Thinking Theologically 4: Worship as Remembrance
READ:
Jonah 2: 7-9
DISCUSS:
1. What happened when Jonah remembered God? What is role of ‘remembering’ in worship?
2. How is idolatry connected to ‘forgetting’ in our passage? How does this happen to us?
3. How does worship ‘orient’ us?
4. Think about the last two worship services you attended. If you take away the sermon, what ‘story’ would the other elements of worship (from songs, prayers, etc…, to peoples demeanor on stage, etc…) be telling? If you had never stepped into a church before what would you understand of the gospel through the service?
5. How are we doing at ‘recapitulating salvation history’ each week as worship leaders?
REFLECT:
As we continue our section on ‘thinking theologically’ we are going to spend the next few weeks thinking together about how to understand worship. In this section we have already discussed how important it is to understand our own theology and how we are theologically teaching our congregation through the songs we sing and the ways we lead. Over the next few weeks we are going think through a theological framework of worship, building from our definition of worship as ‘giving worth and glory to God’ and seeking to understand how worship functions in the worshipping community and our lives individually.
We begin with worship as remembrance. As Robert Webber writes, worship in its most basic form “celebrates God’s saving deed in Jesus Christ,” and in the words of theologian Stanley Grenz: “in worship we gather to “commemorate the foundational events of our spiritual existence, at the center of which is the action of God in Christ delivering humankind from the bondage of sin.”
Christian worship first and foremost remembers the salvation story; that God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit has always been seeking to save and deliver humanity from sin and decay, and God does this through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate. Any worship time or church service that doesn’t tell this story through word, song, and other expression is simply not Christian worship.
As we look back through scripture we see this idea of worship as ‘remembering the story’ is the central focus of worship. From the beginning God remembered His covenant with His people (Genesis 9:15-16, Exodus 2:24-25, 1 Chronicles 16:12-15, Isaiah 54:4-7, Luke 1:68-75) and asked only that his people would remember Him as well. (Deuteronomy 4:10, 5:15, Deuteronomy 8, etc…) Remembering was the foundation of Israel’s practice and worship: the law, the feasts, and worship at the temple (Deuteronomy 4:9-14, 8:1-20-the law, 16:3-feasts, Exodus 3:12-worship) and the people of Israel, especially in times of hardship, often would ask God to remember His covenant with them and save them. (Job 10:9, Psalm 74:2-22, Jeremiah 14:21). When we forget God we fall into sin and begin to worship other Gods (Deuteronomy 9:7-23, Isaiah 17:10-14, Romans 1:21-32) and when we remember God’s love and work we are drawn closer to God and God’s purposes (Ecclesiasties 12:1-8, Psalm 119: 49-56, Jonah 2:7-9, John 16:1-4, Matthew 7:25-34).
A steady example of how worship as remembrance works (for me at least!) is my iphone. Before I bought an iphone I was constantly getting lost, as many of you know. Especially on streets here in Den Haag which, like most European streets, often change names, become one ways, or just end without notice, I would regularly be 30 minutes late because of getting lost (especially in the older parts of town). But then I got an iphone and everything changed. Especially the GPS on the iphone oriented me to exactly where I was and how to get where I needed to go. It is not perfect and I sometimes still get lost, but I have at least shaved 20 minutes off my old get lost time!
And this is the same with worship. In worship we are oriented on God and God’s ways. Often we lose our way and forget God in our lives, so we come to worship to be oriented again on God and to remember again who God is and who we are because of God’s great love and care. And out of this comes a new perspective on our lives and the world around us.
So as worship leaders it is essential that every week, through our songs, liturgy, preaching, times of silence and speaking, times of prayer, spontaneous worship, etc…. that we tell the story. And it is not enough just to talk about and honor ‘God’. Very religion honors some version of ‘God’. Similarly, it is not our task to solely focus on ‘being good people’, because all religions focus on morality. Our Christian worship gains its form and uniqueness in God’s revelation of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. As J.J Von Allen writes: “Christian worship is not just about honoring God but what God has done through Jesus Christ. Our worship begins and ends with Christ and recapitulates salvation history.”
