Amazon was probably one of the last sites I would have thought that I would find a religious/theological discussion on. I didn't even know they had forums/discussion boards aside from product reviews.
Anyway, it was an interesting topic (though I'll admit I didn't read all, or even most, of the comments) and I've kind of been thinking about worship music and singing in church and stuff like that. First off, I have to say that it does annoy me when people say or refer to "worship" and they just mean "singing." As far as I've seen, it's pretty prevalent and I'll admit to slipping into it at times. But still, I find it a little disconcerting (and amusing for some reason) when we talk about "worship leaders" and "worship time" like it's some isolated thing that someone takes us through where we play music and sing and then boom, worship is over. The reality is, while singing songs of praise is great and a wonderful way of worshiping God together, we have to remember that it's just that. A form of worship, not worship itself. Our whole lives should be worship and glory to God.
And sometimes, I don't even know if using the term "worship" is appropriate to some of the singing times I've seen. This isn't me trying to be a cranky, curmudgeony person saying how loud music is bad and rock music is corrupting our youth. Not at all. However, I've experienced sessions purporting to be a time of worship but instead coming across as a performance. Much like the original thread linked above (Why did God give us music) is wondering about the role of music, I have to wonder about the role of song leaders. Singing time is generally supposed to be corporate worship. Therefore, the song leaders need to make sure that they're actually leading, that what they're playing and singing is conducive to instilling a sense and spirit of worship among those listening. How the band or leader sounds takes (should take, at least) a backseat to whether or not they and the group they're supposed to be leading is actually worshiping with their songs. I should stop and point out that I am not musically inclined at all and really don't know what I'm talking about as far as the instrumental and vocal stuff is concerned. Still, while I understand that people want to sound good when they're doing their think in front of an audience, as long as they're leading people in worship, that's all that matters. I get the concern that sounding bad and messing up can distract people from worshiping, but can't too much artistry and flair also take away from people's focus on God?
I sometimes find myself skeptical when people talk about how great the worship songs were because of how they made them feel. But can't great songs of any kind drive people to feel the same way? Can't you have "the warm fuzzies" from listening to a band you really like? I know I can. Far be it for me to question someone's emotions, but I don't believe that the heart of worship is something to be "felt," at least not in the same way you can feel from a secular song. Personally, when I really connect with a worship song, it's a sense of conviction, a focus on the lyrics and making sure I mean what I sing. When I connect with another song, it's more just, "Wow, this song is really great." I don't necessarily think about the lyrics too often because I really don't care to know who Drake knows here right now that he didn't know last year.
Sorry, this sort of turned into more of a rant than I intended. I will say that everything that goes on this blog is pretty rough. I kind of just throw down a couple sentences and then see what happens without planning it out too much beforehand. And sometimes (as was the case here), I'll type something out, delete the blog, then either come back and try it again, or just leave the idea dead or pending.
I'll close with something I read off a cd slip I got from a church I've been going to while I've been out here in Illinois. This is what it says:
These songs have been written for corporate worship by songwriters and worship leaders....Our intention is that you find these Biblically grounded songs gloriying to God when sung by passionate followers of Him.Don't know about you guys, but I thought that was a nice, succinct way of putting it.
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