Special Edition: Why contemporary worship?

Transcription

1 S P E C I A L E D I T I O N Special Edition: Why contemporary worship? Exploring our roots The Contemporary Worship Movement By Dan Wilt Why Vineyard? By Don Williams

2 Looking Into Our Past Welcome to this unique issue of Inside Worship: Exploring Our Roots. To know from where we come, someone has said, is to know where we are going. For today s worship leader, it is vital that we know the shoulders on which we stand, so that we can be those shoulders to the next generation. Dan Wilt Creative Editor, Inside Worship The Vineyard movement, like all 21st century church movements, is asking many questions in our emerging world. In order to move forward well as a worshiping community, the Vineyard must look both to the wider foundations of the contemporary worship movement, and the theology that makes the Vineyard worship expression both vital and essential. It is important that worship leaders think well about these issues as we continue to lead our communities in contemporary worship. Provided here is a primer, a brief snapshot, of some of the more recent (historically speaking) cultural roots behind the contemporary worship movements of today. Our prayer is that, in knowing a bit more about the forces that lie behind the birth of contemporary worship music, we may find the ability to wisely use it in the coming decades of the worshipping church. While a more ancient exploration into the roots of today s contemporary worship music could be explored, this snapshot shows the more historically current influences that have shaped what we know as modern worship. From the continual human need to sing a new song, to the role of contemporary Christian worship songs in restoring emotional wholeness to the church, to the influence of the romantic movement on the modern/postmodern mind, this brief book excerpt is designed to give contemporary worship leaders a framework for the necessity of current and emerging worship expressions in building the Kingdom of God in culture. Don Williams then eloquently speaks into the basic theological foundations that have made the Vineyard expression of contemporary worship so unique and vital in our generation. Enjoy a bite of foundation orientation on the paths that lead us to the worship of today, and enjoy this unique issue.

3 Exploring Our Roots: The Contemporary Worship Movement An Introduction It is the middle of a stormy night on March 9th, A young captain on a slave ship is awakened by cries of The ship is sinking, the ship is sinking! Recalling words from a book he is reading called The Imitation Of Christ by Thomas a Kempis, the young man begins a process of conversion that takes years to culminate. Finally, moved by the merciful act of God in extending grace to the worst of sinners he, a slave ship officer John Newton devotes his life fully to the service of Christ. A new song is born in his heart, and then into the world. The opening words become a fresh anthem for his day: Amazing Grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. 1 The simple song takes on a surge of life in congregations through England, and feeds both an evangelical revival and the abolition of the slave trade throughout the nation.2 Why Is Singing So Important? In a personal interview with Brian Doerksen, respected contemporary worship leader and author of the song, Come Now Is The Time To Worship, we dialogued over the question of why singing is so vital to the worshiping life of a congregation. His reflection introduces us to the essential vitality of contemporary worship expression and our ongoing generational urge to sing songs that we know, love and own together. Here are Brian s thoughts: Note: The following is a brief excerpt from the book Perspectives: Five Views On Worship to be published by Broad man Holman Publishers. No part of this is to be reproduced for use beyond this special edition of Inside Worship. Visit to purchase this book of dia logue between liturgical, traditional, blended, contempor ary and emerging worship authors. Why do we sing songs in the first place? We do it because it is something that we can do together. There are probably other things that we could do to express our love and our worship to God that would be, in one sense, just as valid. But they re not easy for us to do together. Yet we can get ten people, or a hundred people, or a thousand, or a hundred thousand - whatever number we choose - and we can all get together and sing a song. That song reflects what is going on in our hearts and our minds, together. There is truth that we re affirming, but there s also affection that we re expressing. That s why I think that singing as an expression of worship has stood the test of time. 3 Is There A Place For A New Song? The fact that music and worship expression are a welcome part of Christian worship is an assumption we may all share. That creative worship must, and should, arise from human beings in response to the character of God is a celebrated idea across church worship forms. The scripture itself resounds with the music of our allegiance to one King, from Genesis to Revelation, and whether the musical expression of worship is implied or overt, we embrace its vitality in the life of the people of God. But I have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance. I will sing to the Lord because He has treated me generously (Psalm 13:5-6). Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; play the lyre to our God. (Psalm 147:7). To a lesser degree, today s Church embraces the fact that other, more demonstrative expressions of musical and music-related worship may have their place as well across the span of history. We ascent, at least mentally, to the reality that dancing and more celebrative music has some type of place historically among the community of the faithful.4 Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and lyre (Psalm 149:3). Yet, there remains one area of musical worship expression that has tradition-

