What's the point of new songs?

While I was reticent to post another blog on worship-related musings, this seems to be at the core of what I'm currently pondering, so I thought I might as well go ahead, since nothing else was inspiring. In the meantime, my browser crashed and I lost three paragraphs-worth of work. So let's begin again, shall we? (This time in Stickies where the only time I lose stuff is when my hard drive crashes....)

On Sunday afternoon, a lovely young lady (one of my up-and-coming worship leaders) mentioned that she had never introduced a new song and hoped not to. While this did not lower my respect for her or her worship-leading abilities, it did cause me to stop and ponder: what is the point of introducing new songs?

Now, the musician in me, of course, knows the answer to that: old songs get boring very quickly. I have a 300+-song repertoire, but if I only played those songs all the time and never any others (whether new chronologically or just new to my repertoire), I would probably be just done with with worship in, I don't know, like 4 years? Perhaps that's a slight exaggeration, but I'm sure you get my point. But that's just the musician's heart in me speaking (what little there is, I suppose). And, as I know you are all aware of, the music is hardly the core aspect of worship. (In the original version of this paragraph, I elaborated on this point for five or six more sentences, finally deciding that it was useless to elaborate on a point you all would be well familiar with, so I decided NOT to spend my time recreating it.)

So, as far as the worship aspect goes, why should we be introducing new songs? As far as I'm concerned, there are four aspects of worship leading:
1. What God wants to hear
2. What the congregation needs/wants
3. What meets the band's needs
4. What meets the worship leader's needs
(Obviously in order of importance.)


Going from the bottom up, I already addressed my needs, as a worship leader (and I'd assume most worship leaders who play as often as I do would feel similar. Not to the point where you have to play four different songs every set; there obviously should be SOME continuity. But some variety is appreciated by most musicians [from my observation, anyway]).

In similar fashion, I think the band's needs are closely related. They want some variety. Younger/less experienced musicians obviously need more repetition than more experienced musicians. But still, playing the same four songs for six months straight gets tedious even for beginning guitarists (as I heard from my guitar girls when they played Sweetly Broken and Invitacion Fountain every week for three months due to lack of direction from their TEACHER).

The congregation gets a little more sticky as it gets more varied. Non-musicians don't get sick of music NEARLY as often as musicians (in my experience). But if a congregation is fully utilizing the tools of worship songs to worship (as in, gleaning insight/wisdom/whatever from the songs instead of rote repetition of words to tune), there's only so much one song can do in a certain period of time. While "I want to know you" is a valid statement, at a certain point, a dedicated heart yearns for something more. This also gets into the whole idea of seasons of songs. Taking for granted that the vast majority of congregational worship songs (especially Vineyard songs) are inspired by what God is doing with the individual, the group, the church, the denomination, or the body of Christ as a whole, wouldn't this mean that at some point, God moves on to doing/teaching/growing something different, rendering the songs mostly useless? Not necessarily completely useless. Some songs take on a new life or new meaning. Others spark thanksgiving offered in memory of past seasons. But never does a song carry as much weight or life as it did in the season in which it was intended. (At least, that's my thesis.) But perhaps that should be an entirely different blog topic.... or three.

What God wants to hear is obviously the MOST important component in song selection. The obvious Biblical support is the verse "Sing to the Lord a new song." However, I've heard this interpreted so many different ways, it has about the chance of a sieve working to fill a pool as it does of being supportive evidence. I mean, doesn't just singing in the Spirit fulfill this requirement? Not being a Biblical scholar, I'm far from being able to do anything in the way of supporting this Biblically. In following the Spirit-singing line of thought, however, isn't what the Spirit doing at the time the most relevant worship? Considering that most people cannot jump straight into the heart of what the Spirit is doing without any preparation, I'll assume, for the sake of this argument, that worship songs are simply tools to travel down this road where the end destination is knowing what the Spirit of God is doing in the moment. In this case, perhaps the best set is one that incrementally leads the worshipper down this path, ever descending upon this end destination. But this journey surely includes the most relevant songs--those God has inspired most recently based upon what He is doing with His people.

