Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn
News
Walter Albritton
June 6, 2010
We can be thankful for the tension in our
churches
Churches
suffer when there is angry conflict among its members. No matter which side
wins, the church loses. On the other hand, a good fight can sometime help a
dead church to come alive.
A
certain amount of tension is healthy as long as it does not lead to destructive
conflict. Tension can be useful. A violinist cannot make beautiful music unless
there is tension in the strings of the violin. Tension among church leaders can help them
evaluate their ministry and shape a new vision for the church.
Where
there is no tension, church leaders dig deep ruts. They settle for doing the
same old thing again and again. That is a huge mistake. If a church keeps on
doing ministry the way it has always done it, that church will soon be out of
business. Churches die when they continually greet new ideas by saying, “We
have never done it that way before.” Wise church leaders recognize that while
the message of salvation remains the same, the methodology of proclaiming that
message does change.
Church
music, for example, has changed dramatically over the centuries. The gospel
message has remained steady: Jesus saves. But how you sing “Jesus Saves” seems to change with every generation. In our
generation tension has been the catalyst for much change in church music.
In
recent years tension regarding music has resulted in new terms to describe
worship. Churches now offer people traditional worship, contemporary worship,
or “blended” worship. The latter does not work well in many churches. The
problem is that nobody is happy when traditional music is “blended” with
contemporary music.
My
church tried the blended plan for awhile but finally discarded it.
The tension made us realize
that our people needed a traditional service as well as our two popular
contemporary services. It proved to be a
wise decision but it was the tension that made it happen.
It is probably a good thing that there is tension in
most churches about the music. I have not fought in a war but I have been in
several good church fights. I even started a few. Some churches need a good
fight to wake people up and motivate them to think, and then act on their
thinking. In a dead church it is difficult to distinguish the good guys from
the bad guys. And usually there is not
much thinking going on.
The term “contemporary music” is something of a misnomer.
Once “chanting” hymns without musical accompaniment was contemporary. Chanting,
thank goodness, was not widely accepted though it is still practiced in some
churches. While the church organ has been used for many centuries, the piano is
a newcomer to worship. People complained when the piano was first used in
worship; it was a vile contemporary thing. Yet Christians have always sung. The
difference has been what musical instruments they have used, if any. In a small
church a fellow playing a guitar and singing a song he wrote might be
considered “contemporary music.” In larger churches today contemporary music is
done by a large band with drums, many instruments, and several vocalists.
Traditional worship varies as well. What is traditional now
is a far cry from what was traditional even 25 years ago. Traditional music in
a “high church” setting is much different from traditional worship in a country
church where a steady diet of “gospel” songs is the norm. For some traditional
worship must be very liturgical; others prefer an informal approach where
worshipers may call out a hymn they want to sing.
Most
of my ministry has been centered in traditional worship. I was slow to embrace
the contemporary style. However, I would much rather try to sing contemporary
music than to worship with people singing great old hymns as though they were a
funeral dirge. Lifeless singing makes worship quite boring. I have heard some
people sing “Rock of Ages” so slowly that I could go outside, cut a watermelon,
eat a slice and spit out the seeds before they finished singing the second
verse.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, shared my distaste
for sloppy singing. You will enjoy knowing some of Wesley’s “Directions for
Singing” that were printed in his hymn book for the early Methodists:
“Sing lustily and with a good courage. Beware of singing as
if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be
no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than
when you sung the songs of Satan.
“Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or
distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the
harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear
melodious sound.”
Wesley also directed the Methodists to “take care not to
sing too slowly. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it
is high time to drive it out from us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as
we did at first.”
Some folks complain that contemporary music is too loud.
Some of it is, but not all of it. Some of it is marvelous and moves me to
worship my Lord. As for the loudness,
God has been kind to me. My hearing loss has come at a good time.
Honestly, I like both kinds of music. I like contemporary
music because it is brings young people to church and it inspires people to
embrace a deeper faith in God. I like traditional music because it is embedded
in me and has nourished my soul all my life.
My big concern is that most contemporary worship is liturgy
poor. There is great value in liturgy that exposes worshipers to scriptures,
creeds, and prayers that have withstood the test of time. I fear that a
generation of children is growing up without being taught some of the excellent
truths that are usually conveyed in traditional worship.
Children
learn the faith by singing the truly great hymns that are part of traditional
music. Every Christian is blessed when given the incredible joy of learning to
sing songs like “Great is Thy Faithfulness,” “It is Well with My Soul,” “Joy to
the World,” “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah,” “How Great Thou Art,” “Victory in
Jesus,” “My Hope is Built On Nothing Less,” “And Can it Be,” “When I Survey the
Wondrous Cross,” “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” and many others that give me
goose bumps whenever I sing them.
Our generation will not bring to an end the tension that
exists in church about music. But we can learn to respect one another’s
different opinions. And we can give thanks for the tension that provokes us to keep
searching for effective ways to get people excited about our key message – that
Jesus saves. Whatever the style of
music, that remains the mission of the church. + + +