expression of worship to God within the Church . Not only have I spent years of my life as a week-in-week-out member of churches of several different styles , flavors , theological emphases and denominations - liturgical , cerebral , restrained types to vibrant , rolling-inthe-aisles , charismatic , Pentecostal types in three different countries - I have also travelled extensively ( almost all of the 50 U . S . states and 25 different nations ) and experienced even more of the wonderful , rich diversity of musical worship by members of the Christian faith .
Personally , my experiences have allowed me to be equally comfortable within either the “ sing it till you feel it ” or the “ sing weighty , correct theology ” camps or anywhere in between . I can revel in the musical expression of worship when it ’ s loose , spontaneous and flowing and when it ’ s wordy , ordered and structured - although I do have my own personal preference .
When I lead a congregation to worship God through songs , I will do my best to lean in whichever direction I sense will help the people engage more effectively - making musical and technical choices accordingly . It ’ s about context and who I am leading . This is not an either / or . For me , it ’ s a both / and . It can depend on the individuals within the congregation . Which approach is more sensitive to and in-line with the existing culture ? considered as better . This side of eternity , even our best effort to worship God will fall short of expressing His full worth . We can assume there is always some level of human idolatry in the mix , no matter how we craft our music . Ultimately , I need to leave it to God to make the final measurement .
But I recognize this : Like my three sons , people are different from one another . Some resonate with one set of emphases over the other . Thank God we ’ re not all the same ! But my heart sinks when one camp gives the impression that they believe their way is better than the other . There can be a very fine line between wanting other people to know the value of your own practices - experience what you ’ ve experienced - and thinking that your worship is somehow superior .
We must not think , speak nor carry ourselves with the air that our worship is superior . During Jesus ’ time on Earth in physical form , that ’ s something that the Pharisees were guilty of .
My hope and prayer is that we could all celebrate and worship right along with one another in either camp . But to do that , we must first be more willing to respect the differences , value our diversity and maybe even learn a thing or two from one another . I strongly believe that our worship would be all the more worshipful to God if we did .
I sense wonderful positives and some potential negatives with each approach . I strongly believe that either can be a sincere expression of the worth of God but neither should be
Grant Norsworthy founder of MoreThanMusicMentor . com providing training for worshipping musicians .
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