When we are in worship assembly and the words to all the songs are displayed on the big screen on the front wall, Cassie follows along, singing every word.
A couple weeks ago she looked up at my wife and whispered, through cupped hands, "Who is Sharon?" As her confused momma looked around, trying to find Sharon, Cassie said 'no, Mom, in the song!' (evidently we had just sung a line from an old hymn referring to Jesus as the 'Rose of Sharon', and Cassie was just curious...)
which got Kelly and me to talking... about relevance and sentiment.
We are made to worship God. It is instinctive. It is natural.
And I am convinced that my personal worship (which I don't do nearly enough) is strictly between me and God. Since that is the case, I believe (when it's just me and Him) as long as I am worshipping Him in spirit and in truth, there are no rules. none. If I want to scream or sing or moan or pray or hum or (dare I say it) strum my guitar of play my piano, it is strictly vertical, and God accepts my expression of worship. period.
However, when we do it in a group, this worship takes on a horizontal aspect as well. This secondary aspect to worshipping is dealt with in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16:
"Speak to one another with psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs.
Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord"
and
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
as you teach and admonish one another
with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude
in your hearts to God."
I don't often talk about these verses because they have been jerked and pulled and twisted so far out of context for my entire life... we have historically taken these two passages and created an entire 'worship doctrine', including (but not limited to) using them to proof out our a cappella singing as the only acceptable way to worship. I don't believe these passages are intended to give us a blueprint for our corporate worship... (more on that in a later entry)
But there is an application to be made... one that may simply boil down to 'relevance vs. sentiment' ...think about that for a minute.
Why do we sing the way we do? Why do we sing the songs we sing?
Since the 'horizontal' aspect of worship seems so important to the Inspirer of all scripture, we should take care that our group worship is all it needs to be.
What is the best way to edify one another? How can we best 'teach' or 'admonish' or 'speak to one another' as we sing from our hearts?
for just a moment, let's forget what we've always been told about these verses... let's put away (for half a second) our almost Pavlovian 'that means NO INSTRUMENTS' response to the hearing of Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19...
and let's just let God's Word (which, by the way is still alive and sharper that any two-edged sword) speak to us....
so, could these scriptures apply to the relevance of our horizontal worship experience?
For instance, if we sing songs which use words like 'sharon' and 'ebon pinion' and 'ebeneezer' and 'beulah land' and 'brooded o'er the vale', are those songs relevant?
When we sing songs which were written using 17th century Elizabethan english, can that possibly carry relevant meaning today? When we use 'baroque' sorts of melodies from half a millennia ago, are those arrangements relevant?
(I love some of these songs, by the way... "O Sacred Head" is one of the most beautiful hymns ever... but, let's be honest, a lot of the words used in these old, cherished hymns have not been culturally 'relevant' since long before the Civil War, and some of the composers - including Johann Sebastian Bach, whose 'Passion according to Matthew' provides the musical bed for 'O Sacred Head' - have been dead for over 400 years!)
so.... if these old songs are not particularly relevant in today's culture, why do we continue to sing them in our 'corporate' worship?
Because I like them! Because our family gatherings are always filled with the sounds of the old Stamps-Baxter 4-part songs... or because it evokes fond memories of family members who have gone Home... or because it 'sounds' so reverant and 'high church'...
But, in light of Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5, are those reasons compelling enough to keep singing songs which nobody understands?
It's at least worth considering... because, for our worship to be in spirit and truth, it has got to have relevance to those we 'speak' to... and it has to be real to those we hope to teach and admonish... if not, we may as well be singing in a foreign language...
So, simply put, may our 'group worship' always favor relevance over sentiment.
God Bless!
But there is an application to be made... one that may simply boil down to 'relevance vs. sentiment' ...think about that for a minute.
Why do we sing the way we do? Why do we sing the songs we sing?
Since the 'horizontal' aspect of worship seems so important to the Inspirer of all scripture, we should take care that our group worship is all it needs to be.
What is the best way to edify one another? How can we best 'teach' or 'admonish' or 'speak to one another' as we sing from our hearts?
for just a moment, let's forget what we've always been told about these verses... let's put away (for half a second) our almost Pavlovian 'that means NO INSTRUMENTS' response to the hearing of Colossians 3:16 and Ephesians 5:19...
and let's just let God's Word (which, by the way is still alive and sharper that any two-edged sword) speak to us....
so, could these scriptures apply to the relevance of our horizontal worship experience?
For instance, if we sing songs which use words like 'sharon' and 'ebon pinion' and 'ebeneezer' and 'beulah land' and 'brooded o'er the vale', are those songs relevant?
When we sing songs which were written using 17th century Elizabethan english, can that possibly carry relevant meaning today? When we use 'baroque' sorts of melodies from half a millennia ago, are those arrangements relevant?
(I love some of these songs, by the way... "O Sacred Head" is one of the most beautiful hymns ever... but, let's be honest, a lot of the words used in these old, cherished hymns have not been culturally 'relevant' since long before the Civil War, and some of the composers - including Johann Sebastian Bach, whose 'Passion according to Matthew' provides the musical bed for 'O Sacred Head' - have been dead for over 400 years!)
so.... if these old songs are not particularly relevant in today's culture, why do we continue to sing them in our 'corporate' worship?
Because I like them! Because our family gatherings are always filled with the sounds of the old Stamps-Baxter 4-part songs... or because it evokes fond memories of family members who have gone Home... or because it 'sounds' so reverant and 'high church'...
But, in light of Colossians 3 and Ephesians 5, are those reasons compelling enough to keep singing songs which nobody understands?
It's at least worth considering... because, for our worship to be in spirit and truth, it has got to have relevance to those we 'speak' to... and it has to be real to those we hope to teach and admonish... if not, we may as well be singing in a foreign language...
So, simply put, may our 'group worship' always favor relevance over sentiment.
God Bless!
2 comments:
okay, but some of those songs are relevant to me. don't I count? Why are they relevant? Because my grandmother simply explained what those older, non-used words meant, and then I knew, and then they were relevant.
I understand that for many new to the church, or who didn't have a grandmother like mine, they aren't relevant. two thoughts; why can't we teach them those words, thus making them relevant? And two, let's just keep on sharing - sing some of the older ones that truly speak to my heart, along with some of the newer, 7-11 so that everyone is edified. why not?
On another note. thanks for your insightful words . We really look forward to opening your blog to be fed, to be challenged, and to grow! We love you!
joy & Lynn
lynn and joy - thanks for taking time to post a comment! It's like a nice unexpected gift!
And yes, absolutely you count! Indeed you are someone to whom I am 'speaking' through song...
You know I love the old songs... really I do... and you are right, relevance is key, so if we lend these songs (and their out-of-date words) the relevance needed, the old songs can be alive again!
But as I sat behind a tattooed, long-haired fella last Wednesday night at Bible study, I watched him as we sang an old hymn out of the book... and wondered if anything we said in that song spoke to him on any level. And I wondered if a simple song like 'God is so Good' or 'I Love you Lord' might have spoken to him better.
I believe Riverside does a pretty good job of mixing old and new... and that makes me happy; I just want to constantly remind us (me especially) that, without that relevance (through explaining some of the 'churched-up' or out-of-date phrases we find in some of the dear old hymns), we may as well be speaking in tongues without an interpreter.
God Bless you! We miss you and think of you guys every day!
tim
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