The New is Old, and the Old Will Become New

A couple of days ago I was getting ready to leave the office and grabbed a few demo CD's that music companies send. Four times a year Lifeway publishing send a whole box of music for choirs, worship teams and other music groups for churches, colleges, etc. There are usually a couple of CD's of new worship songs--songs they are hoping will catch on in local churches.

After sampling songs from the third CD of modern worship songs, I began to get a little irritated. All of the songs began to sound the same--the same kind of lyrics (that don't contain much in the way of originality, poetry or depth), the same recycled 3 or 4 rhythms, and the same sonic wall of drums and electric guitar. This is symbolic of a feeling that has increasingly dominated my attitude and thinking recently. It may come as a surprise, so I'll just lay it out.

I'm getting really bored with worship.

I'm not getting bored with worshiping God. I'm in love with God. I am more committed to God than ever before. My faith is stronger than even before. I'm not tired of the church--I'm more committed than ever to the importance of the local church. (Bill Hybels calls the local church "the hope of the world," and he's right. The church is God's chosen instrument to bring his message to the world.) I'm not bored with the Bible, with my job, or God's plan for my life. I'm more excited about these things than ever before.

But rather, I'm increasingly bored with the American, Western way of "doing worship." There is often little challenge and depth to our worship songs. There is little that is controversial (Jesus was controversial!). There's not much to challenge my thinking. Music and worship styles that were new and interesting 10-15 years ago have become the new tradition. In short, what was new has become old.

This was made even more clear for me last Tuesday when I took my Theology & History of Worship class from SLCC to visit the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in St. Louis. Greek Orthodoxy is the oldest of the three main branches of Christianity (Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant). I wanted the class to see the church for themselves because it's a core part of our overall history as Christians. We were warmly welcomed and led on a tour by one of the church leaders, Father Achilles. As we went on the tour I was overwhelmed by the sense of beauty, history and symbolism all over the church. There is a great appreciation for Christians who have gone on before us and contributed to the Christian faith. There are many things about Orthodox theology I disagree with, but there is also much to appreciate.

Don't misunderstand me--I'm not about to switch faiths or promote that we embrace everything about Orthodoxy. I love the Restoration movement and am firmly committed to its ideals. But there is also something to be said for the great appreciation for beauty, art, history and theology that we find in the Orthodox church. I wonder if there are some lessons we could incorporate into our own understanding and practice of worship.

I love my church, I love our ministers and worship leaders, and I love where God has placed me. I fully support them as a Christian and a volunteer. But there are some trends in the overall Christian evangelical world that disturb me. I have hinted at these above. What we will see in the coming years is a greater interest in the Orthodox church because there is a appreciation for theology, depth, participation, history and beauty as it pertains to worship. These elements have been lacking in evangelical worship lately, but I do see signs of hope. All is not lost (not by any stretch)! But we definitely have some work to do, and people like myself who train worship leaders must take some of the responsibility for bringing about change and renewal. Some of the problems we have in worship today are probably due in part to the fact that people in the academic world such as myself have not done a very thorough job of equipping pastors and worship leaders. We need to own up to our mistakes.

As a sort of counter-balance to all this, let me say one more thing. If you have never been a worship leader or pastor, you don't know how difficult it is. You may think you know, but you really don't. For every musical or stylistic choice that pleases someone, it will make someone else unhappy. It's a difficult thing to be a church leader in today's culture where everyone feels entitled to what they want. So even though you may not like the overall trends you see in worship, and may even disagree with some things (heck, I don't even agree with myself half the time)--that's no reason for not supporting your ministers. I'm sure my wife doesn't like everything that I do, or every habit I have or choice I make. But she still loves and supports me. That's perhaps a good illustration of how we ought to approach worship...love is the overriding principle.