One of the great debates in worship today is traditional versus contemporary. I'm not one for the labels. Isn't worship worship, whether you use music written 400 years ago, or 10 days ago? I attended a lecture a few years ago by Marva Dawn, and she reminded us that those words (contemporary and traditional) have different meanings. For example, she said something to this effect: If you're doing it now, it's contemporary; as soon as you do something, it's traditional.
I'm thinking of the music we are singing tomorrow: two spirituals, and several pieces written in the last twenty years. The piece composed in 2008 is contemporary, because we are doing it now; it's also traditional because we have used it in worship all of this month. In the same way, the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" has been a part of the tradition of the church for the better part of a century; yet, because we sing it tomorrow, it's music for today - contemporary.
The terms we use reflect our preferences. I can't tell you how many times we've sung "contemporary" music, only to have some say, "Why can't we sing songs we know?" I also love the statement regarding "contemporary" music: "it's easy, because you just keep repeating the same words over and over again." Isn't that what we do when we sing a "traditional" hymn that has several verses and a repeated refrain? I assert that the labels we use are not to describe worship, or music in worship, but our preferences for music.
Does any of it really matter? I've heard people say, "I won't go to the contemporary service, because I don't get anything out of it," or "I'm bored in traditional worship!" Guess what? Worship is NOT about you! It's about a living, breathing God who continues to be active in our lives and in the world. We do not come to worship ourselves; we come to worship God. And you know what? God doesn't care if it's traditional or contemporary. God doesn't care how many hymns you sing, creeds you say, dramas you do, or how many guitars and PowerPoints are used. God cares that we worship in spirit and in truth. If we remember that nugget from Scripture, we can meet God's preference, no matter what the style or content is.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Reading the Sky
Today is the first day in, well, about a week when it hasn't been raining. The boys have been itching to ride their bikes. I have been diligent about checking www.weather.com to see what the local forecast will be (since having children, I have forgotten about the local television news stations). The weather forecast said that it would rain - 30-50% chance. However, we all know about the accuracy of weather forecasts.
The boys would watch out the windows with me, or we would go outside, and we would look at the sky. If it got cloudy, gray, or if the sky turned dark, we knew that it would rain...or as the boys say, "The rain has come to fall on the green grasses." I've always looked at the sky to know what the weather would be like...except in Ghana. In Ghana, you don't look at the sky to determine if it will rain. Instead, you gauge by the heat of the sun. As we rode with our coordinator, he would say, "the sun is hot," and we would know that the weather would be fine. If he said, "the sun is very hot," or "very, very hot," we knew we were in for a thunder-and-lightening, get-drenched rain. It didn't often happen at that moment - it was sometimes 2-3 hours later, but he was right.
In Matthew 16, Jesus is being tested by the Pharisees. They've asked him to show them a sign from heaven, and Jesus says this: "He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, "It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then he left them and went away."
In the end, does it really matter how we determine what the weather will be? So what if I can tell by the sun's heat, or by the color of the sky? So what? In the end, we waste our time, and God's time, being concerned about trivial things.
And so it is with the church. We have our eyes to the sky, looking for signs and wonders that we can interpret, and we have forgotten that it's not about reading the signs. The church exists for one purpose, and one purpose only: to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We do not exist to be a social club, a support group, a center for study, or even as a center for music and art. If we are looking for a sign, we need to know that the plethora of activities the church engages in should be measured and evaluated on the basis of their effectiveness in making disciples. Otherwise, while those ministries may be helpful to us, they are helping us be counterproductive in bringing God's kingdom to earth.
You want a sign? Don't look to the sky! Instead, look for places where disciples are made. Search for evidence that the kingdom of God is breaking in. Nothing else matters.
The boys would watch out the windows with me, or we would go outside, and we would look at the sky. If it got cloudy, gray, or if the sky turned dark, we knew that it would rain...or as the boys say, "The rain has come to fall on the green grasses." I've always looked at the sky to know what the weather would be like...except in Ghana. In Ghana, you don't look at the sky to determine if it will rain. Instead, you gauge by the heat of the sun. As we rode with our coordinator, he would say, "the sun is hot," and we would know that the weather would be fine. If he said, "the sun is very hot," or "very, very hot," we knew we were in for a thunder-and-lightening, get-drenched rain. It didn't often happen at that moment - it was sometimes 2-3 hours later, but he was right.
In Matthew 16, Jesus is being tested by the Pharisees. They've asked him to show them a sign from heaven, and Jesus says this: "He answered them, "When it is evening, you say, "It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.' And in the morning, "It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah." Then he left them and went away."
In the end, does it really matter how we determine what the weather will be? So what if I can tell by the sun's heat, or by the color of the sky? So what? In the end, we waste our time, and God's time, being concerned about trivial things.
And so it is with the church. We have our eyes to the sky, looking for signs and wonders that we can interpret, and we have forgotten that it's not about reading the signs. The church exists for one purpose, and one purpose only: to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We do not exist to be a social club, a support group, a center for study, or even as a center for music and art. If we are looking for a sign, we need to know that the plethora of activities the church engages in should be measured and evaluated on the basis of their effectiveness in making disciples. Otherwise, while those ministries may be helpful to us, they are helping us be counterproductive in bringing God's kingdom to earth.
You want a sign? Don't look to the sky! Instead, look for places where disciples are made. Search for evidence that the kingdom of God is breaking in. Nothing else matters.
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