This is the 5th installment on a series of posts concerning the book "Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God" by Bob Kauflin. Some of the staff at my church (CCCC) are meeting weekly to discuss the material in this book. It continues to bring about healthy discussion as we navigate our way through a subject that has, quite frankly, distorted the view of worship and the role of the worship leader in the modern church. We are building a worshipping community - the question that we continue to ask ourselves is what kind of community are we building. Every time we gather and step up on that stage another brick is being laid - I was challenged today to make sure I am very intentional about which brick is going down, why it's going down, and where it should be placed. This demands correct theology and sound doctrine coupled with discernment and wisdom to have the foresight to plan, prepare and lead appropriately. We covered chapters 12 - 15 today. Below our my own personal thoughts from this section of the book.
- Like everything else that pertains to leading others in a time of corporate worship, we must grasp a biblical understanding of music and what role it plays when we gather to encounter the greatness of God. Music is a gift that God has given to us. Music stirs our emotions. Look at Hollywood - they understand this better than anyone. Soundtracks are placed behind scenes to help capture the emotion of the moment. Songs with minor chord progressions are thought to be dark and foreboding or sad and depressing, while songs with major keys are thought to be happy, joyful, exuberant, celebrative. This is why many unbelievers can attend secular worship concerts and walk away in a state of euphoria much like believers experience in a corporate time of worship. The music has moved them and touched them emotionally. Corporate Worship Leaders need to understand how music works and use it to serve the body well. Wisdom must be used so that music serves us and we do not abuse it.
- Music can be abused when it is used to manipulate peoples emotions so that they desire the emotion rather than the God they have come to worship. Emotion and feelings take the place of God and our worship turns into idolatry.
- Kauflin states 4 ways that music can help us as we lead corporate times of worship. (1)Music stirs up and expresses God-glorifying emotion(pg 98). (2)Music helps us reflect the glory and activity of the triune God(pg 99). (3)Music helps us remember truth about God (pg 99). (4)Music helps us express our unity in the gospel.
- It's interesting how music has become such a hot-bed of discussion for the church. What style should we play, should it be contemporary or traditional, should we sing hymns or choruses, should we use a choir or a band, should we sing acapella or have an orchestra - what Kauflin points out is that "God is too great and the human experience too complex to think that one kind of music will always best express the dynamics of our relationship with a living God." (pg 104). There isn't any one form or style that we should use to help the people we lead encounter the greatness of God. In fact, we should be seeking to use as many different styles to help guard the hearts of those we lead from believing that one style is better than another or that only one style can really "usher in the presence". There is no style that can usher into God's presence - there is ONE mediator, our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Gordon Fee's comment - "Show me a church's songs and I'll show you their theology."(pg 101) encouraged and challenged me to continue to write. People remember what they sing, better than what they read or even say. Words set to music stays with us. One of the most important jobs a worship leader has, along with the pastor, is to ferociously guard the content we allow into our congregations from the stage. We are the gatekeepers. We should be aware of the theology and doctrine in EVERY song that we lead our people to sing together. AND - we need to be writing music that serves our church. Who knows your congregation better than those that lead it. Who knows the theological weaknesses and doctrinal shortcomings of those people better than those who are teaching them. Write songs that teach them what you want them to know. The more they sing it, the more they are exposed to truth and who God is. If you have trouble coming up with lyrics, ask your pastor to write some lyrics and you set them to music - if no one can write lyrics - then sing the scriptures. Help people memorize the scriptures by setting them to melody.
- I was challenged in chapter 13 to be more diligent in selecting songs. There are more songs for us to choose from right now than ever before in the history of the church. My job is to find the one that says EXACTLY what I want the congregation to get. Don't settle - do the work, don't be lazy and pick a song because it's familiar or because you don't want to expend the energy looking - pick the song, THE song that says it better than all of the others. It's a challenge - and I'm not sure I can do that EVERY time considering the volume of songs available - but the spirit of the thought is - DO YOUR HOMEWORK and don't settle for mediocrity when it comes to content.
- I am planning to post soon on the way we plan and prepare our services at CCCC - so I'll save that for later.
- Kauflin comes back around again to communication during a worship service. I've seen, led, and been a part of thousands of worship services. I've been led well and led poorly - and the ones that I would consider being led poorly focused around the transitions. Transitions can be a huge distraction - or be huge compliment to the service. The leader is responsible for all transitions - it could be a prayer, a musical interlude, an exhortation, - regardless, it all falls on the leaders shoulder. You can usually tell when a leader has thought about the transitions - usually because you don't notice them, and you can usually tell when the leader hasn't thought about transitions because they are so awkward and distracting. You almost begin to feel sympathy for the leader because of the embarrassment it seems to cause them. When they fumble a phrase or their thoughts sound disjointed it is evident to all. PLAN, PREPARE, PRACTICE, EXECUTE - don't just sing and play the songs well - connect them with thoughtful prayers, encouragement and exhortations. The key word is THOUGHTFUL - think about it! "But I figure if I can't remember what I'm going to say, no one else will either." (pg 115)
- The Twenty Year Rule - "If someone was born in our church and grew up singing our songs over the course of twenty years, how well would they know God? Would these songs give them a biblical and comprehensive view of God, or would they be exposed only to certain aspects of his nature and works?" (pg 119).
- If the people I'm leading do not seem engaged or otherwise complacent to what is being sung then it is my job to stop and explain the song, why we are singing it, why it matters, how it connects to the gospel etc. Paint a clear and compelling picture of God and that will instill the proper engagement. We can't make people engage - even if they clap because we tell them to doesn't mean they are celebrating the works of God. It means they are following directions! Hearts are captured by His glory and His majesty and His love - bring those things into view and you probably won't have to direct people to perform. This isn't to say there won't be times that you should teach on physical expressiveness and encourage people to be use their bodies to display their joy, but in general - worshippers enthralled with God as He reveals Himself to be usually don't have to be directed to sing, clap, dance, shout etc....
- Chapter 15 is another chapter that was mostly highlighted and "starred". TO PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL. That is the drum that we will continue to beat every time we gather corporately to worship God. My friend, Yancey Arrington, says "That is the hill that we will die on." We will not move away from it. One of our worship leaders, Keri Lilley, stated it very succinctly (and a statement that I hope to expound on more fully in a later post) when she said, "Everything is one degree of separation from the cross." That is so profound. No matter what your theme is or what the topic is being taught on - everything is only one degree of separation from the cross and it's our job as leaders to help the people we lead view their lives through that lens. All of life - suffering, marriage, work, parenting, recreation - everything is affected by the cross of Christ! Keep it in view and bring their attention to it every time we lead.
As I read this book and talk about it with my colleagues, I continue to be challenged to immerse myself in correct theology and sound doctrine. No matter what it is I'm doing - picking songs, planning services, preparing prayers or thoughts - it all flows from a correct understanding of scripture and a greater grasp of God as He has revealed Himself to be. The only way I'm going to gain that understanding is by reading and studying God's word and reading and studying men wiser than I who have explored these things much further than I.
