Whose worship?
Let's cut to the chase. We all know that one of the leading debates among conservative churches is what style of music to incorporate, whether to exclusively sing hymns in the traditional styles of the past 200-400 years, or to mix it up with more contemporary meters and beats and newer style lyrics, or to sing exclusively in a more modern style, or a million other hybrids.
We argue, debate, divide and separate over this time and time again, as if the entire efficacy of the Gospel is at stake.
What's the problem with this?
Besides the obvious problem of context, there is something I blatently left out that you may not have noticed, whose style? Are we talking about Anglo-American/European styles, Latino styles, Afro-African styles, or Afro-American styles of worship? Who sets the standard of so-called traditional worship music and who is the definitive person to decide what has been fized in the musical canon so to speak? WHO MAKES THAT DECISION?
Is one culture superior to another in the way it worships God, as long as the lyrical content of worship is Biblically based? Does God enjoy Fanny Crosby, or Matt Redman more? Does God like the sound of a pipe organ more than a lyre or tamborine? Is His majesty proclaimed more greatly by a congregation singing acapella and clapping in Zimbabwe, or by a congeration chanting in Yemen?
The fact is that the Bible does not tell us and to make an argument based on silence is unBiblical, and can be considered to be culturally offensive from the standpoint of the Gospel.
Two illustrations.
Last week at chapel, we sang an African praise song and a Spanish praise song both performed in their respective styles. I must confess that I was uncomfortable, but then it hit me that my preferences were not the only preferences to God in a cultural sense, and that my discomfort was not because my enjoyment of American styles of worship is better to God, but that my discomfort was derrived from my thinking that I "had it all together" since I am a traditional American Protestant in my worship preferences. Believe me, I had and still have much to repent of in that respect.
The second thing was something I read last night which bothers me greatly. Mind you I am quoting from someone who claims to be a Biblically grounded believer, who is a pastor of a church. When discussing the validity of incorporating Afro styles of worship in a racially mixed American context, two things he said made me want to weep:
#1 My objection to African music has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with paganism. Africa is the Dark Continent.
And when speaking of Black American Churches
#2 Their churches also promoted ungodly African music that appealed to the flesh instead of the spirit, and I am convinced that it contributed to the immorality of their members.
The man continued to qualify his statements with the notion that he is not a racist. And he may not be, but the fact remains that there is a notion within our culture, and I am sure within all cultures, that somehow one culture is superior to all the rest with regards to how God is worshipped. For me, it was some inner superiority because I would verbally confess to anyone that I would not take American style of worship and impose it on someone in Mexico, or Nigeria, but in my heart, I unBiblically did not believe this.
For the person I am quoting, it is an outward confession that African culture is bad because it is pagan, therefore the redemption of African culture is not possible without an American type context. As an aside, I do find it interesting that many project more confessing Christians in Africa within the next 50 years, than in the United States. Also, there have been more martyrs in Africa, due to Muslim fascism than the US has ever experienced.
Back to the heart of the matter, what do we do with all this?
I think the great divider in all these matters is the Gospel. The Gospel cuts across racial and social barriers and provides a true unity among those who are Christian. I firmly believe that the Gospel can take a pagan in American and cause him to praise God, and I firmly believe that a pagan in Africa, or anywhere can be changed by the Gospel and will be drawn to praise God. This leads me to this, if their praise is God centered, I believe that God is just as pleased if it is acomponied by accomplished musicians, as in my church context, or done with clapping and tamborines as it would be in an African context.
The bottomline is this: our cultures are not the cultures of the days of the Bible, but the Gospel is still the same and the Gospel has the power to redeem our hearts and our cultures.
Book of the day America's Worship Wars by Dr. Terry York.
We argue, debate, divide and separate over this time and time again, as if the entire efficacy of the Gospel is at stake.
What's the problem with this?
Besides the obvious problem of context, there is something I blatently left out that you may not have noticed, whose style? Are we talking about Anglo-American/European styles, Latino styles, Afro-African styles, or Afro-American styles of worship? Who sets the standard of so-called traditional worship music and who is the definitive person to decide what has been fized in the musical canon so to speak? WHO MAKES THAT DECISION?
Is one culture superior to another in the way it worships God, as long as the lyrical content of worship is Biblically based? Does God enjoy Fanny Crosby, or Matt Redman more? Does God like the sound of a pipe organ more than a lyre or tamborine? Is His majesty proclaimed more greatly by a congregation singing acapella and clapping in Zimbabwe, or by a congeration chanting in Yemen?
The fact is that the Bible does not tell us and to make an argument based on silence is unBiblical, and can be considered to be culturally offensive from the standpoint of the Gospel.
Two illustrations.
Last week at chapel, we sang an African praise song and a Spanish praise song both performed in their respective styles. I must confess that I was uncomfortable, but then it hit me that my preferences were not the only preferences to God in a cultural sense, and that my discomfort was not because my enjoyment of American styles of worship is better to God, but that my discomfort was derrived from my thinking that I "had it all together" since I am a traditional American Protestant in my worship preferences. Believe me, I had and still have much to repent of in that respect.
The second thing was something I read last night which bothers me greatly. Mind you I am quoting from someone who claims to be a Biblically grounded believer, who is a pastor of a church. When discussing the validity of incorporating Afro styles of worship in a racially mixed American context, two things he said made me want to weep:
#1 My objection to African music has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with paganism. Africa is the Dark Continent.
And when speaking of Black American Churches
#2 Their churches also promoted ungodly African music that appealed to the flesh instead of the spirit, and I am convinced that it contributed to the immorality of their members.
The man continued to qualify his statements with the notion that he is not a racist. And he may not be, but the fact remains that there is a notion within our culture, and I am sure within all cultures, that somehow one culture is superior to all the rest with regards to how God is worshipped. For me, it was some inner superiority because I would verbally confess to anyone that I would not take American style of worship and impose it on someone in Mexico, or Nigeria, but in my heart, I unBiblically did not believe this.
For the person I am quoting, it is an outward confession that African culture is bad because it is pagan, therefore the redemption of African culture is not possible without an American type context. As an aside, I do find it interesting that many project more confessing Christians in Africa within the next 50 years, than in the United States. Also, there have been more martyrs in Africa, due to Muslim fascism than the US has ever experienced.
Back to the heart of the matter, what do we do with all this?
I think the great divider in all these matters is the Gospel. The Gospel cuts across racial and social barriers and provides a true unity among those who are Christian. I firmly believe that the Gospel can take a pagan in American and cause him to praise God, and I firmly believe that a pagan in Africa, or anywhere can be changed by the Gospel and will be drawn to praise God. This leads me to this, if their praise is God centered, I believe that God is just as pleased if it is acomponied by accomplished musicians, as in my church context, or done with clapping and tamborines as it would be in an African context.
The bottomline is this: our cultures are not the cultures of the days of the Bible, but the Gospel is still the same and the Gospel has the power to redeem our hearts and our cultures.
Book of the day America's Worship Wars by Dr. Terry York.
posted by Bobby's blog at 4:45 PM
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