Let’s take worship to the other extreme. Bad worship that’s great worship. Imagine eight old widows at the Sunnybrook Rest Home who gather each Sunday around an out-of-tune upright piano. And, these eight ladies are, one and all, terrible singers. Let’s say six of them had followed their husbands overseas to serve for years a missionaries. All eight of them now live with old bodies that struggle to get out of bed and shuffle their way around. Three of them know they are dying and will not be around six months from now. But, none of those things keep them away from their little weekly gathering to badly sing the praises of the Lord on another Lord’s Day morning. As surely as that Sunday sun rises in the east, those eight ladies are just as surely producing bad music that is giving God great worship.
A Tale of Two Services
I am writing this post because a young lady, one of my student (I’m a college teacher) who told me yesterday of a church her music team sang for. The church had two worship services on Sunday morning. The earlier one was overwhelming old people (isn’t that always the case?). The older gathering was not much into the music at all. Most of them were unexcited and subdued. This was a stark contrast to the second worship service. It was filled with people, mostly younger, who joined in singing the praise music with enthusiasm and appreciation. So, it was natural for her to comment (very kindly, I might add) that the second service really worshiped on Sunday, while the first service people not so much.
We’ve all thought the same way. I know I have. But, that’s just not always right, is it? At least, we do not know for sure if it is right. Most younger believers have yet to be tested by catastrophic illness. Few of them have struggled to hold on to their faith looking at the coffin of one of their own children. Many older Christians have seen people come and go over the years in the life of that church. Appearing and then disappearing with the same enthusiastic promises-made-but-not-kept that the same people bring into failed marriages or a string of jobs.
Of course, most younger believers gathered for worship will be faithful through the long flow of years. They will refine their faith in the slow hot fire of perseverance, gradually drawing off the dross as they bring God worship. Their enthusiasm in the praise music is the true outward sign of the inward reality of whole-soul adoration. The link between great music and great worship is real in them.
But, the thing is, we are too quick to link precisely what cannot be always linked: Great music greatly sung does not always demonstrate great worship greatly given. Sometimes. Many times. But not every time. Quality matters. I’d rather be in worship with great music greatly sung service, sure. But, I’ve got to recognize the quality and outward enthusiasm of what we do in worship is important, but it is not that same measure by which our heavenly Father receives that worship.
I am not writing because that talented young lady who shared her assessment of two worship services is shallow or unwilling to revise her assessment. She is neither. It is precisely because we all draw those same links between great music and great worship. And, on reflection, we are all able to recognize that those links may not be how God sees worship.
Quality Matters but does not Measure
A larger and talented church usually does have better sounding worship than a small church. But it is always possible the smaller church might be offering God better worship. But, and this is important, this does not suggest small church worship badly sung is better because it is worse — sort of taking the last will be first and absurdly applying it to musical quality. Many times, badly done worship music and a church that just doesn’t care go hand in hand. And great worship music that has been planned and structured and rehearsed is like a giving a costly diamond to his wife: there is a direct link. Normally genuine worship does flow from inner passion to outward excellence.
Smaller churches have smaller worship. Other churches have lots of people who simply don’t sing much or don’t sing well. Either way, the music usually suffers. That’s the one reliable observation. Smaller is not more spiritual. It’s just smaller. Poorly done worship music might just mean the church doesn’t have much talent or doesn’t care for the music being led.
Quality still matters. In fact, while I’m on the subject, I would respectfully beg some smaller churches with limited musical abilities to please stop trying to duplicate the thirty minutes devoted to singing praise in the nearby large church. Five or ten minutes of bad worship music is enough. In the name of decency, have mercy on those who us who cringe at an out-of-tune piano. C. S. Lewis generally read a book during the music of worship. There are times I’d certainly like to. But, even then, I still know in the ears of our great God, surrounding by eternal praise, we are all worshiping out of tune and that it’s the harmonics of hearts, not harps, that are carried by divine grace before the throne of mercy.
I’d rather sit in a service with great music than bad music. Who wouldn’t? If you lead worship, make it as amazingly and impressively wonderful as you can. Let’s not give God a fake ring we bought on the cheap and imagine he’d be pleased. But, if you promise not to tell, I’ll let you in on a secret. Even at our best, we’ve never actually given God an honest-to-goodness diamond, anyway. But, that’s okay. He loves us enough not to come down and point that out every week.
