Contemporary Worship, Pop Culture, And My Own Pride

I recently attended what I consider to be an extremely traditional Lutheran worship service. Needless to say, I did not enjoy it. I still haven’t found a real church “home” since I got married. My wife came from a highly Pentecostal, pop-culture-driven background, while I hail from a Lutheran/ Pentecostal/ Non-denominational journey. I’m in the process of perhaps returning to my Lutheran roots, but the problem for us is finding a church that is not too traditional.

It seems that even the supposedly “contemporary” Lutheran churches are playing 70′s/80′s music at about the speed of a funeral dirge, and they call it contemporary. Let me give a big hint, it may be contemporary to Lutherans, but it’s MILES behind the rest of the church. I know people do the best with what they have, but it’s better to go completely acoustic than to use a synth drum beat these days. I would consider even this kind of service slightly “less traditional,” but certainly not contemporary.

These experiences have really caused me to begin thinking about worship, culture, and my own biases which I bring to the table. I read an article entitled “The Pride of Simplicity,” by Leonard Payton, which can be found by clicking here.

Payton blames the egalitarian movements within our society and popular culture in general for the breakdown of church culture, particularly in regards to the “aesthetics and ethics of the church.” After using George Orwell’s Animal Farm as a model for modern church culture, Payton writes,

“A number of swirling ideas inside and outside the church have fueled a similar egalitarianism, ideas such as, ‘I’m OK, you’re OK,’ the emphasis on civil liberties, the individualism of ‘what Jesus means to me,’ multiculturalism, diversity, and the notion that doctrine divides and is therefore bad. This last point is especially ominous because it equates any earnest pursuit of the truth with elitism.” Payton continues by stating, “The pride of simplicity has been bubbling up in all aspects of the visible church. However, this trend has affected worship music more than any other trend in church life. We disdain our hymnals because they presumably speak to the head and not to the heart. (Notice the implicit accusation of intellectual elitism here.) We replace those hymnals with songs which can be performed while the eyes are closed. We reduce our lyric vocabulary to a bare minimum, and take special care not to touch anyone’s hot buttons with language which might sound too doctrinal. Here again, we see an attack on implied doctrinal elitism. And of course, the accompaniment instrument of choice becomes the guitar with its ubiquitous eight chords in fixed inversions which, by default, cast out any sense of good voice leading. . . . Where has costly worship gone? . . . We are lured into such irreverence by the apparent demands of evangelism, ‘becoming all things to all men.’ We quickly transform this principle into the practice of finding the least common denominator, which in our time is popular culture. Those embracing such a philosophy of ministry often claim, ‘I just want to see people come to Christ,’ but this philosophy implies that unless we each take the same approach we somehow do not care to see people come to Christ. Notice the emerging new elitism! Paul never said, ‘To the hedonist I became a hedonist.’

Unfortunately, this ethos of mandatory simplicity soon begets a kind of comfort which, when violated, is characterized as un-spirit-filled. This is a catastrophe for Christian growth, since many of God’s attributes are disquieting. To ignore those attributes is to worship a god not seen in the Bible, in short, to violate the first and second commandments. Many of the experiences our living Heavenly Father designs for our growth are unpleasant as well. And yet, when we insist on likable, or “seeker friendly” music, we inadvertently despise the chastening of the Lord.”

Is Leonard Payton taking this a little too far? Is contemporary music all that bad? Is this all some sort of legalistic, man-made tradition of men? Or is there validity in what he says? I believe that Payton is absolutely right, and I am an unfortunate product of this cultural egalitarianism of which he speaks. This is not to say that I feel worship should universally be traditional, but the church should not model worship after the culture – rather it is called to transform the culture.

Payton concludes his article by saying,

“This brings me to my main point: All styles are not equal. This is obvious to anyone who has given any serious thought to aesthetics. However, the problem before me was an ethical one. All styles are not ethically equal. And since style is an issue of aesthetics, it therefore appears that there is no clear dividing line between ethics and aesthetics in worship music. From this truth we can derive the following principle: Any style not able to carry a text rightfully belonging in Christian worship is a style unsuited for Christian worship. And since the forms are, the more disastrous the marriage. Since ours is a time in which musically illiterate people produce most of the music we hear, the musical forms have all the imagination of Hallmark card poetry or pulp novels. These are very simple forms with very little flexibility. And as mounting Christian egalitarianism has succumbed to the pride of simplicity, these forms have been accepted into the heady realm of the ‘anointed.’ Indeed, I have even read straight-faced advertisements for “anointed guitar solos!”