Every week our task is to ‘recapitulate salvation history’ and to remember God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ. If a non-Christian who had never stepped into a church before came to your service, how much of the gospel would they understand through your worship time…not just the sermon, but the songs we sing, the ways we act, and all the other elements of worship? How are we doing at helping people orient their lives on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and view their lives through the lens of Christ?
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
Deuteronomy 8: 1-18, Psalm 119: 49-56, Chronicles 16:7-15, 2 Timothy 2:8-13,
REFERENCES (for further reading)
Worship: It’s Theology and Practice, by J.J Von Allmen
Theology For The Community Of God, by Stanley J. Grenz
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Astonishing Grace, Studies on Gospel Centered Worship Leadership, Week 12
Thinking Theologically 3: Who Is The Audience?
READ: Psalm 96:4-10
DISCUSS:
1. Think about the last concert you went to. What make it great? What made it terrible? Think about the last worship service you attended and ask the same questions.
2. What is the danger in evaluating worship services based on our personal preferences?
3. How do you view ‘performance’ in worship? Does it feel different to play music in church and to play in a bar or club? What is that difference?
4. Have you been in churches where you have felt that worship is primarily about performance? Describe your experience. Did it detract from worship? How?
5. According to our passage, who is the audience of our worship? Who, then, are the performers? How does this change our understanding of performance in worship?
REFLECT:
Think back on a favorite concert/opera/performance that you have seen in the past year. What made it amazing for you? Was it the singers beautiful voice, the orchestra or the bands musical versatility and excellence, the well crafted songs or stage presentation? Now think back on one of the worst performances you have ever heard. What made it terrible? What did you talk about with your friends/family afterwards?
Just as with a concert or performance we find ourselves making the same types of observations about our worship services. Observations like: ‘the choir sounded amazing!’, ‘the sermon was boring’, ‘I didn’t like that song the praise band played’, ‘the service was too long/too short’, etc… These often become the main topics of conversation after church, and while this is not necessarily wrong or bad, it could lead us into danger if we are not careful.
The danger is this: to miss who the audience of worship is. If we go to a concert or a performance then we are the audience: we have paid our money and we want to be entertained. The experience is based on us, the consumer. But when we come to church the audience is actually not us at all, but GOD. We have come to praise God and give our lives to the creator of all things, as the psalmist writes in Psalm 96:6-8: “O nations of the world recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in all His holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!” The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. He will judge all peoples fairly.”
The center of our worship then, both in our corporate worship on Sunday and our worship throughout the week is to give God the glory He deserves. As Ralph Martin writes in his great book on worship, “The Worship of God”: “Worshippers embark on an enterprise undertaken not simply to satisfy their needs or to make them feel better or to minister to their aesthetic taste or social well-being, but to express the worthiness of God Himself.”
So our question changes from: ‘did this worship service bless me and make me happy?’ to ‘did this service bless God and make God happy?’ This changes everything: our worship planning and practicing, the ways we play our instruments, sing, and act in worship, and ways we approach worship in general.
And as we focus on God we find something wonderful happening….we experience God’s Grace and goodness. Worship leader Graham Kendrick writes: “Worship is first and foremost for God’s benefit, not ours, though it is marvelous to discover that in giving God pleasure, we ourselves enter into what can become our richest and most wholesome experience in life.” May we all experience the wonder of God’s Grace as we focus on Him in worship!
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
1 Chron 16:28-30, Psalm 29:1-4, Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 5:11-14, 7:9
REFERENCES (for further reading)
"The Worship of God", by Ralph Martin
"A Heart For Worship" by Lamar Boschman
READ: Psalm 96:4-10
DISCUSS:
1. Think about the last concert you went to. What make it great? What made it terrible? Think about the last worship service you attended and ask the same questions.
2. What is the danger in evaluating worship services based on our personal preferences?
3. How do you view ‘performance’ in worship? Does it feel different to play music in church and to play in a bar or club? What is that difference?
4. Have you been in churches where you have felt that worship is primarily about performance? Describe your experience. Did it detract from worship? How?
5. According to our passage, who is the audience of our worship? Who, then, are the performers? How does this change our understanding of performance in worship?
