WORSHIP LEADERS
SUNG WORSHIP : DIVERSITY OF EMPHASES ( PART 3 ) TRADITIONAL & STRUCTURED VS MODERN & SPONTANEOUS | Grant Norsworthy
In a tribute written at the time of her passing in 2021 at the age of 72 , Christianity Today hailed theologian , author , musician , preacher , and educator Marva Dawn , “ a Saint of modern worship ”.
In a 2007 interview with John Longhurst for “ On Faith Canada ” Martha shared a source of sadness :
“ It grieves me when I hear people say they don ’ t like one kind of style or another , or they refuse to sing when a particular style that ’ s not their favorite is used in worship . To me , that shows they don ’ t love others in their church enough to sing somebody else ’ s song . If a church is a community , then it needs to sing the songs of the whole community , not just one group .”
I ’ m with Marva . It grieves me too , when people , “ refuse to sing when a particular style that ’ s not their favorite is used ” for sung worship . I hope it grieves you too .
But sometimes a person ’ s aversion to a “ style ” goes beyond simply not liking a particular type of music . It grieves me even more when I hear a person say things like , “ I can ’ t worship …” or even , “ It ’ s not worship …” when something about their experience of music in a Church gathering doesn ’ t check the right boxes for them . Sadly , I have heard both those statements , and many others like them .
It seems that it is perilously possible for humans to confuse the worship of God with the music that they resonate with most easily , or agree with most , or have the most intense , spiritual experience through . But if we only loved each other more - with the same love that God has lavished upon us - surely , we could respect the differences and maybe even learn to worship right there alongside our brothers and sisters who express the worth of God through songs differently from ourselves .
A little more from Marva Dawn on this …
“ Reconciliation is God ’ s goal for humanity . God wants to reconcile us to Himself . God is in the business of breaking down barriers . He also wants us to be reconciled to each other , and worship is one way we can do that . Worship can bring us together and unify us .”
This is the third in a series of articles sharing the title SUNG WORSHIP : DIVERSITY OF EMPHASES . In these articles I have been sharing a graph that I hope helps reconcile us all to the idea that there are a variety of acceptable - worshipful - ways of using music to worship God .
It ’ s natural and completely understandable that the people who participate in sung worship will have some preferences , biases , or emphases that they favor over others . These particular goals and values might differ from those of other worshippers and , to me , that ’ s absolutely fine . Ultimately , it ’ s only God who gets to measure the worshipfulness of our worship anyway , right ? We humans do not have the necessary perspective to do that . It ’ d be a good thing if we all kept that in mind - no matter where we plot ourselves on this graph .
44 June 2024 Subscribe for Free ...