WORSHIP LEADERS
SUNG WORSHIP : DIVERSITY OF EMPHASES ( PART 2 ) VERTICAL & INDIVIDUAL VS HORIZONTAL & COMMUNAL | Grant Norsworthy
WHAT ’ S YOUR GOAL ? When it comes to sung worship - expressing the worth of God through songs - what are you aiming for ? Is there a particular set of criteria that you ’ re hoping will be met in order for worship - real worship - to be achieved from your perspective ?
Are you aware that there are other worshippers - sincere followers of Jesus as the Christ - who might have quite different hopes and goals ? People who hold different values from yours for sung worship are not just at other churches with different theology than yours . Some of them might be in the congregation that you lead . Some might be in your band . Your pastor might have quite a different agenda for sung worship than you do .
Have you ever thought about that ?
DIVERSITY OR DIVISION It ’ s my understanding that there is a wonderful and diverse range of ways music can be used to help Believers worship God . If we have some understanding of - and respect for - these diverse emphases , the differences can be seen in a positive light . We can honor each other , love one another ( John 13:34- 35 ) and perhaps even learn from one another too . We might even grow as worshippers and deepen our understanding of what it means to worship God .
On the other hand , if we hold a position that says , “ My way is the superior way ” or “ Their way is less worshipful than mine ” we invite disunity and destructive “ religiosity ”. A lack of understanding , respect , and love .
THE GRAPH This article is Part 2 of a short series of articles called SUNG WORSHIP : DIVERSITY OF EMPHASES . In these articles , I ’ m sharing a graph I have come up with that helps me to better understand and appreciate the variety of values that surround sung worship in the Christian Church .
In my last article , I gave some general background information about the whole graph and explained my rationale behind THE RED “ X ” AXIS : THEOLOGICAL VS EXPERIENTIAL . If you haven ’ t read that article already , I suggest you do so before continuing .
In this second article , let ’ s talk more about …
THE GREEN “ Y ” AXIS : VERTICAL & INDIVIDUAL VS HORIZONTAL & COMMUNAL Even though we may be gathered in an
42 May 2024 Subscribe for Free ...