About a month ago I was on a plane flying south and I fell into an interesting conversation... The man sitting next to me was in his mid-thirties, he was causally dressed and seemed relaxed. As the plane screamed across the California skyline he kept peering at my laptop screen to see what I was working on. Finally he asks "what are you flying south for " and I tell him I am a pastor and I was headed to a church in Southern California to share ideas with them on how to start new expressions of the church that will better engage people in a postmodern world. He began to tell me that he recently started attending a church and was interested in God. I asked him about the church he attends, what drew him, what it's like, if it fits him well and the like. He made this statement when we spoke of the worship music at the church he has been attending:
"of course ...you have to get past the music..."
The worship was so out of his culture-mix that it was a barrier for him to overcome if he wanted to find out about God. He was willing to endure the music because he was searching for God.
Now here's the question, shouldn't we embrace music that is culturally contextual and even winsome for those who are of this newer mindset and the emerging generation? Most "contemporary" services use music that was contemporary 25 years ago, -for some people the sound and style is nails on chalk board, even for many Christians.
The plot thickens... as we continued our discussion the stewardess brings the man a beer he had previously ordered and I saw him tense up as she asked "did he want a Bud, Bud Light or Bud Select". He spoke quickly and nervously, it was obvious he was very uncomfortable having a beer in front of a pastor.
So let's see: His understanding of God-stuff is that the music is something to be endured and you should feel awkward drinking even one beer in the presence of a Christian... Hmmm. Time to think about how effective we are in bringing the barrier free Gospel to those who are not yet familiar with the Goodness of Jesus. How often does our subculture or personal preference issues stumble not-yet-believers?
For the record, I put my new travel friend back at ease by mentioning "I have never tried Bud Select, Budweiser has a kind of bitter flavor to me - what is Select like?" - he told me about it, relaxed and we talked about God for the rest of the plane ride. Food for thought.
On the iPod: The Creatures -Anima Animus
Comments (4)
So are we gonna have Bud Select now for communion? I guess not
Posted by Randy | July 4, 2007 9:23 AM
Posted on July 4, 2007 09:23
I'm tired of the church's struggle to be whatever society wants in order to 'draw people in.' Contemporary Christian music sucks. Period. It almost always has. Few Christian music artists could survive outside the protective enclave of Christian publishing houses.
I long for a return to worship. Where the sound you hear is the congregations' voices sing praise. Not some too loud band, badly mixed. I long for the musical complexity of the hymns written by people who had a deeper understanding of music theory than most musicians today.
Give me the hymns. I am searching for a church that worships with hymns and teaches from the bible with relevance for today without putting me to sleep.
Smittie
Posted by Smittie | July 4, 2007 10:40 PM
Posted on July 4, 2007 22:40
HI Smittie welcome home. For you worship is thru hymns , thats your culture framework and preference :) That's cool and good
for others like me hymns as an artform and worship are distracting and a sonic barrier. It's all a matter of personal preference, no one form is sanctified or correct or better than an other. I dont prefer ccm songs either to be honest.
the goal in en-culturing worship is not to try to please everyone but to achieve worship that fits a group that may not have a fit for worship, all ministry happens within a culture, but when the culture surrounding churces changes SOME churches will need to respond by creating worship expressions that engage and allow worshippers from the incoming culture to understand and engage better. This doesnt mean there shouldnt be hymn type churchs in fact i am a proponent of multiple expressions of worship in one body thru separate worship gatherings. just as you would liely hate a rave dance type worship gathering, thereare those in England that r experiening and deeply worshipping Jesus and growing in him in these types of services. Different strokes.
For me the big question is what is the Snata Cruz culture like and how do we en- culture the worship gatherings to be best fitting for the less reached folks ( who arent attending current service formns) both christian and non christian here in this time in this place in addition to what offerings the community already has :)
love ya pal and welcome home
-c
Posted by chuckk gerwig | July 5, 2007 10:52 AM
Posted on July 5, 2007 10:52
Great post here Chuckk, definitely gets this Owl thinking about these very issues. I've had people tense up in front of me at knowing I am a believer. My first impulse is to want to put that person at ease, just like Jesus did. Jesus wanted people to be real with him, warts and all.
RE: Worship Music style, I personally am pretty flexible, things ranging from old quiet heartfelt hymns to R&B-ish gospel, contemporary rock (with various "sonic spices" so to speak) do it for me but I can see how it can be a stumbling block for some folks. I know I'd be having near convulsions if I had to sit through something like Rap or some Backstreet-Boys like thing, but again, like you said, it's all in our cultural reference frame.
The one thing that breaks my heart is when some congregations get so rigid and legalistic in prescribing these sorts of things that people can even be driven from Jesus over it.
Posted by Phil | July 6, 2007 12:13 PM
Posted on July 6, 2007 12:13