Excellence in Music – the Role of the Church
Periodic self-evaluation is not a bad thing. Sometimes in our lives, we notice a spiritual digression we need to adjust. Perhaps our devotional life needs a reset; perhaps our fledgling prayer life needs restoration; perhaps our marriage needs to renew its spark. I contend that it is time for churches who claim to be “conservative” to step back and seriously evaluate what that truly means. I am especially concerned that they may have allowed some digression in musical pursuits. Of particular concern to me in this series of articles is how Conservative Christianity has allowed a digression in their musical practices technically, musically, and stylistically. (See Part 1 and Part 2 at the links.)
As I mentioned in part 2, the issue of proper musical training is something that must be emphasized within the homes of conservative Christians. Still, churches too must seek to conserve a kind of Christian music that avoids the triteness and “popishness” of the world around it. This is not a call to ditch every form of new music. Conservatism does not purport that the “new” is bad and the “old” is good. However, new songs and hymns still need to reflect conservative values consistent with church history. This article seeks to address the senior pastors of conservative churches and encourage them to pursue, preserve, and promote a conservative philosophy and practice of Christian music in their local churches. I offer a few suggestions to help them in this endeavor.
First, senior pastors must educate themselves in biblical worship and high conservative musical standards. Not every Christian, let alone pastor, is a trained musician. Musical training is not a qualification for pastoral ministry. However, I would contend that the importance of the pastor’s study of worship and music should not be underestimated. From cover to cover the Bible addresses the matter of proper and improper worship, from Cain and Abel’s offerings of worship in Genesis 4 to John’s improper act of worship in Revelation 22. This subject cannot be something that falls by the wayside of a pastor’s study, nor should it be delegated to a “worship pastor” of a church. As pastors, we must study what the Scripture says about worship/music. We must read a multitude of sound, godly books about worship/music. We would do well to take seminary classes about worship and music. Education in this vital aspect of ecclesiology is not optional. If we want to lead our people in faithful worship of God, that means we must study diligently what that means so that we can properly lead them.
Second, I would suggest that pastors should not be afraid of a “high church” feel in their worship services. A post-modern mindset has led to self-centered emotionalism which elevates the exciting, “high-octane” style of worship. With this approach, the “high church” feel of worship has been tossed to the curb, being viewed as stuffy, boring, and dead. Worship under the control of the Holy Spirit is never dead, yet it should be controlled, organized, and sensible. Hymns should be played and sung in a way that is not meant to showcase the “performer” but rather point the attention of the people to the grandness and goodness of God. Do not be duped by the “praise and worship” philosophy so prominent today. Promote high quality, conservative hymnology, those hymns with rich theological texts supported by a style of music that is absent of the pop-cultural drivel of our world, a style that will feed the imagination and move the affections towards God.
Third, preach and teach about worship and music. We live in a day when anyone can go online and find whatever they want to find when it comes to teaching these subjects. Generally speaking most people gravitate to the teaching that agrees with their own pre-conceived ideas and practices. Christians often will gravitate to the kind of music that they “like” rather than evaluate it from a truly biblical perspective. Pastors must seek to counter these things by being a voice of biblical authority to proclaim what God has to say about the subject (frankly, the Scriptures have a lot to say about worship and music). Since these matters are of such a high importance in the mind of God, they should get good consideration in the pulpit ministry as well. One ways pastors can teach congregations about this is by modeling a sober mentality of worship ourselves. Model joyful sobriety in worship. Teach and preach on the subject, also.
Fourth, pastors must have a mature discernment and a careful commitment to keep ungodly elements of pop culture out of their churches. No church is unaffected by the current culture. However, pop culture is something that must be studied and guarded against when it comes to the corporate worship of God. Be careful how music is played and sung in church services. Be careful to avoid the philosophy and value system of pop culture. Read books on the subject so that you can better understand it and better guard your church against it.
Fifth, if a church has a Christian school, make high quality musical training accessible for the students, and promote high quality music and conservative worship/music principles in the classroom, chapel, and in various concerts that are done. One of the reasons that our conservative churches have digressed in worship over the years is because we have failed to train our young people in these areas. We have fed them watered-down Christianity in musical form, taught them that silly songs are acceptable for worship, and have failed to elevate high quality hymnology to them. Children who are raised on a diet of musical triteness will most likely grow up to be adults who have a disdain for musical excellence.
Let me reiterate that I am not arguing that every pastor should be a musician. However, there is no reason why every pastor of a church should not be highly educated in the subjects of worship and music. They should not simply trust certain Christian parachurch organizations to lead them. They should search the Scriptures themselves, read high quality books on the subject, take seminary classes from conservative seminaries that address worship and music, and strive to lead their congregations in worship/musical practices that are reverent, godly, spiritual, joyful, and truly honoring to God. I do not claim to be perfect in this area. However, I desire to lead my church family in conserving a kind of worship and music that I believe the Bible promotes more than focus on what will merely excite those who attend. God deserves and demands such worship.
May God help all of us as conservative pastors to not be content with going with the flow of pop-culture Christianity, but rather to do the necessary work to pursue, promote, and preserve a truly conservative philosophy and practice of worship and music.
Taigen Joos is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Dover, NH. He blogs here, where this article first appeared. It is republished here by permission.
Photo by Tyler Callahan on Unsplash