REFLECT:
Think back on a favorite concert/opera/performance that you have seen in the past year. What made it amazing for you? Was it the singers beautiful voice, the orchestra or the bands musical versatility and excellence, the well crafted songs or stage presentation? Now think back on one of the worst performances you have ever heard. What made it terrible? What did you talk about with your friends/family afterwards?
Just as with a concert or performance we find ourselves making the same types of observations about our worship services. Observations like: ‘the choir sounded amazing!’, ‘the sermon was boring’, ‘I didn’t like that song the praise band played’, ‘the service was too long/too short’, etc… These often become the main topics of conversation after church, and while this is not necessarily wrong or bad, it could lead us into danger if we are not careful.
The danger is this: to miss who the audience of worship is. If we go to a concert or a performance then we are the audience: we have paid our money and we want to be entertained. The experience is based on us, the consumer. But when we come to church the audience is actually not us at all, but GOD. We have come to praise God and give our lives to the creator of all things, as the psalmist writes in Psalm 96:6-8: “O nations of the world recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in all His holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!” The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. He will judge all peoples fairly.”
The center of our worship then, both in our corporate worship on Sunday and our worship throughout the week is to give God the glory He deserves. As Ralph Martin writes in his great book on worship, “The Worship of God”: “Worshippers embark on an enterprise undertaken not simply to satisfy their needs or to make them feel better or to minister to their aesthetic taste or social well-being, but to express the worthiness of God Himself.”
So our question changes from: ‘did this worship service bless me and make me happy?’ to ‘did this service bless God and make God happy?’ This changes everything: our worship planning and practicing, the ways we play our instruments, sing, and act in worship, and ways we approach worship in general.
And as we focus on God we find something wonderful happening….we experience God’s Grace and goodness. Worship leader Graham Kendrick writes: “Worship is first and foremost for God’s benefit, not ours, though it is marvelous to discover that in giving God pleasure, we ourselves enter into what can become our richest and most wholesome experience in life.” May we all experience the wonder of God’s Grace as we focus on Him in worship!
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
1 Chron 16:28-30, Psalm 29:1-4, Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 5:11-14, 7:9
REFERENCES (for further reading)
"The Worship of God", by Ralph Martin
"A Heart For Worship" by Lamar Boschman
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Astonishing Grace, Studies on Gospel Centered Worship Leadership, Week 11
Thinking Theologically 2: Which God Do We Worship?
READ: Matthew 9:9-13
DISCUSS:
1. What do you think it would have meant to be a sinner in Matthew 9:9-13? How would it have meant to be a Pharisee? What are the implications on our worship?
2. After reading the quote by Will Willimon (below), how can we miss God in worship? Or worship the wrong God? How does this happen? What God our we worshipping?
3. What does God desire of us in our worship? What do you think God thinks of our churches worship?
REFLECT:
In Matthew 9:9-13 we witness Jesus teaching both the ‘sinners’ and the ‘religious’ people of the day a lesson about worship. In the passage Jesus calls an outsider and sinner, Matthew, to become one of his followers. It is a beautiful occasion, yet it’s tarnished that evening when the ‘religious’ of the day, the Pharisees, crash Matthew’s dinner party and criticize Jesus’ consorting with Matthew and other outcasts and sinners like him. Jesus responds to them with this radical statement: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Imagine being a ‘sinner’ in the room that evening. You are reminded everyday that you are an outsider and ‘unclean’ by everyone around you, but now this Rabbi is proclaiming that you are at the center of God’s heart and the focus of God’s ministry! You would want to worship this God not out of guilt or fear, but out of gratitude for God’s love.
But now put yourself in the Pharisee’s shoes. You have lived your whole life meticulously following the law, as God commanded in the Old Testament. Yet now this Rabbi comes out of nowhere and tells you that you have forgotten who God really is and lost the heart of worship. Jesus even quotes from Hosea 6:6: “for I desire mercy and not sacrifice” to stress the point that in all your religiousness you have missed God. You would be offended!
Throughout gospels Jesus was very concerned that the followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had forgotten who God really is. They read the scriptures and followed God’s law, but their ‘religiousness’ actually led them away from the God who welcomes outsiders and calls sinners home. They missed God in worship.
