Shaun Groves
A group of business people take their seats around a conference table. A guy with a guitar enters, invites them all to stand, and the suited gathering sings the corporate mission statement.
That doesn’t happen.
Church is one of the very few places where people gather together and sing. And it’s strange. And uncomfortable for many. And I struggle with why on earth we do this at all. Why do I, as a “worship leader”, sing about God, hoping others will join in?
Why do we sing together when the English word “worship” in our bibles is translated from 16 different Greek and Hebrew words that don’t mean music?
Why do we sing when there is no biblical record of Jesus and his disciples singing together?
Why do we sing when the earliest Christians didn’t always have music at their gatherings?
Why do we sing though it makes newcomers uncomfortable?
Why do we sing though it gives us one more thing to disagree about and fuss over?
Why do we sing when the money spent on sound systems and hymnals could do so much good in the world?
Music can “animate, organize and bring a sense of identity back to people.”
Ty Morgan and I are the volunteers heading up music stuff at our church. Part of our role is choosing new music to introduce. Our first priority is that the words are true. Our second is that there are no barriers to people participating in singing it – the style is accessible, the melody is singable, the range is for mortals, etc. There are a lot of songs that meet these basic criteria though, so we sometimes find ourselves talking about what’s needed.
Ty and I inherited a catalog heavily weighted toward songs with “I” and “me” lyrics. We’ve added more songs that are “we” and “us” and “our.”
There weren’t many songs about Jesus, the cross, the resurrection. We’ve brought some in.
There were a lot of “vertical” songs and we’ve added more songs that also speak about the “horizontal” dimension of our faith.
Why?
Because God can use songs to animate the stuck, organize our theology around God’s character and mission, and give us back a sense of identity: We are God’s people who believe these things and live this way together.
Music can remind us who we are.
Just one of many good reasons to sing.
Jessica says:
I totally shared that video on facebook yesterday. Sweetest. thing. ever.
That being said, all the words you posted above the video ring incredibly true for our family. My husband is one of those people who does NOT “worship” through music (which is ironic, because he loves music). Or, maybe it’s just that the average “worship” music doesn’t stir anything in him. Anyway, he’s asked all of those questions before, too.
So we no longer pursue cursory music time if we gather. But when we’re blessed with someone like yourself who’s gifted in that way, we give them free reign to worship-out. : )
Helen Martin says:
Thanks for this. I love to sing and singing is something that brings me to places that nothing else does. Places with God, and places inside me; places only God knows about (way before I know about or understand them). And I can see Him better when I’m surrounded by and participating in music than most other places. (More when I’m alone, or listening—but I have my moments in corporate worship, too.)
(But… there is a Biblical record of Jesus and the disciples singing together; after the first communion they sang a hymn. And I wonder what their hymn was like. Matt. 26:30)
Shaun Groves says:
Ha! I stand corrected. Thanks, Helen!
Helen Martin says:
Hey, finally watched that video… so interesting.
“Music is the quickening art.” True dat.
Melissa Jones says:
The first communion was part of their Passover Seder meal. The end of the Seder is mostly praise, so it was likely a Psalm.
Amber Haines says:
Oh mercy, Shaun. This post and that video, using words like quicken and restored and love in my veins, this is the kind of true you can’t put a finger on. You have to live it, a great kind of vulnerable.
My community group is studying the “one anothers” together, and sing to another is coming up. I’m excited to share this. We never meet even if it’s just to cook out that we don’t sing together.
But one time I went to a strange church where the leader made us face one another to sing – like one-on-one singing. It was so killer awkward.
Craig Allen says:
I also shared this on FB yesterday. So powerful.
What are examples of horizontal worship songs you have introduced?
Shaun Groves says:
A great one is “Like Jesus” by an indie guy Mosteller.
“Let Your Kingdom Come” by Aaron Ivey.
“God Of This City” by BlueTree
I like “God Of Justice” by Tim Hughes but the melody has made us hesitant to add it. Maybe someday.
Then there are songs that remind us that God cares about more than future eternity and our soul. That’s crucial to connect the horizontal back to God – it begins with a broader understanding of what He’s concerned about. We do my version of “Just As I Am” and Hillsong’s “Stronger”, for example, to fill that hole.
Any suggestions?
Bryce says:
I dig “Words to Build a Life On” by Mike Crawford and His Secret Siblings, that song can be vertical and horizontal in the same time, an omnidirectional song?
saravarghese says:
just bought that Mosteller album…thanks for THAT one.
DisneyCyndi says:
I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free…his eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me!
Phil Mehrens says:
What a great video! Thanks for sharing it.