As Christians we must put more pressure on musical form. Congratulating ‘diversity’ or “multi-culturalism” may seem peaceable, but truthfully, it is a tired capitulation to sloth and ease. And in the end, such a stance will only serve further to enervate Christian worship. ‘I’m OK, you’re OK’ must be replaced with, ‘I’m a sinner, you’re a sinner; let’s grow in the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.’”

So that’s it? Don’t do contemporary worship? In Payton’s opinion, this is the case. But is it really so bad to use modern contemporary worship music? I really don’t believe so, to an extent. When a missionary goes into a new culture, he assesses the scene and adapts the worship style to their comfort in order to evangelize the indigenous people. We must do the same in American culture. However, some would argue that American popular culture is really no culture at all, rather a godless byproduct of human rebellion and rejection of morality. There is truth in this statement. For this reason the music chosen needs to be carefully examined to ensure that it gives glory to God and points to Jesus Christ crucified and risen again for the forgiveness of our sins. It also should be delivered in such a manner that all glory is given to God, not to a performer. The worship leader’s role is just that, to lead worship, not to draw attention and praise to him or herself.

So what are the necessary eleme
nts of a worship service? This is largely a matter of preference, but Martin Luther has a few thoughts to offer. In the Augsburg Confession, Article XII, he writes of the Church,

“The Church is the congregation of saints, in which the Gospel is rightly taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.

And to the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree concerning the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. Nor is it necessary that human traditions, that is, rites or ceremonies, instituted by men, should be everywhere alike. As Paul says: One faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, etc. Eph. 4, 5. 6.”

Well said, Luther. Praise God that not every worship service looks alike! We would be a dull world indeed. Throughout this process, God is revealing my own pride and biases concerning worship. I have most recently traveled in church circles which cater to the demands of the popular culture, and this has given me a false perception of “how things should be done.”

Neither traditional nor contemporary worship is better than the other. Both contain advantages and disadvantages. The heart of the matter is that we give all of the glory to God and the Holy Spirit is free to work on men’s hearts through the clearly proclaimed Word of God.

Now with that out of the way, I feel that a list of recommendations to Lutheran worship leaders is in order. I would love to hear any feedback you have about any of this, particularly Lutheran laity, leaders, pastors, etc. Once again, this is coming from a guy who has helped lead everything from Lutheran to Pentecostal to Charismatic to “emerging-style” worship, and these are merely suggestions to make Lutheran Worship more relevant for my generation.