And this is our danger as well in the church of Jesus Christ 2000 years later. In a sense, we as Christians are the new ‘Pharisees’, and we need to be vigilant to not worship religion or our culture in place of the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ. As William Willimon writes in Worship As Pastoral Care:
“To ask the theological question is simply to ask, What does our worship say about God?, or the corollary, What does God say to us about our worship? Surely this is the toughest and most basic question to be asked, but curiously, it is often the last question we ask. If we think about our worship at all, usually we think in terms of ‘what do I want from our worship?” or, ‘what do my people want from worship?’ without being so daring as to ask , ‘what does God want from worship?’ Is our worship the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or is it the worship of Baal, Aphrodite, and Cupid? Does our worship have integrity measured by the Biblical standards for what our prayer and praise should be? So much of our worship is self-centered, mundane, and tame. How are we to be faithful to the gospel; how do we know the difference between secular idolatry and Christian liturgy, unless we ask, and in some means, answer, the theological question?”
God is both the source and the object of our worship, so it is essential for us to know WHO we are worshipping. As Kevin Navarro writes in his excellent book, The Complete Worship Leader: “Our theology must be accurate if our worship is to be accurate. An intentional neglect of the God who has revealed Himself will degenerate into idolatry.” Thinking theologically then is a critically important skill to develop as we lead worship. But just as important, is for us to give ourselves space to worship. We always talk about not just being ‘worship leaders’ but being ‘lead worshippers’, and though this is sometimes overused, it is true. As we develop our mind as theologians we need to develop our heart as worshippers. We need to focus on growing in the Grace of God and striving to spend time growing in relationship with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. We want to wrap both our head and heart around the gospel and to give space for others to do that as well in our worship services.
Do you think theologically about our worship service weekly and about your playing and presence in worship? Do you take time to worship during the week through prayer, scripture study, and meditation? These are disciplines that we can develop throughout our lives, so don’t be discouraged if your answers to those questions weren’t extremely positive. Just take small steps, In thinking theologically challenge yourself by reading a book about worship and asking questions about what your are portraying theologically in your worship services. To develop your heart worship plan on carving out 20 minutes a day to pray, read, and meditate. If you have done that and it is old or dry, try different disciplines of listening to God in scripture and prayer. I have included a couple exercises for you to try here. Enjoy!
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
1 Samuel 15:22-23, Psalm 51:17, Hosea 6:6, John 6:28-29, 1 Corinthians 8:1-6
REFERENCES (for further reading)
Worship As Pastoral Care by William Willimon
READ: Matthew 9:9-13
DISCUSS:
1. What do you think it would have meant to be a sinner in Matthew 9:9-13? How would it have meant to be a Pharisee? What are the implications on our worship?
2. After reading the quote by Will Willimon (below), how can we miss God in worship? Or worship the wrong God? How does this happen? What God our we worshipping?
3. What does God desire of us in our worship? What do you think God thinks of our churches worship?
REFLECT:
In Matthew 9:9-13 we witness Jesus teaching both the ‘sinners’ and the ‘religious’ people of the day a lesson about worship. In the passage Jesus calls an outsider and sinner, Matthew, to become one of his followers. It is a beautiful occasion, yet it’s tarnished that evening when the ‘religious’ of the day, the Pharisees, crash Matthew’s dinner party and criticize Jesus’ consorting with Matthew and other outcasts and sinners like him. Jesus responds to them with this radical statement: “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
Imagine being a ‘sinner’ in the room that evening. You are reminded everyday that you are an outsider and ‘unclean’ by everyone around you, but now this Rabbi is proclaiming that you are at the center of God’s heart and the focus of God’s ministry! You would want to worship this God not out of guilt or fear, but out of gratitude for God’s love.
But now put yourself in the Pharisee’s shoes. You have lived your whole life meticulously following the law, as God commanded in the Old Testament. Yet now this Rabbi comes out of nowhere and tells you that you have forgotten who God really is and lost the heart of worship. Jesus even quotes from Hosea 6:6: “for I desire mercy and not sacrifice” to stress the point that in all your religiousness you have missed God. You would be offended!
Throughout gospels Jesus was very concerned that the followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had forgotten who God really is. They read the scriptures and followed God’s law, but their ‘religiousness’ actually led them away from the God who welcomes outsiders and calls sinners home. They missed God in worship.
