Doxology

I continue today with the original question from a pastor/elder on how to help a brother who is leading music at this church for the first time and seems to be locked in on his own personal style that doesn’t quite serve as a source of good communication and edification.  (Notice that I say it “seems” to be that way.  There’s no way I can truly know the whole story without being there—but for the sake of teaching we’ll make that assumption.)

I hinted in my last post on this subject that I would look at 1 Cor. 12-14.  Paul, in this passage is dealing with the surface issue of the use of the gifts (primarily glossolalia or “speaking in tongues” and prophesy).  However, it matters not so much as to the gifts that brought problems to the surface.  It matters everything that we understand the principles that were being violated by the Corinthians and how it might apply in answering the question.  (I will do so with my best attempts to avoid the very controversial subject of cessationism vs. continuationism.)

In Corporate Worship, Personal Edification Must Occur In The Context Of The Body. The problem with the Corinthian Church was not tongues or any other gift.  The problem was selfishness.  Whether you want to believe or not that Paul was taking a stance on tongues, what you must see that Paul was teaching that there were lots of folks who came to their gatherings with their own agendas and expectations that did not include the entirety of the congregation.

How does this apply to a Music Minister?  I must not sacrifice a congregation on the altar of my musical expression.  My primary “natural voice” musically may be country.  But if I’m trying to serve a congregation that most predominately has classical music tastes, then I better begin to learn some classical literature if I am to best serve them.  (I totally “get” that bridging that musical difference may be next to impossible—please just humor my extreme example.)

Getting to the question that was asked, the “screamo” style that your Music Minister is using may be edifying to him but if it is creating distractions to your congregation, he must deny himself those expressions not because they are sinful in themselves but because they are not the wisest forms of leadership.  “The Body is not one member but many.” (1 Cor. 12:14)

In Corporate Worship, The Body Must Celebrate The Diversity Of Each Of Its Members. As a balancing principle, Paul also reminds the Corinthian Church that while subjugation of personal gifting for the sake of corporate edification is crucial, it is also crucial for the congregation to treasure an individual’s uniqueness.  To translate Paul’s teaching on submission of personal edification as homogeneity is bad exegesis.  In God’s economy, Individuality must pull towards and celebrate the Corporate; but the Corporate must pull towards and celebrate Individuality as well.  There must be healthy tension there.  Where each church lands in this area depends on many factors including (but not exhaustively):  age of the church, length of the Senior Pastor’s term, size of the congregation, maturity of the congregation, etc.

While I am suggesting that this brother deny himself using his talents in ways that are most natural to him for the sake of the Body, the Body may need to, at rare times, allow this brother a time to express his unique talents (maybe as a special or at an outdoor, outreach event—for the sake of giving some examples).  The same God who tells the Corinthian Church to speak with a clear voice also tells them that “God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired” (1 Cor. 12:18) and that one member cannot tell another member “I have no need of you” (1 Cor. 12:21).  Paul didn’t tell the Corinthian church to cease all their unique gifts—he told them to use them properly (1 Cor. 14:26-33) with the central principles being “let all things be done for edification” and “God is not a God of confusion but of peace”.

As a church allows both of these tensions to work in body life, in God’s economy, it should—over time—pull that congregation into biblical balance.

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As promised, I now return to answering a question I received a while back.  I soon realized that I should have waited until now on answering once we got closer to the True Church Conference.  I will re-post the blog entry in which I began answering the question and then continue on answering in my next post.  Here is the original post:

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I often get questions emailed to me or sent to me through Facebook. Here is another one from a good brother:

Just imagine that you were beginning a church plant and had limited musical ability available. What worship line up would you have that people could grasp and learn over the weeks and months? And what would you do if you haven’t got anyone to play musical instruments?

I am so glad to have this question asked to me because so often I run into pastors, church leaders, and church musicians who are greatly encouraged by Grace Life Music but are at the same time discouraged by it. They look at the 100+ member choir and the 20-or-so-member orchestra and think “How can I compare to that?” or “Well, I would see better results in my song services if I had all those tools and personnel with which to work”.

The truth is they are correct. The success that you may see at Grace Life is the result of 30+ years of faithful preaching of God’s word, of a faith in God’s gospel to produce true conversions, and a vision for a thundering Music Department that already existed before I arrived. I can take no credit for that.

However, there are some principles that can be gleaned from the way we do music at Grace Life that can be applied to any church of any size:

Start slowly. Lock in on about a dozen thoroughly biblical songs that your congregation can sing with confidence and without distraction. One mistake that I have made in the past is to throw too much new music at a congregation in too short of a time period. Some of that comes with idolatry of other larger churches who seemingly do the same thing. What you don’t realize is that many times the music that is new to you is not to the congregation of the church to which you compare.

