service into a “show” by which we attract [lure?] people into the church, is, to me something that has absolutely no foundation in Scripture, which never describes Christian worship as anything other than the saints of God, gathered by God, to receive His gifts and to declare His praises.
And:
Amen 1000 times over.
This topic confound me more as a pastor than many do. I’m just not sure how we recover. I would love to hear your ideas Imonk on how this will end, when it will end, and what the end will look like?
I’ve got a small liturgical fellowship meeting now in addition to the church I pastor. It is tough going. There is very little interest in liturgical worship amongst the baptist around here, and those that do show an interest need a great deal of teaching and education.
For example. We recited the Apostle’s Creed at our first meeting. A gentleman who came with his wife, he is an ordained deacon, did not know what it meant by “holy catholic church.” This is an educated man working in finance. A Christian for years. He thought it was RC not small catholic. After I explained it to him he understood and liked the meaning, but then asked that in order to keep down confusion why didn’t I just change the creed to say something else?
Sure, it’s only hundreds of years old, I’ll just change it.
And:
“They credit their favorite songs as major spiritual events.”
OUCH!
As for Ed’s comments, they reflect a larger problem:
Evangelicals chase after culture. It is what they do.To expect them to look at it suspiciously, versus as a tool for relevance, is futile. It is all about accommodation as a means to an end.
Hence PowerPoints can seen as inducing Worship and Awe. Forget the fact that to anyone sane person, any PowerPoint presentation at all ought to induce nausea.
Terrific original post. Evangelicalism is the now the religion of choice of American Idol.
And:
“I’ve heard young pastors literally ORDER older members to hit the road if they didn’t like the coming music revolution.” -iMonk.
There is no way to over-emphasize this. When the elderly go, they take with them children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, neighbor kids, and the friends and associates of these next generations, which is what the church is supposed to be reaching with the kickin’ praise bands. You can’t reach the youth without reaching the elderly.
This happened to my parents. It’s real. It’s spiritual genocide. It’s evangelicalism cutting its own throat.
Face it. We’re all edging our way toward old age. Are we ready to be set out on the curbside like this? We need to speak up for the elderly now, in hopes that someone will speak for us when we are in their shoes. We’re supposed to be all about the sanctity of human life, right? What a crock.
And:
A Christian friend of mine, who attends a church that has these emotional praise and worship services, once suggested to me that the musical part of the service was so meaningful to her, typically moving her to tears, that she would not have a problem with the sermon being dropped altogether to make more time for the music and singing. I am sure she meant no harm by that statement, but it made me wonder if modern worship services are horribly undermining the equipping of the saints through the presentation of the Word and slowly killing our churches from the inside.
Whew. After you’ve processed all that, you can check out the whole thing here: The Big Worship Goof.
I can so totally relate to this. I grew up in an evangelical denomination. I am grateful for the experience, especially the excellent education I received in the Bible through years of Sunday School.
However…as a young adult it just didn’t work for me anymore. All the things mentioned in the comments above came to bear. I was frustrated being a passive observer of music and to a sermon aimed strongly at nonbelievers. I was frustrated with the sermons, period, because they were so long (45 minutes or even an hour) and they were, after all, just one man’s interpretation of how the Bible was telling Christians they should act; there was no opportunity for give-and-take and discussion of his opinion. The sermons would have been more appropriate for Sunday School or for a college lecture hall with the opportunity for questions. I longed for a quieter, more reverent atmosphere and the opportunity to actively worship God. I found the praise choruses projected on an overhead meaningless.
I had always been told that liturgical worship was “dead” worship. But you know what, as evangelicals we had our own liturgy, it just wasn’t acknowledged, starting with the praise choruses and the “just” prayers (“Lord, I just really want to…).
I hasten to say none of the above is *wrong*. I have come to believe there may be different styles of worship to meet Christians’ differing needs at different times of their lives. But it wasn’t working for *me*.
