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Why I Didn’t Sing When I Visited Your Church
Challies ^
| 03/21/2017
| Tim Challies
Posted on 03/21/2017 3:30:30 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
It was a joy to finally visit your church a couple of Sundays ago, and to worship with the believers there. You know Ive been looking forward to it for a long time. Just as you promised, the pastor is an excellent communicator and a man who loves Gods Word. His sermon was deeply challenging and led to some great conversations with my children.
Now, you asked me why it looked like I wasnt singing. I know that was probably a little awkward, so thought Id send along a brief explanation. Primarily, its because
I was not familiar with the songs. Your church has a tremendously skilled group of musicians leading them and it was a true joy to hear them play and sing. They sound as good live as they do on their album! But, unless I missed something, all of the songs on that Sunday were drawn from their own music. There werent any hymns in the service or even any familiar worship songs. So its not that I didnt want to sing; its just that I didnt know the songs. I want to be fairevery church has some of its own songs, and there is nothing wrong with that. I tried to follow along the best I could so I could learn some of yours, but even then…
the songs werent congregational. Most of them seemed to have been written with the band in mind more than the congregation. What I mean is that they were unpredictable and often went beyond my vocal range and ability. This made them tough to learn and difficult to sing. Sometimes I would just begin to think I had it, but then
your singers would ad-lib. Twice through that final chorus they sang it one way, but then on the third they did something I didnt see coming and just couldnt follow. Was I supposed to follow them up the scale as they went high on that final chorus, or was I supposed to stick with the original melody? I didnt want to mess it up, so figured Id better keep it quiet. I might have had help there, but
I couldnt hear the congregation sing. I wanted to learn from the people around me, but I couldnt hear them. A lot of them seemed to be singing along, but they were far quieter than the band. Dont get me wrong, I love loud music and often crank it to silly levels when Im at home or in my car. (Ive even got it at an obnoxious level as I write these words.) But as I understand it from Colossians 3:16, a key element of congregational worship is hearing the congregation. Singing is in the realm of one-another ministry, meaning that we are to sing for the other people there. But that was tough because
…it felt like a performance. We were in a darkened room sitting on theatre-style seats. The band was on a brightly-lit stage at the front of the room, singing their own songs with the volume cranked right up. This set a context that struck me as more concert than church. I really enjoyed watching the band and listening to them, but it felt to me that they were doing rather than facilitating the worship. So finally I just sat back and enjoyed the show.
Now, please dont think Im trying to rekindle the old worship wars. I believe there is room in congregational worship for both traditional hymns and modern worship songs. I love them both! But the way the music was structured and implemented in your church was just not conducive to congregational worship. It was good, it was professional, but thinking about it now, I can’t help but wonder if perhaps it wasnt a bit too good and too professional. I wonder if the desire for excellence may have robbed it of much of its usefulness. Its worth considering: If our desire for excellence puts the music out of reach for the congregation, perhaps were pursuing a wrong definition of excellence.
TOPICS: Evangelical Christian; Religion & Culture; Worship
KEYWORDS: challies; church; cuzurmusicsux; singing; urmusicsux; worship; worshipservice
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To: SeekAndFind
I don’t sing in church as a courtesy to others.
2
posted on
03/21/2017 3:34:22 PM PDT
by
Nachoman
(My guns and my ammo, they comfort me.)
To: Nachoman
My wife says I sing like Elvis.....................dead...
3
posted on
03/21/2017 3:36:59 PM PDT
by
JBW1949
(I'm really PC....PATRIOTICALLY CORRECT!!!!)
To: SeekAndFind
Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, and call it a day, I say.
4
posted on
03/21/2017 3:37:51 PM PDT
by
Jim Noble
(Die Gedanken sind Frei)
To: SeekAndFind
I am thinking about writing an article “Why I didn’t get encouraged by reading any articles on Challies.com”
To: SeekAndFind
I don’t like local church written worship songs.
Not many people are very skilled at writing good worship music.
6
posted on
03/21/2017 3:43:29 PM PDT
by
metmom
( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
To: Nachoman
“I dont sing in church as a courtesy to others.”
Yeah, but do they pay you not to sing like mine does? You have to shop around for the best deal.
Medium-sized congregations are the best. They have more money to spend on things like this than the little ones, but the really big congregations can just drown you out.
7
posted on
03/21/2017 3:43:31 PM PDT
by
unlearner
(So much winning !!! It's Trumptastic!)
To: Nachoman
8
posted on
03/21/2017 3:43:49 PM PDT
by
metmom
( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
To: Nachoman
I used to think the same, then I heard for the umpteenth time that going to church is supposed to be more about me singing to God and any voice He gave me is a joyful noise to Him.
It’s not supposed to be about pleasing those around me, but pleasing God.
One day I noticed myself singing louder and not caring what others think. There are plenty of people off key and worse, but it’s about God, not others, or me.
9
posted on
03/21/2017 3:45:01 PM PDT
by
b4me
(If Jesus came to set us free, why are so many professed Believers still in chains?)
To: SeekAndFind
We have a church near me that sounds just like this. I did like the preaching, but could not stand the music service. Found a small Baptist church that sings hymns.
10
posted on
03/21/2017 3:45:30 PM PDT
by
mykroar
(Congratulations President Trump)
To: SeekAndFind
We have a church near me that sounds just like this. I did like the preaching, but could not stand the music service. Found a small Baptist church that sings hymns.
11
posted on
03/21/2017 3:45:30 PM PDT
by
mykroar
(Congratulations President Trump)
To: BereanBrain
Why stop there? “Why I didn’t handle your poisonous snakes and talk in unintelligible languages” would be another good one.
12
posted on
03/21/2017 3:51:45 PM PDT
by
BipolarBob
(I just got done celebrating Black History Month. Obama and Kaepernick are both history. Hurray!)
To: metmom
We have an 88 yo woman that has written at least a dozen songs that are wonderful. I think they are recording quality. I have been thinking about asking her if she would like them to be made into a CD.
13
posted on
03/21/2017 3:55:38 PM PDT
by
chuckles
To: chuckles
That’s terrific.
But not common.
14
posted on
03/21/2017 3:56:51 PM PDT
by
metmom
( ...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith...)
To: SeekAndFind
The Bible says “Make a joyful noise”
Not “Sing an aria”
Sing to Him.
To: b4me
I used to think the same, then I heard for the umpteenth time that going to church is supposed to be more about me singing to God and any voice He gave me is a joyful noise to Him. Its not supposed to be about pleasing those around me, but pleasing God.
One day I noticed myself singing louder and not caring what others think. There are plenty of people off key and worse, but its about God, not others, or me.
16
posted on
03/21/2017 4:07:36 PM PDT
by
COBOL2Java
("Game over, man, game over!" (my advice to DemocRATs))
To: SeekAndFind
And then those praise chant songs. Everyone sounding like a bunch of hare Krishna zombies.
The old hymnals need to go back in.
17
posted on
03/21/2017 4:07:57 PM PDT
by
DesertRhino
(Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up.)
To: JBW1949
18
posted on
03/21/2017 4:11:11 PM PDT
by
LS
("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
To: COBOL2Java
He married a woman named Harmony.
I love that !
:-)
.
19
posted on
03/21/2017 4:12:46 PM PDT
by
Mears
To: DesertRhino
Praise chants. Doesn’t the Bible exhort us against mindless repetitions in our worship?
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