And this is our danger as well in the church of Jesus Christ 2000 years later. In a sense, we as Christians are the new ‘Pharisees’, and we need to be vigilant to not worship religion or our culture in place of the triune God revealed in Jesus Christ. As William Willimon writes in Worship As Pastoral Care:
“To ask the theological question is simply to ask, What does our worship say about God?, or the corollary, What does God say to us about our worship? Surely this is the toughest and most basic question to be asked, but curiously, it is often the last question we ask. If we think about our worship at all, usually we think in terms of ‘what do I want from our worship?” or, ‘what do my people want from worship?’ without being so daring as to ask , ‘what does God want from worship?’ Is our worship the worship of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or is it the worship of Baal, Aphrodite, and Cupid? Does our worship have integrity measured by the Biblical standards for what our prayer and praise should be? So much of our worship is self-centered, mundane, and tame. How are we to be faithful to the gospel; how do we know the difference between secular idolatry and Christian liturgy, unless we ask, and in some means, answer, the theological question?”
God is both the source and the object of our worship, so it is essential for us to know WHO we are worshipping. As Kevin Navarro writes in his excellent book, The Complete Worship Leader: “Our theology must be accurate if our worship is to be accurate. An intentional neglect of the God who has revealed Himself will degenerate into idolatry.” Thinking theologically then is a critically important skill to develop as we lead worship. But just as important, is for us to give ourselves space to worship. We always talk about not just being ‘worship leaders’ but being ‘lead worshippers’, and though this is sometimes overused, it is true. As we develop our mind as theologians we need to develop our heart as worshippers. We need to focus on growing in the Grace of God and striving to spend time growing in relationship with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. We want to wrap both our head and heart around the gospel and to give space for others to do that as well in our worship services.
Do you think theologically about our worship service weekly and about your playing and presence in worship? Do you take time to worship during the week through prayer, scripture study, and meditation? These are disciplines that we can develop throughout our lives, so don’t be discouraged if your answers to those questions weren’t extremely positive. Just take small steps, In thinking theologically challenge yourself by reading a book about worship and asking questions about what your are portraying theologically in your worship services. To develop your heart worship plan on carving out 20 minutes a day to pray, read, and meditate. If you have done that and it is old or dry, try different disciplines of listening to God in scripture and prayer. I have included a couple exercises for you to try here. Enjoy!
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
1 Samuel 15:22-23, Psalm 51:17, Hosea 6:6, John 6:28-29, 1 Corinthians 8:1-6
REFERENCES (for further reading)
Worship As Pastoral Care by William Willimon
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Astonishing Grace: studies on Gospel centered worship leadership, week 10
Thinking Theologically 1: Am I A Theologian?
READ: Matt 7:24-27
DISCUSS:
1. Dallas Willard once said that “we are at the mercy of our ideas”. What do you think this means?
2. What is your definition of ‘theology’? What does it mean to ‘think theologically’? Especially as a worship leader? How does our theology play out in the songs we sing, the ways we act, what we say in worship?
3. What is the danger, as described in our passage? How does our scripture today model ‘thinking theologically’?
REFLECT:
As a drummer, a singer, a keyboardist, a guitarist, or a bass player you may not think of yourself as a theologian, but you are. All who lead our congregations in worship, whether we are music leaders, musicians, pastors, or liturgists, give a theological statement every time we stand in front of our congregations. Theology literally means ‘the study of God’. Sometimes Christians cut down theology as being all head and no heart, but theology is important because it deals with our ideas about God. Who is God? What does God want? How is God working in our lives? As Dallas Willard wrote, “we are at the mercy of our ideas,” so our answers to these questions will define how we live our lives and lead our congregations in worship.
The problem though, with all of us at times, is that we think very little about our ‘theologies’ and the ‘ideas’ that define us are often inconsistent or contradictory. We see this play out in our lives especially in great times of personal struggle or temptation. For example, a young woman is struggling because her boyfriend wants to have sex. Theologically, her beliefs about sex are based on the scriptural understanding that God has sanctioned sex only within the bounds of marriage, yet her IDEAS about sex are more shaped by her culture, the media, and her friends, which conflict with her theology. So this internal conflict may lead her to disobey her beliefs in place of her ideas without even really understanding what is going on.
