In 2006, I graduated with a BMus in Trombone Performance. In
addition to personal practice time and music theory classes, my world revolved
around musical group rehearsals and performances. As part of my degree, I was
required to tour the country no less than four times with a musical group and
lead churches in worship services. A conservative estimation of my semester public performance
count would hover around 20, at least half of which took place in Christian
worship settings. I took five semesters to complete my music degree. After
you’ve done the math, please understand my disclaimer as a musician and
acquaintance to the ethereal world of FAPs (fine arts people).
An exhaustive (or even quick survey) study of Acts and the Epistles overwhelmingly declare doctrine to be the priority and rallying point in a local church. In fact, all activity, cultural expression, and logistical structure of local churches first are pressed through the filter of the apostles' doctrine (Acts 2). Common sense suggests that churches should find their focal point in the preaching of the Word and personal discipleship among local church members (fellowship). So what is actually the focal point of American evangelical churches today?
If I’m going to take into account the allotment of prep
time, personnel, and discussion waged on all the church ministries, then the
music ministry will usually appear most prominent. Regardless of what the senior pastor
says, it is very likely that his music ministry holds more sway over the church
than anything else. A church will probably
lose more members over a musical style change in its worship service than it would over a doctrinal or philosophical change in its constitution. Our churches' priorities are unbelievably out of whack in this area. Let’s face it: music has
become an idol in the American church.
If you are pastor/elder, let’s talk about your musicians and worship team. Disclaimer: I am about to make generalities that aid in describing the musician
stereotype. Not all musicians are the same, but certain traits are common among
your artistic crowd.
Musicians are helium balloons. We are taught from an early
age to be in tune with our emotions, to think abstractly, and to push the envelope.
Our stereotypical weaknesses include a lack of practical common sense, eccentricities,
high insecurity, self-absorption, and a lack of self-control. Why is this
important to know about musicians? Because for years, seminaries and influential pastors
around the country have been letting the Christian musicians float helplessly
around the sky, allowing them to do their own thing and write books on why one
musical style is more spiritual than another. No one has been holding the
balloon strings, and the helium balloons have led music ministries everywhere to
take Scriptures out of context to support their positions and set music in an
undeserved place of prominence. Music ministry is idolized and congregations
are confused about doctrinally sound worship.
What can be done to fix the problem and do music ministry
properly?
The musical style you choose for your church is your mood
setter. In that sense, music is an asset, but without proper attention, the
emotional language of music will run amuck (or kill the mood entirely). Study the demographics of your
church and mission field to determine what is the best musical style that
everyone will identify with emotionally and still maintain an attitude of
reverent worship. This is important. Do not let the music pastor (worship leader) make this
unilateral decision, because may struggle with self-absorption
and will approach all decisions through the bias of his own musical
tastes. Ignore the personal preferences of yourself and a few loud church
members. What is the consensus musical style that the church understands? That
consensus style is probably the musical style you should adopt. You are not off the hook just because you are not a "music guy."
Limit the size and function of the worship team. The music
ministry should not be a free for all that is open to the public. Grab a few
talented musicians with spiritual depth and guide them into a streamlined,
doctrinally appropriate and modest music ministry. The more people in your
worship team, the more time it will take to rehearse everything to a
presentable level, and the less time these key church members have to minister
in more important ways like good old fashioned fellowship. Have you ever tried
to fellowship with choir/orchestra members weeks before a Christmas pageant?
Good luck – they are too busy serving the Lord.
Ask yourself how small the worship team can be and still do
a great job. Ask yourself if you really and truly need a Christmas or Easter
pageant that presents an intricate music/drama production. Biblically speaking,
choirs and orchestras are optional. Pianos and guitars are optional. You can
please God with worship services that are 100% instrument-and-choir free
congregational singing.
Worship is not worship without doctrinal accuracy and
heartfelt emotion (Colossians 3:16 & John 4:24). In order for this to
happen in your church, you must look for strong doctrinally accurate texts and
either task your worship team with adapting a song to the consensus style or
using only those songs that work within your consensus style. If your worship
team is able to musically compose, then put personal prayers or lessons in
poetry form and let your team write music befitting your text. If you are
without a worship team and need to think out of the box, there are plenty of
media options that provide you with pre-recorded “singable” worship music and
texts.
This is how you grab the strings of your musicians, your
helium balloons. They are powerful assets, but they need leadership. Music is a
powerful tool, and music must surrender its emotional power unconditionally to
a worthy cause. Relevant, quality music is only relevant when it complements Truth by engraving it emotionally onto individual hearts and minds.
If you are a pastor in an established church with a large
music ministry, you are probably thinking one of three things: “you are not a
pastor, and you don’t know anything”; “we handle a huge music ministry
correctly”; or, “I would love to fix this, but I don’t want to create a church
split.”
You are not a pastor,
and you don’t know anything. Most pastors will probably throw this reason
in my face out of reaction. Let’s be fair. I am not a pastor (or an elder). I have never been
a pastor. A pastor deals with loads of stress and is forced to
make many unpleasant decisions. Props to all pastors!
As a non-pastor, I have written a blog, and you are
reading it. This is opinion and well-intended advice from the pew. Truth is, I
had more music ministry experience than most senior pastors before I even
attended college. Growing up in a music pastor family, reading music philosophy
books, attending classes, visiting literally hundreds of churches across the
country, and even leading a church orchestra has afforded me more insight into
music ministry than I care to have.
We handle a huge
music ministry correctly. If this is true, you are one of the few, the
rare. Is it possible that a local church could have so much musical talent and
such a large congregation that it would be utterly ridiculous to not encourage
a large music ministry and still keep it under control? Absolutely. Someone
ought to visit Greenville, South Carolina and see first hand that no other
place in the world is so equipped with talented, godly composers and performers
who submit whole-heartedly to the senior pastor and doctrinal instruction. If
that is the case, fantastic! I have two questions:
·
Would your church agree to a month of 100%
instrument-and-choir free congregational singing without people becoming
livid?
· The rest of the world would like to know: why is it that so many talented
people refuse to uproot themselves and venture into small church/church
planting ministries that have little or no musical talent?
I would love to fix
this, but I don’t want to create a church split. I’m sorry for you and your
ministry. Courage says you will preach the Word, and after patience and prayer
your congregation grows in maturity over this music ministry issue. Ever
thought of planting a church in another state and starting from scratch? Just
curious. A congregation's idolatry over musical style indicates a much deeper spiritual stagnation, and even in the United States, the Holy Spirit is working miraculously in parts of the country that used to be antagonistic to the church.
Senior pastors, grab the balloon strings and regain control
of your music ministry for the sake of your church’s spiritual well-being.
