How should one worship?

Filed in Music Philosophy on May 06, 2009



I was a bit surprised to find out in Scotland that the Christians there know all of the hymns I play.  I would have expected them to know some of them, but not all of them.  However, it quickly became apparent why.  Scottish people greatly value tradition and their culture.  One obvious example of this would be the kilts they wear for important ceremonies, but you can clearly see it in their worship as well.  They love old music including all the traditional hymns.

On Sunday morning, we did a concert in a non-denominational church that was packed full of Scottish believers.  It was a rather formal service where the congregational music was slow and stately and led by the organ.   Communion was a big part of the service and I got the sense that they do communion very often if not every week.  And there was not a man in the auditorium that was not wearing a suit.

But the most interesting part of the service was the response of the people to it.  They were clearly worshipping and focused on God.  They sang with enthusiasm even when they were not asked to (such as during the prelude).  They prayed out loud when asked.  And they were very attentive.

I have observed corporate worship in many countries around the world.  I have seen lively and boisterous worship in places like Haiti and Fiji and  I have seen very formal worship in places like Europe and Australia.  Even in the United States, I have observed worship on both sides of the spectrum and everywhere in between.

Because of those experiences and because I know so many godly people that worship in different ways, I have little patience for those who think they have the corner on what worship is supposed to look like.  Unfortunately, we have more than a few running around prescribing rules that everyone is supposed to follow.

On the other hand, I have to admit that I have biases just like everyone else and Sunday was a wakeup call for me.  I have long associated highly formal worship with dead worship.  That is probably a common conclusion to come to if you spend much time in those kinds of churches in the United States.

But this church in Scotland was different.  The worship was clearly real and meaningful and I found myself wondering why.   Here is my conclusion.  In general, there is one glaring difference between good worship and bad worship and good churches and bad churches.  It is about focus.  Good worship involves a focus on loving God and good churches focus on loving people.  That is what I saw in that Scottish church.  There were no debates about the things we American Christians obsess about--there was just a simple focus on loving God and people. 

I am convinced that we make things too complicated and focus on the wrong things.  We debate about things like the use of drums rather than whether the music is focused on loving God.  We worry about how people dress more than whether they love other people.  In short, we are Pharisees.

It is really not that complicated.  Jesus summarized the responsibility of Christians as loving God and loving your neighbor.  And God created cultures.  He certainly understands that different cultures will naturally fulfill their responsibility of love in different ways.  And that certainly includes their worship.

So, I came away from that service with a renewed desire to avoid pre-judging the worship of other cultures.  Being preoccupied with insignificant nuances about worship styles is a trap that we in the United States should try harder to avoid.

 



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Craig C.
5/7/2009 8:42:13 AM

Good thoughts. I am guilty of judging too but usually throw my rocks from the conservative side.

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Kristy Y.
5/7/2009 5:24:18 PM

My question for you is this: are you a conservative or aren't you? You seem to like to tweak those of us who actually believe there are objective standards that we should all follow. And yes, music that has drums is wrong. Period, exclamation point. No the Bible does not say it is but anyone with half a brain knows that it is. Musicians that play that kind of music are wrong. Period, exclamation point.

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Greg
5/8/2009 1:31:19 PM

Kristy, in your eyes, I am clearly not a conservative. By most people's standards, I am very conservative. So I do not know how to answer your question. I will leave alone your "doctrine of the drums."

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