THREE: The third theme I’d love to wrestle with on this blog is where theme ONE and TWO intersect…worship music. How do we capture the spirit of God’s Redemptive Movement in art? What songs are fitting for a Revolution? When we come together as brothers and sisters who love justice and mercy, what can we pray and sing?
Holler!
I believe we need a new hymnal. We need new melodies and new language and new understandings of the Eternal God. We don’t need to keep recycling the same ideas and phrases over and over; we need the artists, dreamers, prophets, and poets to step up and lead us into unexplored places. Might this be you?
To be clear, I don’t think our new hymnal should replace the old hymnals. We need the language and history from every tradition flowing into our worship experiences. “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”? Yes! “As the Deer”? Sure! “Mighty to Save”? Great! But let’s not stop here. And let’s not just rewrite the old songs and call them new. We need a new hymnal.
Ian, a friend of mine, recently mentioned, “Aaron, I’m looking for worship music that is more about furthering the purposes of Christ than trying to make out with him.”
Now obviously, it’s not a matter of either/or. Action without love is just as hallow as love without action. But maybe it’s time to re-think the trajectory we’re currently on. What if the current worship tradition has taken us as far as it can, and we need to let it launch us into the next movement? What would this look like?
A couple hunches….First, I wonder if singing will become less and less important while prayer, liturgical elements, story, service, and art becomes more central. (I’m already deeply concerned with how interchangeable “worship” is with “singing”, and think we should work to un-fuse them.) Second, we may need more “we” / “Kingdom of God” language in our worship, and way less “me and Jesus” language. Third, I wonder if the songs of the future will either be born from our action or meant to propel us into action. . .making any worship experience not connected to actual life gloriously obsolete. (read more at my 2/10 blog)
None of these are new ideas, of course, but I can’t stop thinking about them! What do you think? Do you connect with all this or would you push back? What questions or ideas would you add? Where is this already happening that we all can learn from? What kind of music, prayers, and practices will be most helpful for you in the future?
Let’s write a new hymnal.
You’re soooo on the right track! Great to hear these ideas. I had a friend recently say that new songs will come as we’re not afraid to bring forth bad songs. I get defeated if i can’t come up with a phrase like “Might to Save.” that’s not the point, but letting the Holy Spirit’s words to come out and have him as the goal. Great stuff man! And by the way, the Cadence on your worship album at Mars Hill is the sickest thing i’ve ever heard!!!!!
Comment by Nate — March 11, 2010 @ 3:01 pm
Aaron,
First of all thank you for this. I have been wrestling with these questions for a while as well, thank you for articulating it. For so long we have been told that our job as worship leaders is to inspire congregational singing. Singing is not the only way to worship. In my context liturgy and prayers of confession are normal (UMC). I re-introduced them to our “contemporary” service because I agree with you these elements are just as much worship as singing.
But a lot of people say that the central theme of every worship service is the cross and the gospel, but in the past what that has meant is the upward plank of the cross and the inward aspect of the gospel. The whole gospel is what we then do in response to what has been done for us. It has become to much about us and our personal relationship.
We need more “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love” worship. We need to change the lingo from social gospel to social holiness and use Romans 12:9-21 our call to worship. Some of the more evangelical fundamental denominations look at the justice and mercy aspect of the cross without the same importance as the personal aspect. But they are equally as important. I think in these songs we need to change the lingo of what it means to come to the cross, because you and I would agree that coming the cross is personal so that we can then go and do and kingdom spread.
I couldn’t agree more with you, I know I am mostly preaching to the choir. But reading this fired me up! In a good way. Thank you again. Blessings.
Comment by Jeremy Batten — March 11, 2010 @ 3:04 pm
I think we still have a lot of congregations that are lolling around in the 1950′s or even further back. I know a number of small rural congregations that are still using the old brown Cokesbury humnal. I think if we can’t change people’s attitudes about having vibrant worship, it won’t make a difference anyway. Congregations are killing themselves because they are making the Word of God boring and God’s word should never be boring.
I agree singing is important and we need to look at things more as a Christian community, rather than just a personal walk with God. I think to reach new people for Christ, we have to make worship alive, and vibrant, and if that means using dance, art, video, or whatever, there is no reason not to do it.
That being said, I think our (UM)heritage is as singing congregations. We need to keep on singing and making song an important part of our corporate worship. The problem is not whether we should have a new hymnal, but whether we can afford to publish another new hymnal when so many congregations are at death’s door. Let’s work on getting people back in touch with vibrant worship before we go off and publish new hymnals that congregations won’t buy.
