Holy WarsGuru Woo WooActions Speak LouderTags: Church Growth, Church Growth Movement, Church growth consultants, worship leader, conservative, liberal, Conservative Christian, Conservative Christian theology, Evangelical, evangelism, post modern church, modernism, praise and worship, hymns, hymn singing, New Worship, dualism, dualistic, Great Commission, Richard Quebedeaux, The Young Evangelicals, Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, Holy of Holies
I have known some pastors to become very
impatient with the whole issue. They want to get the church going in a new direction but
the old folks are just not getting with it. These frustrated enthusiasts will mumble under
their breath things that sound like they can’t wait until the old folks pass on so
that they can move on with their contemporary agenda. After all, it seems pretty crazy
that these “stubborn” traditionalists can’t get with the program in spite
of the fact that they had been shown specifically from the Word what worship is all about. Then the young folks just don’t seem
to have any patience at all with hymns. These praise songs are just too old fashioned and
boring for their liking. Yet since the younger crowd is seen as the future of the church,
they are the ones who seem to be getting the most appeasement. So hymns are relegated to
token appearances in the service until the old folks live out their years.
“Then,” the pastor surmises, “the church will really be able to get with
it.” In the mean time, the war continues on regardless of what the pastor preaches.
And he cannot understand why the point doesn’t get across which he is certain would
allow everyone to get along. However, actions speak louder than words.
And there are a lot of actions out there that don’t match up to the talk. Too much is
done in practice that represents a hindrance to the admirable effort of leading the church
in praise. Until these obstacles are removed, the controversy will remain. The most potent but hard to detect reason
for division has to do with the way many worship and praise people define and practice
“worship.” Because of the emotional appeal that the style represents, they tend
to see the singing of their special New Worship songs as being the alpha and omega of the
Christian worship experience. Christianity in this case is divided into spiritual
hierarchies where the singing of praise songs reigns at the top and hymns lie buried deep
in discarded hymnals. For example, it is not uncommon during the church service for
someone on the platform to declare right before the praise team enters, “Now
let’s worship the Lord.” This leads to the question: “What have they been
doing the rest of the time? What were they doing the week before, on the way to church,
during their Sunday morning prayer group, as they met people in the lobby, when they gave
the announcements, or when they sang the opening hymn?” This contemporary notion that worship is
an event that is entirely encompassed in singing modern worship and praise songs has
naturally progressed from a long held philosophy that has been maintained in the church
for decades now. While under the auspices of separating themselves from the world,
churches have been taking in dualistic bate for a considerable amount of time to miss the
point that worship is about daily living for God. Dualism is the belief that the
supernatural or spiritual world is inherently good and the physical world is inherently
evil. Therefore the only pursuits that are worth going after are those that have nothing
to do with the physical realm and everything to do with the supernatural realm. Since the
20th and into the 21st centuries, the philosophy of dualism has been actively leading
pastors to believe that pursuits in the organized church are spiritual, whereas pursuits
in the world are unspiritual. Therefore, according to modern dualists, the entirety of
ministry is encompassed in what is accomplished in and through the Established Church.
Ministry in the world in those cases is hardly recognized as valid. Unless one is
ministering within the organized structure of the church, he is considered not to be
ministering at all, he is backslidden or even worse. Worship for many today, therefore, is
reduced to what occurs in the church. Hence the word “worship service” has come
to mean, “when we worship in church” as opposed to “when we haven’t
been worshipping out in the world.” And the whole definition of worship becomes
narrower and narrower from that point onward as the understandings of sacred and secular
take on new innovative meanings. With my kids I always emphasized the Great
Commission and the fact that true Christianity is that which is lived out in the
community. It’s easy enough to be “spiritual” in church and do the things
that are expected of us. But it is quite another thing to live righteously in the world.
To stand as an example to those who are not saved. In the same way, it’s pretty easy
to worship and praise God in church along with everyone else. It is much more difficult to
do so out there where many times one stands alone. My kids took my “go ye
therefore” admonitions seriously. Hence they brought their Christian beliefs with
them to school as they participated in classes, various musical endeavors and sports
programs. Their passion was sports and they played on the school teams throughout the
year.
This ultimatum was very interesting to me
because I had already seen the impact that my kids had on others around them as a result
of their love for God as they played football, baseball, volleyball and softball. Both
Jacqulene and Brandon had made quite an impression on their teachers, coaches and fellow
students as a result. For example, Jacqulene invited one of her softball teammates to go
to church and the young lady was eventually saved as a result. The friend later worked as
an administrative assistant in a church. Brandon had so impressed the high school baseball
players, coaches and parents with his acts of integrity, that after the Section
Championship game the father of the most troublesome player on the team came up to me in
tears talking about the impact that Brandon had in his and his son’s lives. Our
youngest son Brett had also gained the admiration and love of his teammates and coaches
due to his fun loving personality. But his greatest love was architecture and he continued
in that direction through college while turning the heads of his teachers and employer
with his talent that was augmented by his diligent and respectful behavior. Ironically, both Brandon and Jacqulene
continued to play their favorite sports together at There was another “unspiritual”
kid up there named Greg. Greg played on the football team with
Too many times for pastors it is all about
what is done in church that makes the difference. As long as you give your 10% to God,
which is translated as giving to the church, you don’t have to worry about what you
do with the rest of your money. So you end out with parishioners who faithfully give their
10% while cheating people out in the world. Christian service is generally seen as service
in the church, be it Sunday school leadership, outreach ministry or joining the choir. In
the mean time many of these church workers do everything the church leadership asks, while
accomplishing nothing for others in their community.
All of this comes out of a
misunderstanding of what worship is all about. It emanates out of a belief system that
insists that worship is an event. Worship to these folk is something that occurs within
the confines of the church. Worship of God to many transpires at a particular place within
a certain context. And with the rise of contemporary worship and praise music, some have
taken it a step further to designate worship as something that specifically occurs
precisely when modern New Worship songs are sung. This narrow definition of worship
includes only that experience when one is elevated to a particular supernatural or
other-world consciousness where God can be finally beheld. Many call it “entering
in” to the Holy of Holies where hidden knowledge of God exists. Accompanying that
belief is ignorance of the fact that God is all-present in everything and that He can be
seen in His creation and in the events that surround us every day. Not so to these people,
it is when these praise songs are sung in a particular fashion that God reveals Himself. So the pastor or the praise leader stands
before the congregation to declare right before the praise team begins, “Now
let’s come before the Lord and worship Him and He will reveal Himself,” as if
God is so small that He cannot be seen or worshipped in any other way. Stay Tuned for More!!!! If you liked this CLICK HERE or call Author House @ 888.280.7715 to purchase a soft or hard cover copy of Don Wigton's book "Holy Wars" upon which this blog is based.Click Here to purchase the E-book edition for only 99 cents!
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