The same often happens in our leadership in worship. So often our ideas about what is good, interesting, crowd pleasing, and engaging in worship are shaped by our culture, upbringing, friends/family, and the media. And this is not necessarily wrong, but it can, at times, conflict with our theology of worship. If our primary focus as a church is (whether we realize it or not) how excellent musically we are, how cool our lighting and multimedia is, how fun, or entertaining our services are, then our worship services may have high performance quality and excellence, but confusing and contradicting messages about who God is, where God is, and what God is asking of the congregation in worship.
Whether we realize it or not, everything is our worship service gives a theological statement. So often we think that our song choices, liturgy, or preaching are the only times we speak theologically. But in worship everything speaks theologically, because everything in worship is infused with meaning. So, our demeanor as a leader gives a theological statement, the musical dynamics and transitions we use speak theologically, the ways we pray, incorporate silence, speaking, singing, standing and sitting, etc…teaches people about God. Even the way the band is positioned, and the ways the chairs are set up in the room speak theologically! There is no dead time in a worship service; everything has a theological message. And this makes understanding our own theologies and the theology which we portray as a band member and worship team deeply important.
A friend of mine and I have had a long running debate about the use of guitar solos in a worship set. He believes that solo’s can help people have an unstructured space to be with God if used correctly, and I tend to feel that extended guitar solos in a worship service are more about performance than worship. We both though agree that guitar solos are much more than a personal preference but a theological statement. It is not just about whether we like guitar solos or not, but about what a guitar solo portrays theologically and how it functions in worship service. For me, guitar solos make me think of worship as a concert, a spectator sport, when God is calling us all to participate, but my friend sees a well positioned solo as an invitation to prayer and meditation, a sign that God wants to be with us and meet us where we are.
As our debate continues my friend and I both agree that though this may seem like a trivial issue, there is nothing trivial about our worship service. Worship is our life’s blood as Christians; it is the very air we breathe, so we are called to take it seriously. And worship teaches, so every time we gather for worship we remind the congregation who God is, where God is, and what God requires of them.
God longs for His grace in Jesus Christ to become what is most true and real in our lives; more true and real than all the other ideas that we have learned and embraced. So we are called to conform our ideas to what we believe, to “build our house on the Rock”(Matthew 7:24-27), so that we can portray the gospel of Jesus Christ consistently through our worship services and through our lives.
Remember, as worship leaders you are not just members of another band: you are teaching people who God is and how to approach God in worship. So, if you are not thinking theologically you are in danger of committing idolatry and of leading people into the worship of another God that is not Jesus Christ.
If you are unsure about how to ‘think theologically’ and what exactly you believe, I encourage you to take 30 minutes and write a personal statement of belief. This might end up taking over 30 minutes, but at least take that much time to begin. In this statement just ask yourself: what do I believe about God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, church, life eternal, sanctification, etc…. Take 30min to an hour to do this and then compare it with the APCH statement of belief (on the website: www.apch.nl). Were there any variations? Now, begin to think through the songs we sing, etc…. through the lens of that mission statement. After you have written your statement of faith, you could write a personal mission statement about how you want to live out what you believe.
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
Psalm 119: 9-16, John 1:1-14, Colossians 3:15-17, Hebrews 4:11-13,
REFERENCES (for further reading)
The Complete Worship Leader, Kevin J. Navarro
READ: Matt 7:24-27
DISCUSS:
1. Dallas Willard once said that “we are at the mercy of our ideas”. What do you think this means?
2. What is your definition of ‘theology’? What does it mean to ‘think theologically’? Especially as a worship leader? How does our theology play out in the songs we sing, the ways we act, what we say in worship?
3. What is the danger, as described in our passage? How does our scripture today model ‘thinking theologically’?
REFLECT:
As a drummer, a singer, a keyboardist, a guitarist, or a bass player you may not think of yourself as a theologian, but you are. All who lead our congregations in worship, whether we are music leaders, musicians, pastors, or liturgists, give a theological statement every time we stand in front of our congregations. Theology literally means ‘the study of God’. Sometimes Christians cut down theology as being all head and no heart, but theology is important because it deals with our ideas about God. Who is God? What does God want? How is God working in our lives? As Dallas Willard wrote, “we are at the mercy of our ideas,” so our answers to these questions will define how we live our lives and lead our congregations in worship.