Keep up the good work Aaron
Comment by Bill Catchings — March 11, 2010 @ 4:08 pm
aaron,
i believe your thoughts are not just the work of a mind pursuing Christ’s, but something that God is prompting in the hearts of people who He has placed in worship leadership roles. i don’t think it’s a new word. i believe it’s been woven in the narrative of His story. and we are not the first generation or culture to hear the call. we have gotten away from a fully developed idea of what worship is, and our role in it. your 3 points are perfect examples of that.
as you know, i love the role of worship leader, but even as i worked in that capacity, God brought those same questions to mind, mostly through the simple act of reading His story. i quit for 3 years intent only to try an get my heart and mind around the fullness of what it meant to worship God. there have been places commonly quoted in the Church noting that our songs are sweet smelling aroma to God, and that He inhabits the praises of His people. both show a deep relationship of our song to the heart of God. but then you see a passage like Isaiah 58 where His people ask “why are you not listening to us? we fast, worship, all this stuff and you don’t hear us.” and God’s response is to question to their understanding of Him…”do you think this is the form of worship i require?” He’d said it many times to them…fight oppression, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, etc..
i’ve sat many times with the idea of writing a new type of song…sort of “truth in worship”. songs that aren’t the “making out with Jesus” sort of thing one of your friends referred to, but more reflected a corporate language, and dealt more honestly with how we wrestle with this. i believe David and other psalmists captured this well. the “love songs” are there, but there are also many other types of psalms in there. still, when i’ve tried, i’ve struggled mightily. my words are so tied to the old language.
i could probably write my own book on my thoughts on this subject. i’ve spent much time meditating and mulling and reading and questioning. the only conclusion i’ve come to is that worship involves our entire life…music is a piece of a puzzle. not more important than another piece. not less important. a part that is not the puzzle itself, and a part that leaves the puzzle incomplete if missing.
as for my own worship life, i have committed myself to looking at places like Isaiah 58 and Micah 6 and Psalms and making sure that as i’ve begun leading musical worship again, i can live out the other parts, and help lead toward a more fully developed idea of the word.
Comment by Nate — March 11, 2010 @ 7:04 pm
nate,
“new songs will come as we’re not afraid to bring forth bad songs.”
wow, is that profound! and sobering. how many of us create in brave environments where risk is encouraged, and how many of us try to create in cultures of fear? (I know a friend who worked at a place where “don’t screw up” was the motto, seriously!). Or maybe that’s just blaming the culture for our own fear. I’m not sure. We can create in any environment, right?
Comment by aaronieq — March 11, 2010 @ 7:05 pm
AN,
Do you want to hear my worship songs?
I would love to see quality reading of scripture in more services. To move that to a more prominent place in services.
How about silence?
What if we had regular moments of intentional silence together?
You know, to allow God to actually speak to us. To allow the Spirit that Jesus paid a high price to give us to speak. To quiet down so we can hear the Spirit of God speak.
Aaron, I know that the thrust of your post was on music. I hope my comments add rather than distract.
Peace,
John
PS: Is there some way to get your posts emailed to me? Do you have that button on your blog? I’d like that.
Comment by John Loppnow — March 11, 2010 @ 11:47 pm
aaron,
I was listening to you remixed song Already Here, the lyrics that say,” We don’t have to say come and fill this place” hit me. I began thinking how many times I ask God to come and fill this place… It’s funny though for the first time in my 24 years of being a Christ follower I have decided to take a risk and believe that God is Already Here …. I have decided to believe His power is all around me and all I need to do is tap into it. Just like the air I breathe each day Gods Spirit, or His energy, wisdom, or presence, is dwelling all around us. I can breathe in Gods power everyday and exhale His power. I wonder what would happen if we as worship leaders were free to believe we can’t produce Gods power , instead whole heartedly believe its already here.. that we can breath in His power and release it out through music and through our life.. As a vocalist, when leading worship through singing, I will breathe in His presence and release His presence. If we are choking in our worship experiences maybe its not because there is no air, but maybe its because we are forgetting to breathe. Just a few thoughts.
Comment by Shuree — March 12, 2010 @ 12:22 am
Shuree,
Great words about learning to live IN God’s presence. (“for it is in God that we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17)” This has truly changed my life. I no longer pray that God would join me or meet me or be with me…just that he’d give me eyes to see what is already true.
If you’re interested, you can check out the music page of my site. Click on the song “Already Here” and go over to “more”. You’ll find a short article I wrote for neue.com all about this song and idea. Blessings, my friend! -Aaron
Comment by aaronieq — March 12, 2010 @ 8:27 am
cool I will check it out! thanks! By the way the remixes are very interesting and have become a part of my personal worship mix…good stuff. Keep it up!
Comment by Shuree — March 12, 2010 @ 11:52 am
Hi Aaron,
Your ideas here have me so jazzed, particularly…
-More “we” and “Kingdom of God” language in our music.
-I would also love to see more lyrical content that propels us into loving through action.
I truly fear that the word “worship” is becoming synonymous with singing, when worship is what we do in every action, thought and motivation. And hopefully all of those moments are spent in worship of the Triune God.