And so…I became an Episcopalian. (A *conservative* Biblically orthodox Episcopalian/Anglican, I feel I must say today. What an illustration that every denomination and worship style has its problems…so far I’ve chosen to stay and fight the good fight, because the worship there means so much.)
I love kneeling to pray quietly before the service. I love the bells calling us to the service. I love communally worshiping God through multiple hymns and prayers. I love the multiple Bible readings — we hear far more of the Bible each week than I heard in the evangelical church — almost all of the Bible is read aloud in church every three year cycle. I love the old hymns filled with Biblical references. The Creeds. I love weekly Communion, regularly following the charge to “Do this in remembrance of me.”
Did you know that the choir usually isn’t seated facing the congregation in Episcopal churches? They sit sideways. Because the choir isn’t there to entertain, it’s to help lead in worship. That speaks volumes for me.
This is very long, I’m sorry! Got a little excited because as I read the piece I thought “yes!” over and over. So here is one more story.
If anyone is interested in reading more on this particular topic, I highly recommend the book EVANGELICALS ON THE CANTERBURY TRAIL, it helped clarify a lot of issues for me when I was struggling with making a change. (My husband had been attending my lifelong church since we met, but he wasn’t “invested” there and was open to going elsewhere, in fact he had been baptized Episcopalian, although initially trying that denomination was my suggestion.)
Best wishes,
Laura
I’m Roman Catholic, so we don’t have these issues. The Mass is the Mass and it is not there to make you feel good or happy….in other words, it’s not about you. Although we do have our share of not-so-great music sometimes, things are getting better in that department now.
This just makes me want to cry.
So much truth.
I can relate to a lot of what Laura says in her comment above. My family has left evangelicalism for the Lutheran Church (a conservative branch~~I feel I must make that disclaimer as did Laura because there are liberal Lutherans). We love the liturgy for many reasons, but one of the biggest is the connection it gives us to Christians of ages past. We love singing the old hymns. We love the huge doses of Scripture we get every divine service~~not just the three readings from the OT, NT, and Gospel, but also in the liturgy itself, which is mostly taken straight from the Scriptures. We love the symbolism in the very architecture of the church building. We love confession and absolution, something we NEVER experienced in evangelicalism. We love weekly communion. We are very happy with our decision, though it was difficult and misunderstood by many. We are not looking back.
A good book to read for exploring Lutheranism is _The Spirituality of the Cross: The Way of the First Evangelicals_ by Gene Edward Veith.
Just my thoughts.
Great post! We were once members of a GREAT (and I don’t exaggerate here) that moved into this category. They did away with the choir, orchestra and brought in a kickin’ praise band. The church was one of the most ‘popular/spiritual churches in the greater Nashville area – with many Christian artists coming to sing each Sunday morning since they lived nearby. The church split, the older generations were told to leave if they didn’t like it – and after all that (over 7 years ago) the church is still on shaky ground. It broke my heart that the enemy used the most gracious gifts of God – WORSHIP – to tear down this church. To this day I grieve over the loss so many went through due to this issue.
Having said all that, and reading about the emotional side of worship that several have voiced….I have to say, I find myself weeping from time to time during worship. Just recently one of members sang Amazing Grace without any music….it thrilled me and brought a deep sense of awe of God. It did bring me to tears, out of an emotional response to His greatness and the fact that I felt humbled by the truths of the song. I felt a strong presence of the HS, and of HIS great love for me. I don’t believe that there is anything wrong with that response.
It is a difficult time for churches right now – tithing is down, droves of younger generations have stopped attending services. It is sad to watch. Yet I have to say, my generation did the same thing. I didn’t go back to church until I was 30.
There were many other good comments on that post. One commenter pointed out that in an evangelical service, with not much of a formal liturgy, the music is practically the only part of the service that the congregation can actively participate in. Another said that church music tends to come in waves, with new music arising at times of revival.
My church tends to sing a lot of the same songs that the Christian radio station plays–what I call “happy happy Jesus happy” music, and at a volume that is a little too loud for the older members. I have been having a hard time with worship lately, because no matter how early I start getting everyone ready, we almost always are late to church and usually come in halfway through the singing. I really miss the time before the service to sit quietly and transition into worship.
