Below are a few questions and comments that I get from time to time about worship at The Summit Church. Worship is an ongoing discussion at our church, and these are not intended to be the “end” of that discussion.” On a personal note, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am at the growth in the worship culture at the Summit Church.
“Why do you encourage such responsiveness in worship? That’s not my style.”
What characterizes biblical worship is joy. Yes, there are times of solemn reflection and repentance and mourning, and those are very appropriate in worship. But joy ought to be a recurring, if not dominant, emotion.
I don’t mean to imply that God prefers any one particular music style or personality. Look at the commands He gives to us:
“Come into his presence with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise.” (Psalm 100)
“…be filled with the Spirit, singing and making melody in your heart…” (Eph 5:18-20). A singing heart implies a joyful heart.
“In his presence is fullness of joy.” (Psalm 16:11) How can we claim to be in the presence of God with no joy?
“Clap your hands all you people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.” (Psalm 47:1). Note that this is an imperative sentence. It’s not a suggestion for a few personality types. It doesn’t say, “Clap your hands a few of you people with type-A outgoing personalities?”
“May those who delight in salvation shout for joy.” (Psalm 35:27)
“I command men everywhere to lift up holy hands.” (1 Tim 2:8)
To note, I’ve read every command in the Bible on worship. None of them are to stand in a subdued manner with a coffee cup in your hands and a bored look on your face. David never says, “I show my passion for God through my cool, laid-back, ticked-off attitude.” People who know the gospel the best should be those most exuberant in their worship.
Some say, “Well, if I don’t feel like doing those things, to do them is inauthentic.” The question is not what you feel like but what He’s worthy of. There’s nothing in the above verses about feelings.
Furthermore, here’s a little secret: God designed us as a “psychosomatic unity”, which means our posture can actually affect the mood of our hearts. Try getting on your knees when you pray, and you’ll naturally feel more submissive to God. Jesus told us in Matthew 6:21 that the passion of our heart would follow the habit of generosity. You say, “That doesn’t sound very gospel-centered… we can’t change our hearts through external action!” Don’t try to be more gospel-centered than Jesus. He has designed us so that the habits of our bodies affect the attitudes of our heart. Worship posture won’t make us worshippers, but they can help it.
When I hear about people bringing non-believers to our church, I have to wonder what the tone of our worship says to them about the glory of our God. A few weeks ago a Muslim leader from the area came with a Summit member. My thought was, “I hope they didn’t sit around a group of people who looked bored and apathetic during worship. What impression will that give them about the glory of Jesus?”
“Why do we use screens? This makes it seem more like I’m attending a concert and less like a worship service.”
God chose people as the primary medium for his message. For example, God intended for His Word to be preached, not merely read privately. There is something about the preacher feeling the text, emoting through it, and expressing it that makes it—by God’s design—even more alive than when it remains on the page. Thus, we project the preacher’s image on the screen so that people can be more connected to them as they preach the Word. They need to see my emotion, my eyes, my mouth, my body language when I share God’s Word. If the preacher weren’t on a screen, people in the back would not have nearly the same experience as those who sit close and see the face.
The same logic holds for the worship leader. How the worship leader worships is just as instructive as the words and tunes of the songs. We want the people in the back to be just as connected to the person leading as those in the front. Without image magnification, the people in the back might as well be singing along with a CD.
Note that we DO NOT do all the creative, zoom-up-on-the-guitarist-fingers stuff, because that (to me) seems too showy and performance-driven.
Since we started to put the worship leaders on-screen (at Brier Creek), I have noticed that I personally am much more engaged in worship-much more than when I had to look one direction for the words on the screen and another to see the worship leader.
“Sometimes it’s too loud.”
Ha, fair enough. Just note that this is often a cultural perception, and sometimes follows generational lines. Many feel exactly the opposite. I hear from a lot of younger (and some older) people that the tone of our worship has helped them engage in a way they’ve never been able to before. Note that we use decibel counters to ensure that the sound is at or below the recommended safety levels at every place in our auditorium. Our sound techs walk around with them during sound check to ensure that.
One of our core worship principles is to be “congregational,” which means that we want people to be aware that they are worshiping in a community. We encourage worship leaders to frequently step back, or even “unplug,” so that the congregation can “feel” in it’s singing that it is in a community.
I hope these let you in on our thinking a little bit. Again, we’re a work in progress.
