Worship Matters - Part 7

I love it when I pick up something to read and the meaning behind the words on the page is perfectly clear. Exactly what it says is exactly what it means. This is one of the reasons I have enjoyed reading "Worship Matters" so much. Bob Kauflin doesn't dance around topics or write with poetic descriptions - he very simply constructs his thoughts so that the greatest number of people can grasp the intent with which they were written. His continual use of scripture throughout the book bears witness to his love for God's Word and his desire to see others lead based on biblical definition rather than on man's traditions. I am so grateful for his ministry and his passion to see others engage with God. I know that it has stirred a very healthy conversation within our own staff at CCCC - and I would highly recommend all church leaders reading through this. You may not agree with everything he has to say, his theology or practices - but this book will challenge you to defend and define your theology of worship and corporate gatherings.

Today we met and continued to work our way through the third section of the book - Healthy Tensions. Below our my thoughts on the chapters we covered and some quotes that I found helpful.

• Chapter 20 - Head and Heart. I've been amazed recently at the number of people that lead corporate worship that haven't thought about how much the head is involved with the corporate worship experience. Every time we open our mouths to address God, sing about God, talk about God, pray to God etc... we are defining our theology. The issue is whether or not it is good theology or bad theology. The songs we sing help entrench thoughts of God on our souls - WE MUST be sure that we are proclaiming right thoughts about God as we lead people in times of corporate worship. Kauflin says, "For more than a hundred years we've favored emotional, response-type songs over songs that magnify the nature, attributes, and works of God. We tend to favor devotion over doctrine. That order needs to be reversed, without losing either. We need more songs that help us think deeply about God and help us respond with wholehearted emotion." (pg. 168 - emphasis added) Our greatest and deepest affections and expressions of love will be grounded and built upon the nature of God as He has revealed Himself to be in scripture and most completely in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). Our minds must be engaged first before our hearts can respond appropriately. Our hearts respond subjectively to objective truth. We cannot and must not allow our subjective experiences to dictate what we hold to be objective - namely our theology. Our doctrine determines our devotion and it should never be the contrary.

• Chapter 21 covers the healthy tension of Internal and External. When we observe a corporate worship gathering it is easy to make judgement calls on who is engaged and who is apathetic. The problem with those judgements is that we can NEVER know who is truly engaged with God during a corporate worship gathering based on the physical demonstrations of a particular worshipper. Just because someone is "painting the sky" with their hands raised does not mean that that person is expressing worship that pleases God, and nor does a person standing with their mouth closed and hands in their pocket mean that they are disengaged with God. God looks at the heart (1 Sam. 16:7, Matt. 15:8-9) of the worshipper to see if what is going on inside that person matches the physical demonstration on the outside. The external is important though and should not be ignored. The Bible clearly describes many physical acts of expressive behavior in response to God's revelation of Himself. Kauflin states, "Some Christians are simply unaware that physical responsiveness to God in worship is encouraged and modeled throughout Scripture. Various physical actions can bring God glory, including clapping, singing, bowing, kneeling, lifting hands, shouting, playing instruments, dancing, and standing in awe (Ps. 47:1, Ex. 12:27, Ps. 95:6, 134:2, 33:1, 150:3-4, 33:8)." (pg. 171). Many corporate worship leaders assume that a service was succesful if the majority of people had their hands raised or clapped loudly. However, the same atmosphere and physical demonstrations we equate with success are regularly demonstrated by unbelievers at secular concerts every week. The people we lead may just be caught up with the crowd or feeding off of the emotion in the room. Our goal should be to paint a clear and compelling picture of God and His nature as revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. When a persons mind engages with that revelation then we have laid a biblical foundation for appropriate physical expression.

• Chapter 22 addresses the healthy tension of Vertical and Horizontal. Every time we gather as believers for a time of corporate worship our goal is to exalt and magnify the greatness of God. We are gathering with the saints of old around the Throne to proclaim His wonder and mighty deeds. The consumeristic culture in which we live has crept in to our churches and our corporate worship services. Kauflin states, "Most of the time when we think about worship, we start with what we do. Our intentions are noble; we come with our songs, our prayers, our offerings, and our lives to tell God how great he is. But we assume that acceptable worship ultimately depends on our efforts, sincerity, or gifts. It doesn't. It never will." (pg. 176). We worship God because He is God. "That's why biblical worship is God-focused(God is clearly seen), God-centered(God is clearly the priority), and God-exalting(God is clearly honored)." (pg. 177). With that as our focus there is the other side of the same coin - there is a horizontal element to our corporate worship services. Everything that we do should be to build up the body of Christ (1 Cor. 14:26). As we are singing with and to each other we are at the same time worshipping God in all of His glory (Eph. 5:19)

• Chapter 23 is built around the healthy tension of Planned and Spontaneous. Many people think that the only way to engage with God is to show up and listen to the Spirit's leading, and others think that the best way to engage with God is to plan every minute and word spoken and never deviate. I personally lean on the "planned pole" more than on the "spontaneous pole". Kauflin states, "Planning can't replace dependence on the Holy Spirit." (pg. 182). He also states, "It's not unspiritual to determine ahead of time when things will take place, where transitions should be explained, how many songs to sing, what creative elements to include, or how the meeting will end. We've found that the Holy Spirit's most important guidance often comes before the meeting even begins." (pg. 182). It's a healthy tension. Don't let your plans rule you - they should serve you! This next quote is one that EVERY worship leader should read and/or think about before they begin to prepare for a service: "We have God's Word, four or five songs, and thirty minutes to help them see that God is bigger than their problems and that Jesus Christ is a magnificent Savior. How can we arrange this time so people are best positioned to hear from God and receive his grace? What can we do to serve the church most effectively?" (pg. 183). Those are GREAT thoughts to think - that is the perspective we should take when we begin to arrange songs, prayers, creeds etc. . Planning should not take the place of relying on the Holy Spirit for guidance during the actual service. We need to plan for times of spontaneity. We may realize that the song after the message isn't going to work or that another song needs to be dropped or repeated. Scriptures will begin to pop in your head (if you've spent time in the Word lately) that will move your plans in a different direction. Kauflin then describes some suggestions for growing in spontaneity. These were very helpful for me as I continue to grow in this area.

• Chapter 24 and 25 discusses the tensions of Rooted and Relevant and Skilled and Authentic. I loved what he had to say on these topics and I'm going to wait to expound on them in a future post.

Those who lead corporate worship services should continually be seeking out how to do what they do better. We need to be learners. No one has cornered the market on leading worship, no one has figured it out and doing everything perfectly....and we never will. We can only continue to immerse ourselves in the Word and expose ourselves to what others smarter than ourselves are doing. Bob Kauflin is smarter than most of the worship leaders I know (author included) - he's not perfect, nor does he claim to be - but he has spent more time than most trying to put handles on this thing that should encompass every aspect of our lives. Worship matters - and we need to continually THINK about WORSHIP!