What Do We Do Now that Rock Won't Go Away?-Part 14

What Do We Do Now that Rock Won’t Go Away-Part 14  

       In my opinion the best way to keep rock music out of the sanctuary is to remove the need for it.  Many churches have let worship music become routine and in doing so it has become stagnant and very uninteresting.  If a worship leader loses his or her passion for church music, the spiritual fervor dies and worship musicing is done mechanically.  There is a myriad of reasons why a music director’s musicing may become routine and passionless.  I would love to discuss spiritual and musical burnout at some future date, but this philosophical discussion rather than a “how to” discussion.   

        I am not the slightest bit surprised that so many Christian fellowships have become disillusioned with traditional church music.  When the minister of music shows by his or her demeanor that there is little or no understanding of the worship music being led, the people in the sanctuary will lose interest in it very quickly.  The only way for a worship leader can draw others into spiritual music worship is for that musician to lead with “spirit and understanding” (see I Corinthians 14:15). 

      Church musicians who are trying to music unto God and are devoid of the aforementioned two essential elements (spirit and understanding) are bound to fail  in their attempts to have an efficacious ministry.  It has been said that one cannot effectively teach what he or she does not know and understand.  The same is true concerning worship music.   

       There is a vast difference in a musician who leads music sequences about Christ and an anointed musician who has a personal relationship with Christ and is living a life in the Spirit (see Ephesians 5:19).  I have often told my conducting classes that enthusiasm is no substitute for the anointing of the blessed Holy Spirit.  Also, trying to lead the great historic hymns, gospel hymns, and gospel songs without any research knowledge will almost always insure that performing them will result in failure. 

         I also want to add that studying the imagery of any lyric poem is absolutely necessary before public performance is attempted.  It doesn’t matter if the song or chorus is ancient, old, fairly old, or if it was written this year.  Music leadership without understanding of the mental imagery is an almost sure formula for failure.  When I observe worship leaders trying to lead a contemporary worship chorus sequence, I often notice the same evidences of a lack of understanding of the mental images in the music that I notice when they try to lead a hymn.