Ephesians 5:18-19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
I know the christian readership of this blog would probably be from many different persuasions concerning christian music and what "worship" should be like. In all likelihood, our persuasions are probably very different (and I understand that) but since our paths have crossed on this blog, I here take this opportunity to humbly share with you my position on the subject as well as my testimony. :O) If we disagree, let us do so agree-ably.
I come from a hymn singing church. Let me describe a typical Sunday. We have the lyrics up on the screen, the rest of the lights are turned up, the pianist plays in strict time, the worship leader introduces the next hymn and other than lead the tempo and the direction of the hymn, he tries to leave the limelight, allowing the congregation to concentrate on the words they are singing. We sing heartily. We intend to glorify God with our hearts and our singing and humbly pray that He will accept our sacrifice of praise. We will do this with our minds engaged and our emotions reserved for convictions of sin or thanksgiving for what He has done.
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
On the other hand: a stage, a mesmerizing worship leader with back up vocalists, band, fancy rifts, dim lighting, flashing lights. In the set-up of most church worship sessions these days, the emotional highs and the lows of the congregation are so carefully manipulated by the way it is staged, the kind of music that's sung. That's questioning the working of the Holy Spirit! you might say. Well, may I humbly propose: take all that away. Will you still "feel" that you've worshiped God? Take it away from the church completely, (sing acapella on bare cement floors, put a tone-deaf worship leader up there) will you still go back to that church? Is the music the drug that keeps you going back?
What is worship all about anyway? The Old Testament Hebrew word translated as "worship" is shachah, which is defined in the Strong's Concordance as "to depress, to prostrate (especially in homage to royalty or God); to bow oneself down, to crouch, to fall down flat, to humbly beseech." As Dan Lucarini put it in his excellent book Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movement,
"..worship is not looking up and feeling good, it is bowing down and feeling lowly."
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
I recently came across a Singaporean blog of one such back up vocalist who said that she was really nervous about all eyes being on her. And yes, I wouldn't disagree. Eyes are certainly on her, judging how she "performed", when they should actually be waiting on God.
In this day and age where pastor's wives can be starring in mtv music videos that look like they are from the pit of whoredom, in this age of spiritual blindness, where are we to find the truth, the light? The answer is (and has always been) the BIBLE.
But please be warned, dear friend:
2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Beware! Don't look around you at church and think that you're doing ok in your Christian walk. Look to the Word of God and use it to confront your standing before a holy God. I speak as subjected as any other child of God.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
My Testimony
I may sound harsh. Please forgive me if I do. But the truth be told, coming to church in my early teens (saved at the age of 13), and as a young christian, I was from a "contemporary" church. That church had not always been that way. Up till the 70s and I venture early 80s, they stuck to their hymn singing ways.
In the early 90s, they had split services. The hymns was reserved for the "older" folk and the contemporary music was for the "younger" crowd. We need to ask ourselves what are the justifications that push churches to change and whether they are biblically justify-able. Again, Dan Lucarini will share his insight in his book.
I surely felt at home at church. Everyone was so warm and friendly. As we grew as teenagers, the life I lived was no different from my un-saved friends at school. I listened to the radio, Debbie Gibson was my favourite at one time. (now I cringe at the thought...) On sundays, we'd worship God in church, lights dimmed, "feeling" the music in our soul.
I attended teens camps with much excitement. (Of course, being in an all girls' school, having a mixed camp was really exciting.) We memorized verses. One I remember clearly was Romans 12: 1- 2:
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
As I look back, this was all-head knowledge with no practical meaning in my life. And nobody (certainly not the preacher) at church told me different. Looking around the other teenagers in church, I was ok. We all had our own worldly past-times and fleeting excitements. All happy in our comfort zones. But was I ok in God's sight?
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
As we grew older, into the later teen years, things took a darker turn as I took the stresses and pressures of school and keeping up appearances badly. Looking back now, not having a boyfriend was something that made me feel very dissatisfied. I turned, surely not to God, but to the world's music to feed my emptiness. U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and others i choose now to forget were my favourite groups. I prided myself on striving to be non-conformist. (I guess till this day, to an extent, I still do! :OP)
At the same time, "soft core" christian music was creeping into our church worship hall. But at home, the teenagers were already listening to "hard core" stuff, myself included and lived the lifestyle such music encouraged: rebellion. I went to HRC with church friends on Saturday nights, and went to church sleepy and dazed on sunday mornings. I remember one particular night when my friends and I watched another teen try to drive after leaving the party. He was so drunk he mounted the curb and my friends just laughed and thought it was a hoot. I didn't. Something inside me felt all this was empty and foolish.
My dear older sister had been praying for this wayward sister of hers. She had been attending this Independent, fundamental Baptist church for a year or so now and she had been telling me what she had been learning from the Word of God. What she told me was so foreign to me, I warned her that it might be a cult group.
That was till I attended her church one sunday. I remember my first impression. A small, humble congregation housed in a dilapidated building. (This was me coming from a church which had just finished constructing a new four storey extension with carpeting, air-conditioning and giant TV sets in most rooms.)
Yet, I was drawn by Christ. It's hard to explain. I saw Jesus Christ being honored in this church and His Word held high and absolute, evidenced by the lives of the people.
The hymns were a torture at first. I was like another verse??!? But slowly and in time I realized, the joy of hymns singing comes from living what we sing about. It can be nothing else.
Only A Sinner, Saved By Grace! There is Power in the Blood! Take the Name of Jesus with You. Amazing Grace. Blessed Assurance.
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God. Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story! This is my song! Praising my Saviour, all the day long!
This is my story! This is my song! Praising my Saviour, all the day long!
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
This is the church I joined by "re-"baptism through immersion, and have stayed and grown to be the Christian I am today. I'm still growing as my Heavenly Father is not done with me yet. :O) If I seem to have any wisdom, I credit it much to the Bible preaching I have received through the years and the examples of the godly church members and families around me who stand so tall and firm in Christ.
Friend, thank you so much for reading. If you missed it, here is another testimony of a sister in Christ from my church. There's also a mention there about the heart of worship is the issue of the heart. If you can relate to my story, and it is your desire to know Christ more, and don't know if you're in the right path, please do email me. This life is too short to live apart from knowing God and serving Him with all that we have.
Blessings to you.
Suwei
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