Music at the Rock. Part 2
Why I think “Rock n Roll Worship” is a good thing:
The Christian faith is a drag.
Or so it would seem to those who are in the midst of the party scene, an immoral lifestyle, or generally from a worldly background.
Asking someone to leave this life of pleasure and comfort, in order to pick up your cross, deny (actually not just deny, but to KILL) your “fleshly desires”, follow a book that the world says is a bunch of made up fairy tales, and socially dangerous mores, and serve the desires and aims of an invisible God seems like a HUGE DRAG.
I think that this sort of music, this expression of worship, when done properly can show (in a small way) that in fact there is no greater pleasure, no greater satisfaction, no more exciting a life to be found than a one spent living out the gospel.
It is largely entertainment, and I believe that left by itself, it is largely (though not completely) useless in our mission.
I see this sort of music as sort of the “blue light at the center of the bug zapper”. Not in the sense that it is like bait for a bait and switch move. But more in the sense that it may give someone a reason to come check out what is going on, and may (or may not) give them an excuse to come back. The blue light isn’t what kills the bug, it is what draws them to the electricity that does the frying. (Isn’t that a wonderful analogy?)
So my assessment, crank the music up. Spend thousands of dollars on a sound system, and hours a day for the band to practice. But as soon as we start relying on that to accomplish our mission, we are lost.
dude, i started reading about that whole “rock n roll is evil” thing and it seemed pretty messed up. By it’s standards, we should not associate with anything that was developed by the secular world. that means no powerpoint presentations in churches, no books written by non christian authors, no video games….yeah. It’s interesting because jazz was not developed by Christians, and yet you dont hear people criticizing it much…………..
and yes, i have heard many rock groups that in no way promote things of this world. to be honest, rock music is something i can identify with. United Live has brought me to tears just listening to the CD.
And yes, crank the music up, and give the ones who dont like it earplugs. David said to praise the Lord with song. even with “stringed instruments” and “Cymbals”. He never said what kind of music they had to be playing, he just said who the music was to focus on. It’s about the content, not style.
But above all it is important to show God’s love.
another interesting thing: when david showed his true passion for God, he was rebuked by his wife. Yet, she was the one who was rebuked by God……
okay okay, i know i’ve already posted twice, but even though i couldnt stomach reading the whole article against “religious rock” i still had an overwhelming reaction against it.
Here’s what gets me.
It is a common strategy among missionaries to adapt Christianity in certain ways to the culture they are trying to reach. I’m not saying that the ones in Africa who support sacrifices as part of Christianity are right; personally i dont know. I’ll let God judge that. What I am saying is that I dont see anything wrong with changing the terminology to make something understandable. For instance: in one culture, missionaries had to say “have Jesus come into your throat” instead of “heart”, because the culture believed that the throat was the center of the spirit. Or, when translating the Bible, some missionaries will say the Christ will cleanse as white as a dove instead of snow, because the culture has never seen snow. You have to meet people where they are. Christians have to be the ones striving to meet on some common ground, because those we are trying to reach dont have any motivation to.
Is God sending us sinners to catch sinners? All I know is, with the guys at work, the only thing we have in common a lot of times is music. I’ve been working on them, and have managed to start spiritual conversations with almost all of them. This wouldn’t be possible if I couldnt identify with them some way or other. And I’d choose having music to identify with them rather than drugs, alcohol, fighting, sex, or many unmentioned illegal activities……
Interesting… Im still pondering about this. Would the loud worship music then be more for outreach, and more intimate sounding worship music be played for the committed? And do you think that outside of the christian community people wouldn’t connect with the more intimate worship? Your the guy thats been leading worship for awhile, I honestly have no idea. Im just curious.
hmmmm……..that’s interesting. I dont know what matt thinks, but I believe there are multiple levels to music. I write some, and when people hear the songs there are different reactions.
hmmmm……..that’s interesting. I dont know what matt thinks, but I believe there are multiple levels to music. I write some, and when people hear the songs there are different reactions. Simplified to the basic level, these are:
-this is the surface level
-this is where the next level comes into play…….
For number 2, sometimes it takes awhile for the meaning to sink in. Some wont get it the first time. Personally, there is some music that a lot of people thinks sounds cool, and i like musically as well, but when i interact with it on a different level, not only understanding the meaning but embracing it, that’s when my heart is stirred the most. That’s when I am worshiping my creator, crying out with my heart with unspoken words, and with sung ones. Not all the songs that do this are “worship” genre, but they are all worship songs in one way or another. The worship genre is probably the easiest to do this to, however…….
Maybe you dont have to play “different” styles to attract different people. Maybe the worship leader just needs to make sure that the ones already commited to Christ are thinking about the meaning (Matt, you prob do this better than any other WL i’ve personally seen, including tomlin, crowder and delirious……). If there is a non-Christian there who sees that rejoicing, maybe that’s all they need. I know how it is to feel out of place because you cant sing the words and honestly mean them. To this day I struggle with singing “Better Is One Day” because I can never completely “feel” it when I sing it. Heck, I signed up for eternity, not just one day!!!!!