Worship (4)

I wonder how many times in my life I had to listen to people complaining about the songs sung in church.  Some complain about too many old songs being sung.  Some complain about too many new songs being sung.  Some complain because the songs are sung repeatedly.  Let's quickly look at these...

Old songs: Think for a moment about old hymns like 'Amazing Grace', 'It is well with my soul' and 'Guide me oh Thou great Jehovah'.  Did you know that these songs are in 'public domain'?  This means that there is no more copyright on the songs as the composer has been dead for 50 years or longer.  What chance is there that any of the songs I composed will still be sung in only one church more than 50 years after my death - let alone being sung all over the world?  Little chance if any.  So what makes these songs so special?  Obviously God likes these songs.  There is anointing when these songs are sung.  So the conclusion?  There is still space for the old songs in church.

New songs:  It's nice to learn new songs.  I think the mistake made by worship leaders is to have too many new songs too fast.  Worship is like dancing.  You are not dancing as long as you are counting the steps.  You are not worshiping as long as you have to concentrate on the melody and the words.  So new songs tend to 'break' the worship atmosphere.  For that reason, I recommend that a new song is introduced to the congregation as the first song.  Tell them they are going to learn a new song.  When the song is done, carry on with songs they know so that they can worship instead of just sing.

Songs sung repeatedly:  We sing songs repeatedly so that people can stop 'counting the steps' and start 'dancing'.  The more you sing it, the easier it gets to close your eyes and focus on God, instead of focusing on the words on the board.  The more songs you know, the easier it is to worship!

And now a word to the people complaining:

You are missing one very important point!  The worship team is not there to entertain you!  They are there to help you worship God.  It's all about God!  It's not about you!  No worship team will ever be able to satisfy all the needs and wants of the congregation and we are not meant to do it either.  We are there to provide a vehicle with which you can get to the presence of God Almighty.  It is your choice whether you are going to stand and criticize the vehicle, or whether you are going to get on board.  It is your choice whether you are going to worship God whatever the song, or whether you are going to be left out of His presence while you are complaining about the songs.

Stop complaining!  Start worshiping!