4 ally evoked passionate emotions, and even the most virulent of language, within the historic fellowship of Christ. What has inspired such passionate postures of the heart? That arena we might designate as the the new song. A series of verses from the Old and New Testament highlight the presence of this particular worship phenomenon. Sing a new song to Him; play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout (Psalm 33:3). He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord (Psalm 40:3). Sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth (Psalm 96:1). Sing a new song to the Lord, for He has performed wonders; His right hand and holy arm have won Him victory (Psalm 98:1). Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of the godly (Psalm 149:1). Sing a new song to the Lord; His praise from the ends of the earth, you who go down to the sea with all that fills it, you islands with your inhabitants (Isaiah 42:10). And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals; because You were slaughtered, and You redeemed us for God by Your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation (Revelation 5:9). I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of cascading waters and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was also like harpists playing on their harps. They sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders (Revelation 14:2-3a). In each of these Old and New Testament passages the adjective new modifies the noun song. These words together speak of a joyful expression that is musical, vibrantly fresh and born in the moment. New, in this context, can even intimate the themes of renewing, and rebuilding. 5 In other words, the people of God through the ages are given a gift. That gift is the capacity to respond to the present work of God with a heart song that is fresh, immediate, current, renewing and rebuilding a song that is pleasing to the One we worship, and by extension is a strength to our souls. That heart-response song, that new song, will take on the both the musical and lyrical languages that we speak in any given moment of acclamation. A new song may be simple and accessible in its music and lyric. A new song may be complex and refined in its music and lyric. A new song may be new, or it may be an old song to which we are newly awakened. Simple or complex, reflective or jubilant, a new song as defined here will always be an honest song a song that simply flows from a heart responding to God. Why Must We Sing New Songs? The songs that we love to sing are also songs that we must sing. We sing for the pleasure of God, in words and melodies current to our time, place and vocabulary. We must also sing for our own God-ward orientation in a disorienting world. New songs can orient us to God, as old songs can. Yet songs born in our day and spiritual climate are uniquely branded, among all the riches of historical music that we draw from, as our songs of contemporary worship. Who is giving us the new, contemporary songs with which we worship? Are we so lost in the zeitgeist of the postmodern age that we fail to see that it is the culture handing us our contemporary worship ingredients? Psalm 40:3 above explains clearly the source of fresh, new songs God Himself has put the new song in our mouths. Why? The Lord has given His Church fresh songs over time to enable us to convey the renewed music that is bursting from our hearts. He gives new songs to us for different purposes. One song is a theological wonder, richly and poetically voicing the worship of many generations past and present. Another song is a simple miracle born in a time and in a place, fulfilling the need of a moment (lasting years or centuries), and giving simple voice to a worshipful phrase that we love to sing to God over and over again. God s people will always find a fresh song with which to worship Him, because God will give us the new song we need for the moment. What Is Contemporary Worship Music s Historical Precedent? By necessity, there always must be, and will be, an embodiment of Christian truth that is, in every sense, popular, and that is embraced by the common person aided by common language, style and even cultural imprint. The great hymns we sing traditionally today were, at one point, the contemporary music of a season of life in a particular culture. Contemporary worship music of other ages has been injected into the life of the Communion time and time again throughout our passage on earth. A contemporary worship has always imposed itself on the life of the Church no matter how hard the organized Church sought to stem the tide of popular worship expression. St. Francis, Martin Luther, the Wesley brothers, Isaac Watts and many others have ruffled the feathers of Church traditionalists in their quest to invoke the common voice of the culture in their crafting of fresh, new worship music. What Forces Shape Contemporary Music? In considering our present age, and the contemporary worship music that is beginning to dominate many streams of the international Church, we turn to the socio-cultural factors powerfully influencing the last 50 years of contemporary worship music. From the counter-cultural music of the hippies to today, our worship music has its roots in some cultural movements that have shaped the worship expressions of our age. Bishop N.T. Wright, renowned theologian and author of Jesus And The Victory Of God, addressed some of the shaping cultural factors precipitating much of today s contemporary worship culture in a lecture at Calvin College entitled Freedom and Framework, Spirit and Truth: Recovering Biblical Worship. In his lecture he noted three major cultural movements that have skewed our understanding of what the Reformation was essentially about, and have shaped our modern worship paradigm. Firstly, Wright purports that the Enlightenment offered us the split