Geez, that had no structure and was a GREAT look into my mind...

In any event, I think this is long enough. It's just what's on my mind right now. How important is introducing new songs to the life of a worshipping congregation?

My Final Project

For my final project for the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen's University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

The song: Let Your Justice Reign.mp3 

The lyrics:

Let Your justice reign

With Your heart of mercy to guide

To seek the lost

To love the scorned

To heal the broken

To grieve the mourned

Let justice reign

And mercy govern

Let Your justice reign

With Your heart of mercy to guide

To fight for the weak

To reverse injustice

To embrace the lepers

To aid the wounded

Let justice reign

And mercy govern

CHORUS:

Give us Your heart, (Lord) Jesus

Give us Your heart

Let Your justice reign

With Your heart of mercy to guide

To release the bound

To protest brutality

To battle the oppressors

To free the captives

Let justice reign

And mercy govern

BRIDGE:

As the world crashes around

And desperately seeks an answer

Let Your heart be sovereign

And guide us, Your faithful servants

The chords: Let Your Justice Reign.pdf

The explanation: 

            At the beginning of the course, when we looked at the four “echoes of a voice” (Wright, Simply Christian, Pg. 1 – 51), I knew immediately that the one that resonated most deeply with me was justice. As we applied these echoes to overall worship structure, I consciously realized something for which my heart had been crying out for several years: as a church, we just simply do not play enough songs about justice. So, coming to the close of the course, I knew exactly what topic my song would be built around. However, as I studied my own blog posts and verses in the Bible such as Isaiah 61:1-3 and Matthew 10:8, I knew that in my mind, justice would never again be able to be separated from mercy (see my blog post “Justice, huh?” ). Built on that foundation with the aforementioned verses (and those like them) in mind, I wrote this song.

            The bridge may throw some people, but I needed something to give it kind of a peak and this seemed like it. The general idea is that in a world of destruction where people wander around desperately looking for an answer, that this is the answer—this justice and mercy—this echo of a voice. Or, rather, better stated, the God belonging to that voice is the answer.

            Also, after I wrote it, I had to question the phrase “let justice reign.” I realize this is sort of a colloquial phrase, but if justice is reigning, isn’t it sort of like an idol? But then as I began to search out my heart in writing it, I realized something: God is just. Therefore if God is reigning, justice is as well. Assuming the converse is true, if justice reigns, God is reigning. And there is nothing I would rather sing or write about than the rule and reign of God—the Kingdom of Heaven.

P.S. It's an awful recording because my guitar just plain sounded awful that day. And, also, I have cheap effects on my voice because, a. all I have are cheap effects and, b. because (ask anyone that knows me) I hate the sound of my voice without effects. I'm also not a pro at recording... Garage Band is about all I know about... so, hopefully, you'll enjoy it anyway. :)

I'm Like a ... Statue?

For the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen's University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

I always knew we were created in the image of God. Genesis 1 makes that pretty clear, I think. But I never thought any further than what that meant for us as people. But this week I was challenged to take that view and make it more outward focused.

In a video Dan Wilt recorded for the aforementioned class, he brought this statement of us being God's image-bearers to a whole different degree.

He used the context of the passage, the way people centuries before us would have understood it. To paraphrase, he stated that when a king held a piece of land distant from his kingdom, to make the residents of this land recognize him, he would place an image of himself (a statue, a portrait, something).

Dan then stated something that I listened to several times; something that basically changed my worldview: "When people would look at that . . . image-bearing icon . . . as they looked at that they would recognize, in seeing this image we remember that we are under the rulership, the reign, the Kingship (or queenship) under the royal covering, under the protection of, under the strength of the ruller who has conquered us--the ruler who oversees as, as distant as they are."

Knowing, then, that we are image-bearers of God, thinking of that as some sort of declaration of our identity pales in comparison to the practical lifestyle for which this perspective calls.

When a person of the world (the "distant" land) sees me (the image), they are reminded of a King they quite possibly have never met.

While some people would see this as some strange pressure to live up to some unknown impossible standard, it excites me and encourages me that just by the simple fact that I acknowledge His rule and reign in my life, I already am that image.

