Leaders, Ministry Leadership, WTTU Special Public Post
“Worship Wars?” (Show #136) | 9-19-17
#WORSHIP-WARS
2 min read | 30m Show
Worship Wars?
As a worship leader, do you ever get caught in the middle of a worship war? Scrolling through Facebook it doesn’t take very long before coming across someone in favor of one particular worship style talking poorly about a different worship style. You have heard it all before: Traditional style is passionless, has no heart, is to cold.Modern worship music is too shallow, it’s all about emotion, there’s no depth to it. Is this idea of worship wars still going on today? What should our response be when faced with this problem in our own church, or between worship leader friends? What does the Bible say about stylistic arguments?
Learn how to navigate the dangerous waters of the worship wars happening in your community, and how to gain peaceful and loving relationships through worship.
9-19-17 WATCH SHOW #136
Also Watch Live by: FacebookLive or Periscope
Facebook Wars
Scrolling through Facebook one day I came across a couple of different people who posted articles critiquing different styles of worship in churches. Interestingly, the modern worship church was taking some heat from the more traditional end of things. And another article skewed it the opposite direction. They were largely using the same arguments to make their point with largely different conclusions. Hmmmm….A Tale of Two Churches
At Redeemer Presbyterian, you have in many ways the opposite experience. Redeemer feels like the “anti-technology church.” You have one microphone on on a stand which everybody used. There wasn’t a band but there was a string orchestra. There were no projectors as every hymn was printed in the bulletin. And, it was beautiful. I sat there fresh from the Hillsong conference with all those people in that arena to this church, there in the middle of Manhattan, having the anti-technology experience. And I still have that same internal recognition. “These are my people. This is my tribe. I belong here.” The beauty of it wasn’t so much the music.
It wasn’t so much the use of technology or non-use of technology. It was that Jesus was being glorified. God was being lifted up. People were authentically pouring themselves out to God in worship, albeit in different emotional ways. Some are more expressive than others. Some are more physical than others. But I had that same sense of connection in both places. “These are my people and this is my tribe.”
[ctt template=”6″ link=”7Pl1I” via=”no” ]”Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples.” 1 Chronicles 16:8[/ctt]
Is There Value in Both?
I say all that to say this. You may have arguments that periodically come across your feed. Some are arguing that we need to get more in touch with the traditional hymnody and modern worship is shallow. It’s tickling the ears of culture and trying to sound too much like the world. On the other hand, you have the accusation saying that the traditional church model is too stuck in the past. They’re too stodgy.
They’re inauthentic, doing things by rote and sheer repetition. Is there value in historicity? Is there value in the hymns and the heritage that we have as Christ followers? Of course, there’s value in that. It’s a beautiful history. There are people who’ve gone before us and who, in their time, were the vanguard of their generation. They themselves were actually criticized for writing “contemporary” songs in their context.
We remember and engage with those hymns because they have extraordinary value for us. Is there value in writing new music in a new cultural context? Of course, there is. Scripture tells us often to sing a new song to the Lord, to bring something new out of your heart to offer to him. Songs that are rooted in the truth of who you are, the truth of who God is and the truth of what scripture says about all of us.
Yes, there is extraordinary value there. At times more traditional churches will accuse the more modern worship styles of being too presentational; to “performance-y,” too much about the lights and too much about the production. Is that true sometimes? It is absolutely true at times. And, at times one could look at the more traditional churches and say that their worship is empty.
It’s done by rote. It’s passionless. Is that true sometimes? Yes, that’s true sometimes. In modern worship, we can be just as “in the flesh” as anybody else. Maybe we say we’re doing things in the name of Jesus when we’re really just doing it in our own name.
In the traditional church, it can be the same with some cosmetic differences. We can be just as in the flesh regardless of the musical style or the idiom. Do those styles have inherent value? Of course, they do. At the same time, any liturgy can be empty. Any liturgy can be executed in the flesh. [ctt template=”6″ link=”7Pl1I” via=”no” ]”I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.” Psalm 104:33[/ctt]
Spirit and Truth Worship
As always Jesus gives us clarity. He said the kind of worship that was acceptable to the Father was worship done “in the spirit and in truth because God is spirit and his worshipers must worship Him in the spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24) He says nothing about music. He says nothing about style. He says nothing about a cultural context. He does say something about the position of your heart, the truth of what God says about you, the truth of what God says about himself and how we respond appropriately as worshipers. The traditional church might be looking at the modern worship church across town.
What they do may seem a little foreign and even jarring. But I would encourage you with this. Celebrate that Jesus is being lifted up. Celebrate that these young people are taking their own cultural language and expressing their passion and love to God in the spirit and in truth. And for you, modern praise congregation, you might see that traditional Church that’s down the road. You might think of them as stuck in the past or out of touch. But I want to challenge you to do this. Celebrate that Jesus is being lifted up.
The apostle Paul tells us in Scripture that some people may “preach Christ out of strife and vainglory. But I rejoice in that Christ is being preached.” How much more could we rejoice over someone worshiping the same God, the same Savior in merely a different cultural style?
We Are One
People are people. And people are messy. And, believe it or not, churches are full of people; the beautiful, broken and redeemed body of Christ. I understand the nuances of motivation that we often assume of those who are doing things differently. But I want to encourage you with this. Let us all rejoice that Jesus is being lifted up and that God is being worshiped. Regardless of the style, regardless of the denomination, regardless of the cultural idiom we are the same tribe. Those are my people. And I am theirs. Though we may differ in style. We may differ in methodology. We are one in the spirit of Christ. 
Troy Kennedy is the worship arts pastor for Westside Family Church leading worship at the Lenexa campus in Lenexa, KS, as well as participating on the teaching team. Having been a worship pastor for over 20 years, Troy’s experience has been broad, leading in a variety of environments including Saddleback Church in Southern California, pastored by Rick Warren.
Mentored early on by the likes of Tommy Walker and Rick Muchow he has been able to pass on his experience in conferences and workshops nationally. Troy has a degree in music theory from Azusa Pacific University with graduate work in theology from Golden Gate seminary.
He is also a prolific singer/songwriter for the church with a number of recordings to his credit. He is passionate to see the church engage powerfully in worship as people come to know Jesus intimately. God has blessed Troy with a beautiful wife Gwen, and two amazing boys, Grant and Trent. In his spare time he loves music, movies, playing with his kids, holding his wife’s hand and crossfit.
@troykennedy@BranonDempsey @worshiptt @WorshipTTU
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