This looks like it’s right up my alley, Sallie. I can’t wait to read your whole post, nor the original Internet Monk post. Thank you so much for writing and linking. I was just talking to our pastor about these very things yesterday!
Sallie, I have both the CD and the hymnbook from 10th Presbyterian and LOVE them! Who says great worship hymns can’t be written in this century?
Worship is a way of living, not a scoresheet.
Thank you, Sallie… much to ponder…
I hate to admit it but my wife and I are considering leaving our fellowship (of 25 years) over music. It’s not a traditional vs contemporary issue. It boils down to two things: First, the music has become loud, loud, and louder,to the point of annoying. Second, our worship leader has us singing the same 10-12 popular songs/choruses over and over again ad nauseum. Our singing time is nothing more than a CCM concert that the congregation is somehow expected to join in with. I am not a crotchety old geezer, I try to always be long on grace, and allow for personal preferences, but honestly I have had enough.
Sally, I’ve only read the first paragraph but just had to chime in to say I’ve been to Tenth Pres in Philly and it is GREAT. I also have the little hymnal of 10 hymns their music director and pastor wrote. Great stuff…
Let me add my firm “Amen” to the post on Contemporary church music. Yes, I’m old, and yes, I’m a traditionalist. But I hope over 40 years in ministry (as both a senior pastor and director of music) does not disqualify me from a few observations.
As I hymn historian, I’ve written a newspaper column on our traditional hymnody for years (over 600 articles to date), have hosted radio programs on the subject, and written a book (about to be published), on carols and Christmas hymns. This spring, I started a blog called Wordwise Hymns, that includes an almanac of events in hymnody related to each day’s date.
Well! That was an unintentional ramble! I’m not a big fan of contemporary religious songs overall. But there are certainly some that are worth using. A hymn is not better because it’s older, or worse because it’s newer. However, I have been in too many churches (as a visiting speaker) where the contemporary thunder issuing from a mountain of speakers has driven many to the back rows–if not right out of the church. Recently, I was in a church where I sat about 15 feet from the pianist. But I could not hear a note he played, because of the excessive volume of the “worship team” on the platform.
And the concept of a “blended service” is not always the answer. At times, it comes across as a kind of spiritual blackmail (“We’ll let you have yours if you let us have ours.”) I’ve been in more than one service where the worship team takes the stage and sings a bunch of contemporary choruses at us. Then, later in the service, an organist and pianist come up to accompany a hymn or two. Never the twain shall meet, it seems. This is blending?
Oh, dear! This has turned into a rant! Not my intention either.
There is an incredible spiritual treasure in the hymnody of 20 centuries. To let the hymn books gather dust (or remove them altogether) robs people of a rich heritage. Rather than capitulate, we need to educate! That is my point. If we are to fulfil Colossians 3:16, we must not lose the devotional richness our our hymns.
The “kickin” band and the ultra loud vocalists could put any bar band to shame. The music leader has even started adding a “yahoo” at the end of some of the songs. I know of at least 11 people who got up during the music service this morning and left. The writer was correct about the tease of “blending”…it just doesn’t happen. We sang 2 verses of one hymn and then the “Praise Team” sang their long, extended songs for 15 minutes or more. What became of entering in reverence and quiet and in a prayerful attitude? Who decided that church services must resemble a ballgame atmosphere? “They” keep telling us we have to do this for the young people…well, I was young once and we sang hymns. Looking around during the singing of these so-called praise songs, you can see the lack of joy and worship on the faces of the majority of the people. Yet, they continue to force it down our throats. I think if we could get “them” to try a quiet, worshipful service for a while, they would see what we have been missing. By the time the guitar-picking, drum-beating “music” is over, all feeling of worshipfulness has left my mind. I would leave this Baptist church, but from what I hear, it’s the same everywhere. All this so-called music just makes me think of how the Israelites were carrying on when Moses came down from the mountain… God can’t be enjoying this stuff!