Dan’s Recommendations for Lutheran Worship

1. Remember the purpose and intention of the liturgy. One of my biggest complaints about extremely traditional services is how fake they feel. Chanting all of the prayers and saying everything in unison in a monotone voice is very comfortable for those coming out of the Roman Catholic faith, which was Luther’s intended audience for his service. But for someone coming from little or no church background, this can be scary and seems somewhat cult-like, particularly in our current postmodern era. Some in my generation are actually interested in heavy tradition, but typically they are also smoking pot and they really “dig” any kind of ancient rituals (just kidding, not always). The bottom line is to remember the point of each element of the service and not just do things for the sake of tradition.
2. Perform every service as though half of the congregation are visitors/newcomers. The neat thing about this is, even the people who have been regular attenders for years will likely learn something new or gain some new insight from the service when you do this. Lutheran services are some of the most confusing places to be, which frustrates newcomers. Particularly keep this in mind when it comes to the following:
• Switching between hymnals, finding things in a hymnal. This confuses me the most at Lutheran services. I am still trying to figure out which hymnal to use during the entire first verse typically.
• Finding Scripture passages in the Bible. It can be helpful to remind people of the order of books in the Bible or give a page number if you use a standard pew Bible. For instance, “Turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians 4. Remember 1 Corinthians is a letter written by Paul, so you will find it in the New Testament. After Matthew, you’ll see Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, and then 1 Corinthians. Once again that is chapter 4, verse 1. (Wait) Ok, 1 Corinthians 4:1 says, . . . .” You’ll be surprised how many don’t bring their Bibles because they are intimidated or because everything is always printed in a bulletin. Give people a reason to open the Word! They might even underline a verse during your sermon if you do this! A lot of megachurches have stopped printing Bible verses on the screens for this reason, only the references.
• Sharing of the peace. This part freaks my wife and I out the most! People impersonally shake our hands and say “peace of the Lord.” What’s the point? Give people more than two minutes to do this, and encourage them to get to know the names of people sitting near them. It’s even better when people get out of their seats and walk around. It’s very cold if this is not relational. This was very weird for my wife and I the first time we did it in a traditional service.
• Confession and Absolution. How can you read “I, a poor miserable sinner, confess. . .” in a monotone voice? It sounds so insincere and fake. Perhaps consider playing some light worship music in the background (on CD, not an organ) while giving people some time to confess their sins before God. Make this part of the service last a good 15-20 minutes. Consider even putting it after the sermon, so that people have a chance to respond to God after hearing His Word. You could still provide the liturgy, perhaps on a PowerPoint screen, for people to use as a guide, or for newcomers. People would be free to leave their seats and find a corner or simply kneel or remain at their seat. After the pastors and elders finish confessing their sins before God, they could stand up and now people could come before them to confess specific sins for which they wish to receive absolution. This would be James 5:16 in action! The pastors and elders could pray with them and pronounce the forgiveness of God to the desperate sinner! After a few more minutes, the invitation could be made for people to reconcile or make plans to reconcile. Jesus said not even to bother bringing things before Him without first being made right with our brother. This also would be a great part of self-examination prior to receiving the Lord’s Supper. Then the pastor could pronounce the forgiveness of God to the congregation. Given the right music and atmosphere, this could be a VERY powerful part of a service.
• Preaching the sermon. OK, public speaking 101 teaches us a few things such as: don’t read your speech word for word, use cue cards instead of a written copy, don’t stand behind a podium the entire time, move towards your audience gradually as you speak, make good eye contact, speak loudly and clearly, use humor to engage your audience, use visual aids or handouts (sermon outline, PowerPoint) to help your audience follow your logic, and USE INFLECTION IN YOUR VOICE IN ORDER TO KEEP YOUR AUDIENCE’S ATTENTION. I can’t stress that last one enough. I don’t remember reading, “Thou shalt not use a PowerPoint presentation in church” anywhere in the Bible.
• Collecting tithes/offerings. Particularly with the recent scandals on television regarding money hungry prosperity preachers, make it clear that if someone is visiting, they are under no obligation to give. Explain very simply why we give to God. Avoid giving a second sermon on the offering alone. That chases people out as well.
• Communion, the Lord’s Supper. I can’t tell you how often we have attended Lutheran services that do not bother explaining Communion procedure. The bottom line is this, if it involves getting out of your seat, then you need to have printed instructions or you need to explain it before doing it. Also, if your congregation practices closed-communion (such as LCMS and WELS), MAKE THIS CLEAR BEFORE BEGINNING. Luckily I know I am not supposed to commune in an LCMS church, but many times I would have had no indication of this had I not previously known. Nothing would be more offensive to a new perso
  n than going up to an altar and being told at that point (in front of others) that he or she could not commune. You can count on that person never coming back. It’d be better to explain the procedure for those who will not be communing as well. P.S. Don’t make people who are not communing go up to the altar with their arms crossed or holding a cross to receive a blessing. Most new people, like myself, find that creepy and uncomfortable. Rather, explain that they can simply stand up, exit the aisle and let others pass, then return to their seats. Much more comfortable.
3. Avoid using only scripted prayers in the service, and avoid chanting every prayer. The chanting thing reminds me more of the Gregorian services, or Zen Buddhist monks. Reading all of the prayers feels really fake, too. It gives the impression that people cannot simply come to God without fancy liturgical vernacular. True story time! My Lutheran pastor growing up told my entire confirmation class that he only prayed during Sunday morning services, when he read the prayers! Also, I have talked to several older Lutheran women who were surprised to find out that they could pray to God anything other than the Lord’s prayer and during services on Sunday. One lady was over fifty and had attended church her entire life. I know some will dismiss these instances as the exception and not the norm, which is hopefully the case. But consider the message you send by always reading or chanting prayer.

That’s all I’ll say for now. I have plenty more ideas, trust me. I hope this helps some.

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