I would agree that worship does not equal music and sometimes we talk about it like that but there seems to me to be a good deal in the NT about it’s use in the early church worship. Off the top of my head…we are told Jesus and his disciples “sang a hymn” right before they headed to Gethsemane. Paul tells us in a couple of instances to “sing psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, making melody” in our hearts to the Lord. And 1 Cor speaks of people bringing song as part of their contribution to the worship gatherings. Not to mention all the OT uses of it’s use in worship.
Just some thoughts…
Shaun Groves says:
I don’t disagree, Phil. Music is useful and wonderful. But not as central to Christian gatherings in biblical times as it is today.
Music is so central to our gatherings now that the first person churches tend to hire after the lead pastor is the lead musician. And when’s the last time you went to a Sunday morning gathering and there was no music?
From what I’ve read, music is more central to American Christianity than it was to early Christianity. It’s up for debate whether that’s good or bad or both. ; )
Julie says:
LOVE IT!
This reminds me of when we’d go sing in nursing homes. One lady in particular (who the staff told us was otherwise unresponsive and secluded herself to her room 24/7) would LIGHT UP when we’d go to her and sing “I’ll Fly Away!” Her change was very similar to Henry – singing along and *dancing* (like only a 90 year-old Baptist lady could).
My BF’s mom did her thesis on how music is entrenched so deeply in our brains – much beyond normal speech communication – that it is helpful in educating children with special needs.
This is one of the reasons I think it is so important to sing God’s truths with children so it is entrenched way down deep.
Thanks for sharing!
brad says:
Wow. Great video. I appreciate the thoughts on music and it’s place in the church. As someone who is just recently embarking on being a full-time musician at a stage in life where such a decision could be viewed as…uh…crazy, I have asked myself “why” so many times. Is this necessary? Is it needed? When there are so many practical needs in the world for Kingdom work how does music fit in? Plus, how music can sometimes seem to get in the way in our services. One thing I come back to is that God seems to like music. Somehow it is a blessing to Him. And I know we will be singing in heaven, so I at least consider it practice for eternity.
Kelli says:
Oh how I love this video. I watched it yesterday and cried by alligator tears. Music is powerful and moving and grand and, for me, it’s so, so worshipful. I feal so close to my Jesus when I’m singing to Him.
I used to be so self-righteous about the worship in church. As someone who has found her ministry in music I would get so unsulted if someone spoke ill of how we sang or what we sang. I’d be all huffy and judgey. Boo on me.
Having spent the last nearly TEN montsh searching for a church (and still not finding one) I can honestly say that the music really DOES matter. And I get it now. Whereas before I assumed someone’s heart was just not in the right place if they couldn’t worship to the type of music I was singing, I now see that sometimes it’s hard to feel worshipful when you don’t connect with the music. Have I mentioned how deeply God has humbled me in this move? In almost every area of my life He is taking me through the fire.
I’m learning to, indeed, swallow my pride and merely enter into worship. If I can’t sing along, then I close my eyes and simply ask that He take me to the place of worship that I need to be in to grow and learn more of who He is. It’s not about me. It’s all about Him. When will I ever grasp that?
That’s what music in church is teaching me…
Cynthia says:
I think music is an emotional response to our current state of mind. If we’re happy, we like listening and singing to happy songs. If we’re sad, we tend to listen to more melancholy songs. This is supposition on my part, but one could surmise then, that our view of corporate singing (not worship, I don’t believe they’re the same) in our Christian gatherings is directly related to how we view and respond to God, and that certainly varies. However, when we are gathered with other believers, I think it is our deepest desire to be functioning as one, and for that three and a half minute song, though so brief, we satisfy that desire, and it’s a beautiful thing.
Darrell Hoover says:
Truthfully, the whole world would still be in the dark ages if we hadn’t had some progressive thinkers in regards to theology and worship.
We are not doing ourselves any favor by limiting our efforts to what the primitive church ever did, anyway. (The book of Acts does not end in “amen,” by the way, possibly implying that the multi-dimensional growth of the Kingdom “continues to be so.”)
The church of this new millennium is a church of power and glory and unity. Lucifer, who was one of the top three archangels in heaven, tasked to orchestrate music and worship unto God, lost his position; now God’s glorious church has the opportunity to let His Spirit flow through us and effect a similar role.
Don’t forget, Jesus walked the earth as one “under the Law.” But we are now in a new covenant, one that is “better,” and, dare I say, continues to get better. I truly believe that glorious praise and worship, including through music and singing, are very comely and appropriate for God’s people and serve as a testimony to the world as well.
Jenn says:
I cut my teeth on a Baptist Hymnal, as they say. Music and church have always ben intricately linked for me. I totally agree that worship does not equal music, as some churches began to define it decades ago. But I do believe music can play an important role in preparing our hearts to receive a message (that sounded sooooo church-y!).
