photo by Shelagh Murphy via pexels will enjoy closing their eyes , repeating a simpler , memorized refrain , singing their own melodies with or without lyrics , or even standing silently and prayerfully as the music washes over them .
The second team wants songs with deep , rich , theologically robust poetry that express the enormity and grandeur of The Gospel . Doing that often requires a lot of words . The songs might be shorter in duration than the first team ’ s ( because they have a set structure with very few repeats ) but they tend to pack more words in . The people would be inclined to remain cognizant and thoughtful throughout . If there ’ s an extended instrumental passage , or if a bridge is repeated more than once , some members of the second team might become a little uncomfortable .
Members of the first team often appear outwardly passionate - demonstrating their emotion with facial expressions , their hands and arms or even their whole body - as they sing . Swaying from side to side during the gentler musical moments is popular .
Members of the second team might ( or might not ) be deeply moved but they will tend to stay outwardly controlled . Less likely to express their emotions externally , even though there may well be a lot going on internally .
The first team will actively invite , even implore God to become more present - by His Spirit - in their gatherings . They encourage an attitude of expectancy in this regard . They highly value experiences of God ’ s supernatural power and presence .
The second team would recognize that God has already and completely given Himself to us through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus the Christ and by the Holy Spirit . Furthermore , God has given us His written Word by which we can know him . While there ’ s nothing inherently “ wrong ” with feelings , passion , and experiences of God , they are not as important as holding firmly to God ’ s truth . They will recognize that they are works in progress and that they receive good things from God , but they don ’ t believe they should be asking God to give more of Himself . It is we who must surrender ourselves more completely to Him .
The first team might accuse the second of being “ religious ” in the negative sense . Of attempting to contain God in a highly structured box of their own traditions and understanding . Of not being passionate enough . Of not fully accessing the filling and the power of God ’ s Holy Spirit if at all ! To the first team , sung worship in the gatherings of the second is dull ,
uninspired , uninspiring and misses the mark .
The second team is concerned about looseness , gaps or even errors in the first team ’ s theology . They might accuse the first team of pandering to the current culture of hyper consumerism - striving to give their congregation a cathartic , musical “ worship experience ” rather than have them truly worship God on Biblical terms . They fear that the first team uses music with the main goal of provoking an emotional response from the congregation . To help get the emotional response , the first team too readily incorporate “ worldly ”, concert-like , entertaining elements in sung worship . They ’ re chasing feelings - a “ buzz ” - and feelings are easily misleading !
omnipresent | ɒmnɪˈprɛz ( ə ) nt | adjective ( of God ) present everywhere at the same time .
manifest1 | ˈmanɪfɛst | adjective clear or obvious to the eye or mind .
Members of the first team would make a distinction between the omnipresence of God and the manifest presence of God . They would agree with the second team in recognizing that , by His very nature , God is everywhere at all times . He ’ s omnipresent ! But also , God ’ s presence becomes more evident -
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