Worship is Not Music

on Aug 24 in Art and Media, Church, Leadership, Worship

Worship is not music.

Worship is not music.

Worship is not music.

There is one record of Jesus singing, and it was on the way to the cross (Matthew 26:30).  So for someone who most certainly “lived a life of worship”, He didn’t do much crooning.

In the Synoptic Gospels, Satan uses the word “worship” more than Jesus does.  The only time Jesus really talks about worship is in John 4 (the only non-Synoptic Gospel).  So for someone who most certainly “lived a life of worship”, He didn’t use the word very much in His daily speech.

In Acts 2:42, we read about the events that took place in the early church.  And it’s interesting that the word “worship” isn’t found anywhere in their communal activity.

Why is this such a big deal?

Imagine, if you will, a society of Christians who have learned that true worship is absolute surrender.  It is, in every sense of their definition, bowing low and kissing the hand of the King of kings, and Lord of lords.  Not perfection.  Not sinless living.  But a soul surrender to the sovereignty and lovingkindness of a heavenly King, who is also a Father.

Imagine then, that after a period of 30-40 years, this generation of surrendered believers gives way to a new generation of Christians who are a bit more self-centered.  They are taught to see worship, not as a lifestyle, but as an event.  From their pulpits, they might hear church leaders make comments just after the singing is finished like, “Wasn’t that worship great!” This generation learns to judge the quality of the worship based on what they received, not what they gave away.

Imagine then that worship becomes a genre, and even sub-genre of music.  The previous generation now gives birth to another generation of Christians who take it a step further. They not only believe that true worship is event-based, but that it’s also located within a specific musical genre, in a specific location, and cannot be achieved to the fullest unless there’s a band, on a stage.  There’s even a guy called a “worship leader”.  The band is called a “worship band”, and they have “worship rehearsal” every Wednesday night.

And then, imagine that this new generation of worshipper wakes up on Monday morning.  Now what?  She has been conditioned to believe that worship is event-based, and that the event must involve music and location.   She wants to live a life of worship, but the constrictions placed on her are too great.  At her job, there is no band, and there is no listening to an IPod while on the clock, and there is no lighting.  Profesisonal lighting, I mean.

What just happened?

A seven-day-a-week life of surrendered response to God’s grace has had the redemptive potential sucked out of it, and has been replaced with a musical genre that makes funny little bumps on our skin appear when the hook and the melody collide, just perfectly.

I’ve crossed the line with many of you.  I’m not saying that music which glorifies God is, in any way, wrong.  I’m not saying that we should stop singing in church.  I’m not saying that we should stop doing live stadium events where people raise their voices to God, and sing louder than ever.  We cannot stop doing these things.  I don’t want to stop doing these things.  God doesn’t want us to stop doing these things.   And I’m playing guitar in the band this Sunday, so I can’t stop.

Here’s what I am saying.  I’m saying that we should stop calling that kind of music “worship”.  We have no idea if it’s worship or not, because we cannot possibly judge the heart of the person who’s singing it.  Can we simply call it “music” or “singing”? I’m finding myself needing to literally retrain the phrases that come from my mouth when I’m talking about music in a gathered-believer setting.

Was the worship last Sunday “good”?  Only if it propelled me to love my ailing parents on Tuesday.

Or to donate money to digging a clean water well in Africa.

Or to forgive my spouse for the words she chose in our last argument.

When we make worship and music synonymous, we remove the opportunity to engage ourselves (and those who follow us) in the daily lifestyle of surrender that we’re called to live.  Jesus understood it.  The Early Church figured it out.  And a friend of mine put it this way…

Untitled from Floodgate & Sermolicious on Vimeo.