Last Sunday evening I had the
privilege of meeting with nearly 80 people in the chapel at FBCD. Many of them were Christians before I was
born. The topic was music and Sunday Worship. My desire to free the worship team from constraints,
move the drums, and adjust the volume were the catalyst for the meeting. I deeply appreciate the love, passion, and
concern of all present.
The meeting resembled many
previous worship discussions I have participated in. Hymns, praise songs, tradition, volume, respect,
dress, repetition, lighting, carnality, the degradation of musical quality, and
the specter of worldly performance were all present. The dramatic evolution of church music over the past 40 years was very evident.
After several decades of this
conversation I am convinced it is unresolvable.
My dad hated loud music when I was 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, and 60. We rarely liked the same volume or genre. Music played by people
who love Jesus is wonderfully diverse. It
is loud, soft, old, new, fast, and slow.
The Archbishop of Canterbury hated Handel’s Messiah. A Mighty Fortress was written to the tune of
a German bar song. Baptist Pastors of
the early 1800’s called the piano an ivory keyed devil sent from hell to seduce
the church. Even the organ was originally banned from the church. Over the last 80 years the
world has changed more than during any period of history. This is both a blessing and a curse for those
known as the Builder Generation. Some
changes are wonderful, others not so much.
Our vision for worship cannot
revolve around subjective elements of personal taste or generational preference. We must ask some very different, and
difficult questions. Do we want our children and grandchildren to keep leaving and going to other churches?
Is our worship style driven by the taste of the found, or the lost? What did Jesus say about missing coins, lost sheep, serving, and seeking?
George Barna was right when he said, "VISION DIVIDES BEFORE IT UNIFIES." If FBCD decides their mandate from Christ is
doing anything short of sin to win the lost then how people dress, what color
paint goes on the walls, what songs we sing, and how the sanctuary evolves are
settled issues. We will paint, sing, dress, and set the volume for 2017. We will create a safe
place for the next generation of seeking souls to come and discover the eternal gospel of our glorious
Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. I
will continue to press you about INWARD, OUTWARD, FORWARD, AND BACKWARD. Two of them will bring new life. Two of them will kill you.
I am ready, willing, and able to
work hard on volume, song selection, Biblical preaching, and building a growing
group of worship leaders. There is a
place in worship for the hymns of the faith.
The great ones have a story, history, and theology worth knowing and
singing. But if your vision is INWARD
AND BACKWARD it will be difficult to call a pastor with a passion for reaching the lost. If young people conclude you are committed to
yesterday, they will find a church moving joyfully forward toward tomorrow. This may be right. It might be wrong. But it is an inescapable reality. I understand it is not fair. I realize what I am asking the mature saints
to give up for the next generation. But
if we are truly in the family business then Jesus Christ calls us to join Him
on His cross for the sake of the lost. Releasing our personal needs for the sake of the lost opens a wide door for the harvest of souls, and amazing joy at FBCD!
In this together,
Paul
