the substance .
So why would we ever think the church needs songs written in the same way ?
Hotel Art isn ’ t trying to challenge you , or powerfully stir you , or connect you to the source of something beyond you while reflecting the vision of an artist with something specific to say . And when you try to follow the misguided , lowest-common-denominator prescription as a songwriter , and you order congregational gatherings around it as a primary value , you just end up with churchgoers who wonder why they felt more connection and resonance at that “ secular ” concert they went to . More than they ever experience at church — as though they touched the Divine without even having to try .
I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the artists in that environment didn ’ t aim for Hotel Art . And they definitely didn ’ t pretend they weren ’ t the instrument of the art . They didn ’ t try to “ disappear ” on stage .
“ Lord , help us to just disappear up there ” is something we used to pray before going up to lead worship . You ’ ve probably heard ( or prayed ) that yourself . And I get the intent , but it just doesn ’ t work for me anymore . When I hear those sorts of prayers now , I can ’ t help but thinking something like , “ Well just play behind a curtain then !” If it ’ s so wrong for the congregation to see you , and to be in relational community with its artists , why not stop having a stage or visible musicians at all ? Just play behind a curtain and stop praying about it . At least then you ’ d be consistent with what these prayers for invisibility assume is good .
“ Sing to one another in psalms , hymns and spiritual songs .” The New Testament says that . Twice . It ’ s the only exhortation for musical expression the New Testament carries .
… But many of us spend so much time and energy feeling bad about when it happens . And then we aim for a Hotel Art Songwriting craft , which leaves people to go through the process of shaming themselves for not feeling inspired by music that was created as though it belonged in the background . Like it ’ s their fault .
The way some of us posture this issue , it ’ s as though God would rather have us all standing in individual corners , eyes shut , ignoring each other as we sing . As if that would be the more pure expression of musical worship . And when you recognize that ’ s the logical result of a lot of what gets promoted in churches , you begin to see just how much it misses the point . Because if “ disappearing ” from view makes worship more legitimate , it ultimately begs the question : why gather together at all ? Why behold one another ?
Why ?
Because gathering is meant to be relational by nature . It ’ s meant to be specific . It ’ s meant to feature different giftings , varied sensitivities , and even distinct personalities . Otherwise , we wouldn ’ t bother to gather .
And we wouldn ’ t write for gatherings at all .
“ You should be able to worship to ANYTHING ,” the leaders might say . That ’ s true . So if we ’ re not going to bother to write anything artistic , we don ’ t need to involve artists in our worship at all , do we ? Let ’ s just stop the music then . Go ahead and worship to ANYTHING . See how it works out for you when the fruit of low standards and stifled creativity and lack of vision plays out in your congregation . See how it reflects a God of highest excellence and boundless creativity and endless vision .
See if your gathered assembly notices the utter disconnect .
Or maybe instead we could recognize our being crafted in God ’ s image , and then stop telling ourselves it ’ s wrong to create better images . We could recognize that it has never been anyone ’ s best guess at a lowest-common-denominator “ accessibility ” that led to the creation of something with real substance or impact .
Substance and impact comes from the writers who go out into the unknown to grasp at something true , something good , something pure and resonant and fascinating … and bare their own souls to create a song describing the experience in the process .
Those are the writers who move people to transcend the limitations of time and space and bask in the brilliant light of something grand .
It ’ s not “ making something safe enough that it won ’ t challenge anyone ” that guides those writers . It ’ s not “ filtering all art through someone ’ s subjective measure of ‘ accessibility ’ ( and filtering out the best elements of the art in the process ).”
You live in a world of endless color and variety .
There ’ s no reason to try to make everything beige when you write for worship .
Great sacred songs should reflect the real world , and your particular vantage in it as an artist .
Imagine a church where the goal is not :
“ Make sure everything is basic and easy to the point of being bland so that everyone can predictably do the same thing in uniformity .”
Imagine a church where the goal is something more like :
“ Make something real and beautiful in a way which awakens the dawn in those who gather , leading to a multitude of experiences and expressions in harmony .”
If you can imagine that kind of church , you can help embody it .
But it ’ s going to need some songs .
Kevin MacDougall Worship leader , published and recorded songwriter , engineer and producer . macdougall . k @ gmail . com