“Yet a time is coming and has now come, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24
If there is one thing which causes more division than anything else in the life of a church, it is worship, especially musical worship, and these verses give us a few hints as to why. Worship, literally “giving God his worth” (which is no mean aspiration), is deeply, intensely personal. It is when we engage at the deepest part of our being, our Spiritual Self, connecting with God at our most raw, our most exposed, our most vulnerable. And because the relationship is unique, as each of us is a unique creation, our worship will always be, by definition, unique, reflecting “us” and “God”.
We are Mind, Body and Spirit. Our bodies respond and relate to the physical stimuli that our 5 God-given senses inform us of. Our Minds seek to rationalise the information that we perceive, and respond accordingly. Our Spirit, on the other hand, goes to the core of who we are, and it is there that we experience things of life such as love, music, art … and, going deeper still, God. It is there that we engage with God and enter a realm, a dimension where we encounter – and are able to worship – Him.
I don’t think anyone will disagree that part of a relationship with other people, especially those we get close to, is to articulate emotion, to appreciate them, even “worship” them, in what we say and do. And, again, that happens within the uniqueness of each relationship. The same with God.
The “problem” comes when we come together to worship, as a group of diverse, unique individuals. The more passionate we are about “our” own, inherent style of worship, the greater potential for conflict when someone, equally passionate about their unique worshipping relationship with God, sees it differently. Stand back and watch the sparks fly.
This manifests itself in many ways, reflecting intellectual versus poet, traditional versus modern, formal versus informal, old versus young … and hundreds of other generalised definitions of a starting point. And nobody is right. Except that everyone is right. Because (on the understanding that everyone is passionate and seeking to worship in the Spirit and in truth), each of us is seeking the purest form of articulating our worship.
In the six churches I have been involved in leading, in one way or another, I have seen this over and over again. Adherents of more traditional styles, looking at modern styles saying “one day, they’ll grow up and realise our way is the proper way”. Modern worship leaders responding with “one day they will realise that God has moved on from the strait-jacket of the past and it is about passion and emotion.” And a hundred other additional brickbats lobbed in both directions. And so the Church holds a united service, and a good number say it is a day off, citing an expectation that it “won’t be their thing”, because the style of worship will not be “their style”. And the rest, bless them, come with a mixture of joy and grumpiness, to varying degrees, knowing it is an impossible task to achieve. And the Vicar smilingly welcomes everyone, in the hope that peace will break out and the two musical factions will (literally) play nicely together.
Writing stuff like this is dangerous, because people immediately think you are getting at them! I’m not getting at anyone, principally because the church I am in at the moment is largely positive and constructive about these things, with a degree of mutual respect and, and willingness to co-exist and work together. But also because these are caricatures – and I hope most of us recognise a bit of ourselves in them. I know that I do!
Jesus talked about Unity as much as anything else and everything above reflects what unity looks like in the key Church life area of worship. Because if we get unity wrong, worship will always be tainted, damaged or (at worst) impossible. Unity is not about agreeing on everything. It is about respect, love, care and a willingness to give. When we arrive at a point of deep-rooted worship, we know “true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.”
Yes, it is what God wants. It is when, because we feel it is safe to do so, and are able to be vulnerable before God (and each other), we are not worrying about bum notes, the wrong words or typos on the screen, the person in the music group who is not quite with everyone else, or a hundred other things, and we get on worshipping.
And it is NOT JUST THE MUSIC! Yes, the music is a massive part of all of this – and much of the above reflects this, but worship involves so much more – liturgy (or not), ritual (or not), humour (or not), formality in the notices (or not) … every single aspect of not just Sundays services, but a life of Worship.
I am saddened when I hear of people who move around churches seeking the “best” worship. Clearly, if worship involves every aspect of a Sunday “service”, finding a context which resonates with us, at the deepest level, is important. Big churches can be a wonderful experience – the 15 piece band, with an amazing leader or singer, brilliant graphics, engaging speaker – what is there not to like? Do I blame someone for wanting to go there? Not at all. Well, maybe.
Jesus did not come to offer “experience”. There is no Gift of the Spirit listed as “experience provider.” The Father is not looking for worshippers who have a good “experience”. Of course, true worship very often brings an amazing experience of God’s presence, God’s love and God’s voice – but this is of secondary importance. Why? Because seeking experience is about “us”, not God. Seeking ‘experience’ places the motivation for us to be, first and foremost, what we expect to get out of it, rather than whether we have given God his worth. Church hopping, in order to seek the worship experience (for itself) will always end in disappointment and disillusionment. In the process, there will be, without any doubt, some wonderful times of worship, times when God is experienced and faith developed and deepened. But the Father, as we are told, is jealous and wants us to worship Him, experience Him (NOT the experience of the process of worship), so that we do so in the purity, honesty, vulnerability and rawness of truth, and to do so in the furthest, deepest, most open places of our being.
The bottom line, and the biggest challenge, and one which (I genuinely suspect) stretches all of us is when we find ourselves in a worship context where the way the worship, said or sung, does not resonate with “us”. The simple answer (simple, not easy) requires us to lay down ourselves and our desire for an experience, and focus, solely, completely and utterly, on God and worship him, expressing our love ‘sacrificially’, at the cost of our own egos and likes. Tough, eh? Almost like laying down our lives on a Cross. The cost factor is rather less but it doesn’t stop us being tempted to whinge. “Seek first” comes to mind. Simple, it easy.
So, how do we do it? Gregorian chant? Arena-size band? Organist? Bloke and a guitar? Kid with a kazoo? Doesn’t matter. God doesn’t worry about how. Just where it comes from and how honest it is. Simple, not easy. But it is what God requires. And that is the way.