Worship Wars 4: It might be time to move away from tradition

Worship is not all about style.  The style of music is merely a tool that we use to craft a worship experience that is conducive to true worship, much like a painter uses a palette of different colors to create a masterpiece. I have attended traditional and contemporary churches that really worship.  I have also attended both styles of worship services where the people seem cold and unaffected.  (see post, A Tale of Two Churches)

Too often our churches only judge their worship by the number of people attending.  That is a valid assessment, but it should never stop there.  The follow up question should always be, “How many people encountered the transforming power of God through worship?” That question totally transcends the style conversation and helps us focus on what really matters in worship. Other questions to ask (as outlined in Transformational Church, by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer):

• Are we creating consumers of religious goods and services or making disciples?
• When people attend worship, are they simply observing a show or being transformed by God?

These are the kinds of questions and concerns we need to be raising regardless of the worship style that a given church employs. However, I do believe that churches need to dialogue and seek God’s heart on their worship styles.  We too often focus on the wrong things-thinking only of our personal preferences.  If we truly want our churches to be missional, what does our worship need to look like to reach our community?  For some, the answer to that is a country style of music.  For others, it would be a very Latin-American feel.  For some, it might be hip hop. Next post, we will look closer at the missionary mentality factor of determining your church’s worship style.

As new people come into a church and hear the kind of music they have already been listening to, just with different lyrics, they are more likely to be drawn in to the worship.  In some ways you might say it is the same kind of battle the Protestant Reformers fought to get worship in the language of the people.

I think churches should examine their worship to seek God’s desire for what corporate worship should look like in their church.  Lots of times, worship that used to be meaningful has lost its cultural relevance, and if we are going to engage the hearts, minds, soul, and strength of the worshipers, we must find a language that they can speak in. Too many of our churches are resting comfortably in the safety of tradition, not wanting to rock the boat. Change is generally not easy, but is so often necessary.

Some things to consider: statistical data shows that growing churches today more often have a contemporary or blended style of worship.  There are some churches with very traditional worship that are also reaching people.  The vast majority of churches in America have traditional worship, yet the majority of churches experiencing tremendous growth are of a contemporary or blended style. Ed Stetzer, in his book Comeback Churches says that there are some churches that have found traditional to be an effective approach in their community, but this is an exception, and most comeback churches (declining/plateaued churches that have made an incredible turnaround), he states, are moving in a more contemporary direction.

Think about this:  (excerpt from Experiential Worship, Bob Rognlien)

A hundred years ago, the primary means of communication was the spoken word.  The principle form of entertainment was being read to.  The familiar form of music was choral singing.  It makes sense that these would make up the primary forms of worship in the churches of those times.  People loved to sing hymns led by and organ and a piano.

TODAY, we live in a vastly changed world.  Ours is a media saturated, technologically driven, visual culture.  Many people don’t read books anymore, they surf the web and watch movies.  Most people are not used to listening to long speeches–they catch sound bites and look at graphics that portray information visually.  Few people today listen to music like you would hear in a traditional church today.

It would not surprise you then, that when you use the mediums of communication of 100 years ago, or even 40 years ago, our people are unmoved.  We are speaking a cultural language that our people do not understand.  We must seek more effective ways to engage the mind in worship.

Lots of thoughts to challenge many churches to move away from a strictly traditional approach…

Should a church change to a contemporary style of worship just because of these things? Not necessarily. If the people of your church are connecting to God in worship, if your church is reaching its community, and if you feel your church is making disciples, then you are probably where you need to be. However, if you look around and the numbers are declining, worship has become mundane and passive, and you are not reaching new people, it might be time to ask the head of the church what His desire for your church’s worship is. I would venture to say that too many of our churches are resting comfortably in what they have always done without really being missional and intentional.

I pray that we will all keep our minds open to what God may be saying to us.

What are your thoughts?

As we study the worship wars, I will present a number of ideas to stretch our thinking at each post. At the end of the series, I will pull together my thoughts in summary.

In the next few posts, we are going to dive head on into a discussion of styles of worship. Won’t you join me?

Kenny Lamm, senior consultant for worship and music for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, is a frequent worship conference leader with a strong focus on equipping leaders in North Carolina (USA) and Southeast Asia. His blog, Renewing Worship, features posts that explore ways to renew–impart new life and vigor to–the worship in the local church.

 

Other posts you might like:

Worship Wars – Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3

Has modern worship become corrupt? – Kim Gentes

A theology of worship – stumbling toward mystery – Dan Wilt

The gathering of believers vs open mic night

Bored with contemporary worship?

How to move a church from traditional to contemporary worship styles