Decluttering Faith: Worship (Part One)

One of the ways Merriam-Webster defines worship is this: to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power. Another says: reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power. The one many of us probably relate to is this: a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual. I would suggest that all of these (and the others in that entry) are acceptable definitions. I think that for a good number of us, worship is mostly about the songs we sing. I won’t lie. Singing is the first thing I think of when I see or hear the word worship. I could make a post (several actually) on why worship is so much more than the songs we sing. In Romans 12:1 the Apostle Paul tells us that our “spiritual act of worship” is to be a “living sacrifice” to God. That is a discussion that would be beneficial but I do want to spend just a moment talking about the musical aspect of our worship.

I have attended independent Churches of Christ my entire life. I graduated from a Bible college affiliated with this group. I was ordained into the ministry by one of these congregations and I currently preach in one. While I have visited other denominations during my life (even lead worship and preached in a few) being part of the Church of Christ is what I know. The link I posted above briefly explains what most of the congregations who identify as either Church of Christ or Christian Church believe. I would say that it is an accurate and fair description. If you notice there is nothing concerning worship practices (singing). There is often confusion about our “group” because we share a name (and a common heritage) with the non-instrumental Churches of Christ. That would also be an interesting conversation to have but I have already spent more time giving background information that I intended. I want to talk about corporate worship.

The congregations I was a part of during my childhood utilized what is today considered traditional worship. We sang songs out of a hymnal and were accompanied by a piano and (if available) an organ. That is what I grew up with. For the first decade of my life THAT was worship. Occasionally we would have recruitment teams from one of the Bible colleges come and we would hear non-traditional music during their performances. We also brought in a Southern Gospel group from time to time. However, Sunday morning worship was hymns.

During my teen years the hymnals started to change. Contemporary (for the time) choruses were slowly making their way into the services. Personally, I discovered Christian pop and rock music but I knew that was not for church. It wasn’t until I went to Bible college the first time in 1994 that I heard modern music being used in a corporate setting. Even then it was more the exception than the norm but I could see that the culture was changing and many in the church were fighting it. The congregation I grew up in actually split. One of the reasons (not the only) was the fact that we were moving away from that traditional style of worship. Several of us started attending one of our sister congregations that (at the time) was still traditional.

By the time I returned to Bible college in 2005 I was an elder, a teacher, and a worship leader at that congregation and we had transitioned to what most people call a blended style of worship. We had a full band and we mixed hymns and modern praise songs that could be heard on the radio at the time. It didn’t happen overnight and I know that not everyone liked it but that is where we were. That was sixteen years ago and there have been several shifts in the worship culture of the Church. The fact that I just referred to it as worship culture says a lot. Praise and worship music is a big business now and worship bands sell out arenas. That is something I could have never imagined as a child. It is something I would have loved as a teenager or young adult. It is something I actively pursued as a slightly older young adult.

The funny thing is that I am now 51. I realize that I am not OLD but I am quickly getting there. I currently serve in a congregation that utilizes…that’s right…traditional worship. In fact, the hymnal we use is the same one that was used in the congregation of my childhood. It’s THIS one in case you are wondering. When I returned to Bible college at the age of 35 I would have never imagined myself in such a congregation. I’m pretty sure I would have shuddered at the thought. I dreamed of being in a cutting edge church with a killer band and doing all the Matt Redman songs I wanted. But something happened. It didn’t happen overnight and I don’t know that I even realized it was happening at the time. My view on worship changed and it was partly because of a book that a professor make me read.

The book is called Worship The Way It Was Meant To Be by Robert Wetmore. It challenged me to go beyond the types of songs that I sing and really examine what it means to worship. I enjoy most styles of music and I think I could function in a congregation regardless of the type of worship they incorporate. The instruments and the genre are secondary to me as long as the lyrical content is proper. That is what I really want to discuss but it will have to wait until next time.

Grace and peace.