Worshiping with Style

Pastors love to talk about their congregations. We usually lie through our teeth, but we still love it when you ask us a question that opens the door for us to tell you all about the wonderful things we are up to. But I seriously threw off a fellow pastor the other day when he asked me a very common question. "What style of worship does your church use?"

Now I know exactly what he was asking. The normal answers are "traditional," "contemporary" or "blended." And how one answers the question determines if their congregation is made up of old farts (traditional), emergent 20/30-somethings (contemporary) or a congregation of old farts trying desperately to attract emergent 20/30-somethings (blended).

I understood the question, but my answer was not what my fellow man-of-the-cloth was looking for. Without missing a beat, I answered "We have two styles of worship...we worship in both spirit AND in truth."

Now my new-found friend understood the reference. Jesus tells a Samaritan woman "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (John 4:23-24). But what he really wanted to know was...do we use drums and guitar, or just piano and organ?

But the problem I have is that if one more person tells me that the only way to attract young worshipers is to mirror the contemporary styles of music, they will run the risk of me sending them to worship Jesus face to face. For while I totally agree that contemporary styles of music are the inevitable outcome of a worship lifestyle that is Spirit lead and truthful, it is almost NEVER the other way around.

Music and lyrics can go a long way as a teaching tool for believers...perhaps even a better tool than the sermon. And music that is familiar and enjoyable is far more likely to attract a new believer than a Gregorian Chant. But if the "church experience" isn't firmly rooted in the teaching of the inclusive, unconditional love of God, and the need to live that love out loud in community, then the music is nothing more than that...music.

And as for the notion that young adults will only worship if the music sounds like a U-2 concert (I wish), all one need do is look at the thousands of teens and young adults that are drawn to worship settings like Imago Dei, or Taize in France. Settings where the worship occurs in ancient hymns, chants and long periods of total silence. Young, emergent, post-modern worshipers who are attracted to the opportunity to become those worshipers Jesus told the Samaritan woman the Father seeks.

The truth be told (did I mention pastors often lie), the musical style used for worship in my congregations is mostly contemporary, with an occasional old hymn thrown in as a peace offering to the senior members of the community. Do we worship in Spirit and in Truth? Yes...no...sometimes...maybe...not often enough. As a pastor and a musician, am I happy with our weekly worship experience? See previous answer.

But I am confident that the worship wars are long over, and we are slowly coming to see that worship is not a musical style, but a lifestyle. And the more the Spirit leads us to the Truth that can only be found in relationship with Jesus (to a Christian, ANYTHING else would be a lie)...the less we will care about how awesome the music was, and the more we will care about how awesome God is. And as the words of an OLD hymn put it..."How can I keep from singing." Drums are optional.