As a girl who was homeschooled and entered a public community college, I didn't quite know what to make of this. I don't wear low-cut tops, but do the boys notice? I gave a speech on a "silent siege" I was a part of, but no one spoke to me or looked at me different. I missed a couple of Spanish classes for a Mexico mission trip and told my classmates, but all they said was, "I used to go to church." I always wondered how much of a difference my presence actually made. But this new perspective gives me so much more hope that just living and breathing in His power and in His love, I already am a witness.

I, for once, actually feel excited to go back to school in the fall.

Like a Sloppy Wet Kiss

For the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen's University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

Recently some of our worship leaders (mostly in the high school age group) started playing a song titled How He Loves by John Mark McMillan. Oh, how the controversy swept over. I started playing it and ended up deciding it didn't fit into my definition of worship and, thus, should not be played during a worship set. But the reasons behind that have little to do with this topic. My recent reading in a book called Simply Christian by N.T. Wright provoked the thought of the most controversial line: "Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss."

Now, obviously this image is too much for some people right off the bat. However, I'm not entirely sure I actually agree with the theology. While I love the imagery of heaven meeting earth, I think it's far too incomplete a picture (not that our worship songs are ever able to give a complete picture of anything in so few words, but I think this phrase falls far short of describing heaven and earth and their relationship).

In N.T. Wright's book, he writes about how heaven "overlaps and interlocks" earth. Now, to me, anyway, this brings a lot of different possibilities. The song doesn't actually give much context, but what does "meeting" earth actually mean. In the context of the conferences and such where this song is used commonly, one could extrapolate that it means a powerful manifestation of the Holy Spirit. But does overlapping and interlocking mean that is the only or even most often way heaven meets earth? Perhaps heaven was there all along waiting for us to search for it. But that brings up another question: then are there certain "portals" (for lack of a better word) where heaven meets earth that are there for a time and then sort of disappear similar to openings to Narnia (such as the Wardrobe in the first book). Perhaps heaven kind of creeps up in an inconspicuous type of way.

I like to refer to something Mike Pilavachi, pastor of Soul Survivor in the UK, said when he visited my church worship leaders' song writers' meeting. He said the Holy Spirit exists in three ways: the omnipresent Spirit, the Indwelling Spirit, and the manifesting Spirit. Perhaps these three ways correlate with heaven meeting earth (how could they not?).

Perhaps heaven is always touching earth (not hard to believe, but hard to support). Perhaps a touch of heaven exists in every believer (the indwelling spirit). And perhaps there is the "heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss" manifestation of heaven meeting earth.

And perhaps it is all three.

What do you think?

Justice, huh? (ICEWS, eb 08)

For the Institute of Contemporary and Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen's University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt.

Justice is one of my core values. No matter what the punishment, everyone should get what they deserve. (I am well aware that this means we would all deserve death because we've all sinned, but I like to ignore that for the sake of someone who has done wrong to someone else getting punished.)

What I've never been able to reconcile is God's just nature with his heart of mercy. "How is that even possible?" I would ask myself.

It would seem my view of the heart behind mercy was thoroughly wrong. I thought mercy meant everyone not getting the punishment they deserve (note my pessimism).  Mercy, on the flipside, is "unmerited favor." Very miniscule distinctions, but it changes one's world view nonetheless.

The latter view is more a proactive action. Whereas  the former is a retroactive non-action. The view of "unmerited favor" is something doable. It's nearly tangible.

How does this relate to justice?

Fighting injustice (in a Godly manner) ends up looking like the active view of mercy. Fighting for the underdog; feeding the hungry; valiantly battling on behalf of the oppressed; all of these seemed like compassion to me. So while fighting for justice, it seems mercy creeps in somehow. Fighting for someone you've never met is not only justice, it's mercy as well.

Never had I noted how they went hand-in-hand. And how useless justice is without mercy as its guide. Justice for the sake of justice is not God's heart. But with justice inspiring mercy to act, God's will can be fulfilled.

(Inspird by the first chapter in N.T. Wright's book, Simply Christian.)