I do worry, however, about the role of music in some mega- (and not-so-mega-) churches. Music is so powerful, and I can tell you of more than one occasion where I was moved to “rededicate” my life after a particularly emotional time of worship singing at youth camps. So much can happen in our hearts and minds when the music is loud and powerful. Add in fancy lights and powerpoint graphics and you can have yourself a little surface-deep revival.
I was a little taken aback when we started attending our church here. The music is so stripped-down and we very rarely sing songs you hear on the radio. {Of course we sing a Chris Tomlin song here and there; we *are* still human beings!} I go to a Sovereign Grace church, so most of our music is from Sovereign Grace Music; it is scripture-based, and I just love it. I find I pay more attention to the words and they mean more to me.
Also, for the longest time our church music was done by a devoted group of volunteers. We have a pastor now who is not the “music pastor” but part of his duties are to coordinate and sometimes lead music. {We don’t have a youth pastor, either, or a children’s pastor or a women’s ministry. It’s so craaazy how we are even still a functioning local church! Ha ha.}
Sharon O says:
Didn’t David sing and have music in the psalms? music is a part of ‘worship’ I couldn’t tell you how many times I have had my heart touched and moved by ‘music’. IT ministers to the soul.
A service would not be the same without music in it.
Zoë says:
What a wonderful video and a great post. I like Oliver Sacks. I’ve read several of his books.
I go once a month to do a service at a local care home. There, the singing is everything. We do two services: one with the residents who are still compos mentis and one for those in the secure unit for those with severe alzheimers or dementia. In the first service we include a short talk and a bible passage, but we omit this in the second service. We sing about eight songs and hymns, always ending with ‘He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands’. Some of the residents, who are unable to communicate and remain unaware of what’s going on around them, always light up, especially when we sing the last song. They remember all the words and join in with the actions. Sometimes people who can’t remember what they did five minutes ago will join in and remember the words to the hymns they learned in their youth and they really enjoy singing them.
One elderly man was so far gone that all he did was sit and shout unintelligibly. Afterwards I asked one of the others what he was shouting. She said, “He just shouts ‘Jesus!’ over and over. It’s like that’s all he remembers.”
The other members of the group like when I join in because I can ‘hit the high notes’ and I sometimes jokingly describe it as singing ‘at’ people… but the truth is that the reactions we receive from the residents (and from the hard-pressed staff and families) is testimony to the joy of singing and I hope to our universal smiles and goodwill. We always pray that Jesus will shine through us before we begin.
The elderly are so often forgotten :-/
I’ve been trying silent prayer as well as my usual singing. Both are good 🙂 Sorry, I’m waffling again…
Lindy says:
This makes me cry! I cared for my mother-in-law, who had Alzheimer’s Disease, and now am caring for my husband, who has a degenerative brain disease. Music could stop my mother-in-law’s bad moods and get her singing cheerfully, and my husband will sit at the computer for hours, just listening to the music he loved when he was young.
j. noah says:
Thank you Shaun for once again bringing something good and life giving to the “table” 🙂
I worked in a nursing home when I was 19 years old. I had only known Jesus for a short time when I began to work there. While working there, I met dear brothers and sisters in Christ at the end of their lives living boldly for Jesus! They taught me so much about living a life of worship, though all they could do was sit in a wheel chair and remember times and songs from long ago.
Jesus was a common memory and a presence that many of them shared. Though some did not know who they were or where they were, they remembered Jesus and often it was through song. Indeed, they would light up when they heard the hymns and to listen to them sing those hymns in unison was like it must be to listen to angels sing. I think it made God smile.
I will never forget one precious heart with white hair and deep blue eyes, she must have been in her nineties. Tiny and frail and gentle, she lived in her wheelchair, seeming lost in thought, but always with a smile and a light on her face. She spoke little and when she did speak the word that was often spoken was “Jesus.” She remembered one song and I will never forget the words or the message of that song because of her. Singing it seemed to be the way she communicated. The song she sang over and over again was “At The Cross.” I must have heard her sing that song at least five times a day and sometimes more. Every time I heard her sing it my heart rejoiced. I was drawn to her because of the song she sang! I am nearing 50 now and have never forgotten the beautiful reflection of Jesus in that precious elderly soul as she sang “At The Cross” while sitting in her little wheelchair.
When I finally learned how to sing it with her, her face grew brighter and her blue eyes twinkled all the more! It was as if Jesus was using that song to connect her to those around her, and using her memory of it to draw others to Himself. To this day the memory of her makes me smile. Jesus used her life to touch mine in a very precious way “At The Cross”…
saravarghese says:
…and the range is for mortals….lol.
Kris says:
I have to say the worship music can make it or break it for me when choosing a church. I really appreciate it when its loud enough that you can’t hear me singing. I love to sing as worship but I can’t ‘carry a tune in a bucket’. I just keep remembering that we should make a joyful noise…