The problem though, with all of us at times, is that we think very little about our ‘theologies’ and the ‘ideas’ that define us are often inconsistent or contradictory. We see this play out in our lives especially in great times of personal struggle or temptation. For example, a young woman is struggling because her boyfriend wants to have sex. Theologically, her beliefs about sex are based on the scriptural understanding that God has sanctioned sex only within the bounds of marriage, yet her IDEAS about sex are more shaped by her culture, the media, and her friends, which conflict with her theology. So this internal conflict may lead her to disobey her beliefs in place of her ideas without even really understanding what is going on.
The same often happens in our leadership in worship. So often our ideas about what is good, interesting, crowd pleasing, and engaging in worship are shaped by our culture, upbringing, friends/family, and the media. And this is not necessarily wrong, but it can, at times, conflict with our theology of worship. If our primary focus as a church is (whether we realize it or not) how excellent musically we are, how cool our lighting and multimedia is, how fun, or entertaining our services are, then our worship services may have high performance quality and excellence, but confusing and contradicting messages about who God is, where God is, and what God is asking of the congregation in worship.
Whether we realize it or not, everything is our worship service gives a theological statement. So often we think that our song choices, liturgy, or preaching are the only times we speak theologically. But in worship everything speaks theologically, because everything in worship is infused with meaning. So, our demeanor as a leader gives a theological statement, the musical dynamics and transitions we use speak theologically, the ways we pray, incorporate silence, speaking, singing, standing and sitting, etc…teaches people about God. Even the way the band is positioned, and the ways the chairs are set up in the room speak theologically! There is no dead time in a worship service; everything has a theological message. And this makes understanding our own theologies and the theology which we portray as a band member and worship team deeply important.
A friend of mine and I have had a long running debate about the use of guitar solos in a worship set. He believes that solo’s can help people have an unstructured space to be with God if used correctly, and I tend to feel that extended guitar solos in a worship service are more about performance than worship. We both though agree that guitar solos are much more than a personal preference but a theological statement. It is not just about whether we like guitar solos or not, but about what a guitar solo portrays theologically and how it functions in worship service. For me, guitar solos make me think of worship as a concert, a spectator sport, when God is calling us all to participate, but my friend sees a well positioned solo as an invitation to prayer and meditation, a sign that God wants to be with us and meet us where we are.
As our debate continues my friend and I both agree that though this may seem like a trivial issue, there is nothing trivial about our worship service. Worship is our life’s blood as Christians; it is the very air we breathe, so we are called to take it seriously. And worship teaches, so every time we gather for worship we remind the congregation who God is, where God is, and what God requires of them.
God longs for His grace in Jesus Christ to become what is most true and real in our lives; more true and real than all the other ideas that we have learned and embraced. So we are called to conform our ideas to what we believe, to “build our house on the Rock”(Matthew 7:24-27), so that we can portray the gospel of Jesus Christ consistently through our worship services and through our lives.
Remember, as worship leaders you are not just members of another band: you are teaching people who God is and how to approach God in worship. So, if you are not thinking theologically you are in danger of committing idolatry and of leading people into the worship of another God that is not Jesus Christ.
If you are unsure about how to ‘think theologically’ and what exactly you believe, I encourage you to take 30 minutes and write a personal statement of belief. This might end up taking over 30 minutes, but at least take that much time to begin. In this statement just ask yourself: what do I believe about God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, church, life eternal, sanctification, etc…. Take 30min to an hour to do this and then compare it with the APCH statement of belief (on the website: www.apch.nl). Were there any variations? Now, begin to think through the songs we sing, etc…. through the lens of that mission statement. After you have written your statement of faith, you could write a personal mission statement about how you want to live out what you believe.
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES (to read throughout the week):
Psalm 119: 9-16, John 1:1-14, Colossians 3:15-17, Hebrews 4:11-13,
REFERENCES (for further reading)
The Complete Worship Leader, Kevin J. Navarro
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