I must confess that this entry is going to help me be acutely aware of the language I use when preparing and leading worship.
Thanks!
Comment by Becky — March 12, 2010 @ 4:38 pm
We can create, but environment has a huge effect…So sad that we think we can’t screw up…that’s who we are. Same friend gave a quote, ‘ sing out of lament instead of always celebration.’ Helped me be more thankful & remember His grace in new ways.
Comment by Nate — March 12, 2010 @ 11:35 pm
Shalom All,
Re “sing out of lament…” a fast check of the books of Psalms reveals that the Psalmist (David and others), had some pretty dark times about which they wrote. Is anyone tackling these texts in their art? As Christian liturgy/worship past and present, is not that of my faith community, please forgive the possible ignorance of my next question. Are there current examples of the expression of this darkness? I’m aware of music that begins with darkness and then offers the solution of turning and moving with intent toward the Light, but are there examples that are unresolved?
Blessings to all of you in here who represent both the present and the future. This aging boomer with a pony tail
rests a little easier knowing that you and folks like you will continue this most important work.
Be well,
Wholeness (a more accurate reading of “Shalom”) to all of you,
Jordan
Comment by Jordan — March 13, 2010 @ 2:23 pm
Jordan,
so glad you mentioned “lament”! I don’t know of any worshiping communities who hold lament in as high regard as the scriptures do. (although I’m sure there are some). And although I deeply connect with all things melancholy and have a hard time with the overly-happy, I haven’t figure out how to invite a whole community into this holy mourning. But we need to!
Anyone?
Comment by aaronieq — March 13, 2010 @ 4:26 pm
This is my 47th attempt at commenting, but I keep going in too many directions. But so as to stay on topic…
I’m not so concerned with the vehicle or style of our worship, ie, song, prayer, liturgy, art, story…(though I agree with your concern about how easily ‘worship’ and ‘song’ are interchanged) I believe all are viable expressions of worship. All can be expressed in the most sincerest manner, and all can be done simply out of ritual and habit. What is more important than the form of expression is the heart of the worshipper. But on the topic of form, I fear that if we begin to exalt one over another, we begin the never-ending pendulum swing, and we’ll soon find ourselves charting Billboards top Liturgies. So my question/thought is this:
What if worship in our churches was more ‘from the ground up’ and less ‘from the top down’? What I mean is, what if churches wrote songs/liturgies/poems out of their own experiences with a holy God? Moses wrote a SONG after God led the children of Israel across the Jordan on dry ground; Mary SPOKE the magnificat after being chosen to carry the Messiah. What if we did that today? The expressions of what God is doing would be as unique as the people in our communities and their circumstances. There would be laments written about loneliness, liturgies about God’s faithfulness through loss of work, poems of hope in the midst of tumultuous trials. What if we ‘tasked’ everyone in our churches to write a psalm exalting God in specific circumstance in their life? That psalm could become a song, a poem, a liturgy, the inspiration of an art piece…anything!
Comment by stu — March 13, 2010 @ 8:26 pm
correction in my above post: Moses led the Israelite across the Red Sea, not the Jordan River!
Comment by stu — March 14, 2010 @ 3:03 pm
Hey, friend! I am intrigued by your question regarding the current and possible future form(s) of worship. The fact that you are even asking it is an indicator that the inquiry has critical mass. We are aware of the movement toward liturgical and/or quasi-liturgical forms of adoration. I’ve had a number of conversations about this recently with some others. It is clear that what is, is not enough or adequate for some any more (if it ever was).
Whether this stirring develop/matures only into a temporary retro-infatuation with the mystical side of orthodoxy or into a full-blown neo-liturgical movement that inspires young and old alike to invest their best into new music, prayer, communal worship expressions and community action remains to be seen. There are some that are already fully invested in this type of endeavor, but they need to become more visible, and their ideas need to be infused with additional thought and spirit. I’ll be interested in hearing what you and others are thinking.
Comment by Keith Sparzak — March 15, 2010 @ 2:22 pm
Aaron -
As a recent Willow attendee (since the beginning of this year), I have been blown away by the worship music. It is a large part of what keeps bringing me back. Your music is great – I picked up the CD at Seeds last weekend and it is getting heavy play time right now! Since you asked for feedback on worship, I have a few things:
1) Church should end with music each week, not just the blessing and off we go. Wrapping it up with music is a good bookend. Yesterday after church, the worship team sang 3 or 4 songs afterwards and we were all invited to stay and listen. That was great.
2) Keep posting songs to YouTube! I enjoy listening prior to attending to get me fired up.
3) I guess I only had 2 comments. Keep on leading as you are – you and the worship team are great. Music can really have an affect on our lives.
Jonathan
Comment by Jonathan — March 21, 2010 @ 9:04 pm
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