I would begin with hymns like “It Is Well With My Soul”, “Amazing Grace”, “In Christ Alone”, “There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood”, “Hallelujah What A Savior”, “Come Thou Fount” and “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross”

I would also direct you here to the Approved Song List that we use at our church. 99% of the congregationals that we sing come from this list.

Integrate Gradually. Once I had a firm grasp on those (and there are others that are worthy of initially singing), I would then take one or two song/hymns a month and sing them every Sunday. Whoever is leading the singing might want to sing the new one as a special for a couple of weeks. Then, if it is obvious that the congregation is singing along, turn the special into a congregation by inviting them to sing along.

One reason you don’t see more churches doing it this way is the thought that every song service as to be a euphoric, ecstatic experience and that methodically teaching new music to a congregation deviates from that idea. Get over that notion. Repent of any idols of the way congregational singing is supposed to look or feel.

Listen Carefully. Especially with a small congregation, you will get suggestions from your congregation. That is a good way (although not the primary way) to add songs to your repertoire. Talk to your congregants. To what are they listening? What songs are resonating with them? If you are not the pastor but lead the singing, get lots of advice from the pastor and/or elders. The song leader should be one of the leading theologians in the church so it may be up to you to determine the biblical fidelity of a new song.

Also, listen to our church ancestors. There are many solid, biblical hymns and songs that have stood the test of time and are in keeping with historical orthodoxy. Lastly, listen to your young people. They also may have insight into what’s new out there. Be careful in doing this—but you may stumble across a real gem to teach your congregation.

Center Vocally. Don’t make your church instrument-dependent. You do NOT have to have instruments to have worship. Don’t misunderstand….Our dear Church of Christ folks (and some other well-meaning reformed churches historically) erroneously over-reacted and banished instruments from corporate worship. However, we also err in making them mandatory.

Most all of the music that we do at Grace Life could be done without instruments. Would that be a distraction for a little while with our congregation? It might. However, it wouldn’t fall apart! We use instruments because we have them available, we are free to do so biblically, and we don’t HAVE to in order for worship to occur. Instruments serve us—we are not a slave to them.

I would much rather sing a capella without distraction than to have the distraction of someone accompanying on an instrument who could not play with excellence that is appropriate to the size of the congregation. Make congregational singing the centerpiece of the music that is produced in your church!

Hope this helps!

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I had written a post a few weeks ago about our sending Wes Voorhees, one of our Music Ministers-in-training, to Grace Baptist Church in Selmer, TN. Well, last Sunday night, we had a commissioning service for Bro. Wes and his family. Wes led the music and sang a song that he had just written on the service, as well.

I may be repeating myself, but it is such a bittersweet experience in losing Wes. He has been such a great servant here at Grace Life. He also was our bass guitar player when I am leading the music. He also served by leading music on Wednesday night services in our Old Auditorium, in our student services, and early on Sunday mornings at some nursing homes that we serve.

But in our loss, I also am extremely excited about this opportunity for Wes and for the church in Selmer. It is wonderful to see Wes’ heart being knit together with their congregation and, more importantly, their pastor, Nate Pendland. Wes has exhibited such great godly behavior before our congregation, has sought to serve under my authority (and therefore under Bro. Jeff’s authority), and he has done so without complaining or carrying his own agenda.

I asked this question in my last post on this subject and will ask it again: Brother Music Minister, are you training other young men to serve? Are you pouring truth and leadership into prospective ministers? Believe me, I’m not the best mentor in the world. However, one does not need to wait until one believes he is qualified or prepared to do so. Just jump in and begin doing it and learn along the way. Be open. Be transparent. Be willing to tell protégés that you are developing a training program as you go.

I don’t begin to take any credit for Wes’ “promotion”. He has been under faithful preaching of the scriptures long before I came to Grace Life Church. I credit Wes for looking past this Music Minister’s faults and seeing his Savior and the joy of striving to faithfully serve Christ and his pastor to the glory of God. I credit Wes for desiring to grow as a man, as a believer, and as a prospective minister.

I’ll ask another question: Are you desiring to be someone’s protégé? Have you taken any initiative to speak with a possible mentor? Are you willing to serve in humbling tasks where there may not be any glory or attention or fame? Are you prepared to be confronted with application of the scriptures to an entirely deeper level? If so, you might be a possible student. Take the first step. You might be surprised at what happens…

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