5 of religion and real life. Secondly, he notes that the Romantic movement elevated feeling above form, the heart above the head and body. Thirdly, Wright contends that the Existentialist, self-actualization movements of the twentieth century have taken us back to Gnosticism. He suggests that large portions of contemporary culture are built on a pursuit of self-discovery that has been swallowed hook, line and sinker by both conservative and liberal churches. 6 In other words, we as a contemporary Western people have in many ways privatized faith, elevated feelings and pursued self-actualization no moreso in the world than in the Church. Add to this strange cultural brew the ongoing fragmentation, isolation and hopelessness of the postmodern individual, and you have a culture that is in many ways less concerned with what is true and substantive, and more concerned with what is real and heartfelt. Some have suggested that this generation has virtually lost its capacity to think long and hard thoughts, and has become fixated on anything that will generate short bursts of euphoria and emotional ecstasy. 7 Now, on some level, detractors of modern worship might be fairly sure that I am about to take their side in decrying contemporary worship expression on the basis of what Wright has laid out, and indeed I am going to affirm the import of many of the challenges being brought to the modern worship community. However, I believe that the contemporary streams of the Church are not the only expressions of the Body of Christ in dire need of examining the social womb in which they were born. In other words, given the cultural shifts of the past few hundred years, emotion-filled songs of love may be an appropriate response to God as He course-corrects Church culture, just as complex hymns of praise may have been a fitting response to God in an age renewing its faith in reason. I am allowing Wright to lead us somewhere we may not steadily go, to face a topic we may not steadily face the integration of Christ and His worship with the reality that He has moored His worship, at least on this planet, in human civilization. A Worship Counterpoint I believe that the lyrical simplicity, emotion, sound and values of contemporary worship are serving a purpose of God in the Church. It is possible that the cultural reaction that is postmodernism to modernism is less to be reviled, and more to be understood as a poignant (if not necessary) contra-movement to the modern age. The musical responses of contemporary Christian churches and worshipers to what they perceive to be a more formal, cerebral and somewhat culturally disassociated approach to worship in previous ages may be a necessary interjection on the Church s course. Contemporary worship music, in this light, can be seen as a necessary worship counterpoint, pushing us toward a more integrated approach to the way that we worship a living God active in postmodernity. Again, we come back to our questions surrounding the culture in which the Church finds itself. If we can approach the topic of Christ and culture with a listening heart, often turning our thoughts to the powerful forms of media involved in music, we may find strong biblical foundations for the values that make simple contemporary worship the vital Kingdom-building force it is in the world 8 of today. 1 John Newton, Amazing Grace, Public Domain. This song was written and published in Kenneth Osbeck, 101 Hymn Stories (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1982), Brian Doerksen, Personal Interview, Winter For an excellent series of articles on this topic, see Derek Morphew, The Restoration Of Celebration Inside Worship Magazine, No ( ). This full article is also located on the web at: The_Restoration_Of_Celebration.aspx. 5 James Strong, Strong s Exhaustive Concordance Of The Bible (Lake Wylie, South Carolina: Christian Heritage Publishing Company Incorporated), N.T. Wright, Freedom And Framework, Spirit And Truth: Recovering Biblical Worship, The January Series Of Calvin College as transcribed by (23 January 2003), 7 For a vibrant dialogue on this topic, read the interchange between authors Brian McLaren and Charles Colson at 8 For some excellent thinking on the topic of Christ and culture, and the language we use related to the world, see R.C. Sproul, Lifeviews (Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 1986),

6 Why Viney There are several answers to the question, Why Vineyard? Historically, Vineyard is the fruit of revival. It goes back to the Jesus Movement, starting in the United States in the late 1960 s. Through it over three million converts came into the church, and Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California exploded, eventually giving birth to the Vineyard. Vineyard is also the consequence of John Wimber s charismatic leadership, bringing alive not only the message of the kingdom, but also the ministry of the kingdom in signs and wonders. Vineyard continues to grow by practicing Biblical values, offering culturally current worship, preaching the gospel, building community, praying for the sick, reaching to the poor, opposing injustice and planting churches internationally. It still fosters personal and corporate renewal, seeking, in John Wimber s phrase, to love the whole church. Where Vineyard prospers it is also because of its clear, central kingdom theology. What is Theology? In its strictest sense, theology is the science (logos) of God. Before the Enlightenment it was defined as absolute confessional truth. Dogma was usually equated with revelation, transcending the Bible itself and infallibly interpreting it. This was the task of the authoritative tradition and teaching of the church. With the Enlightenment (18th century), however, theology was judged by reason and the laws of nature (created by nature s God and as unchanging as he is). Doctrine became relative to reason and had to be interpreted in its historical context. With the end of the Enlightenment (the Modern period) and the rise of Post-Modernism, the intellectual elite dethroned reason as absolute and asserted that there was and is no universal story (no meta-narrative ) which offers a comprehensive picture of reality. Theology is now to be done with out the absolute foundations of either reason or revelation. For evangelicals, however, Theology begins with the critique of philosophy (Karl Barth). There is no controlling philosophy, such as idealism, romanticism, existentialism, Marxism, Feminism, Post-Modernism, or any other ism which establishes its presuppositions and framework. Barth holds that theology is both a humble and free science. It comes, not to dominate, but to serve the living God and the cause of his kingdom. It lives in response to the God who speaks for himself. It is our response to his Word and his Spirit. Since the gospel creates the church, the revelation of God creates the experience of God. The Vineyard lives in response to that revelation which has broken in upon us in Jesus Christ. The Theological Structure of the Vineyard The Vineyard s Statement of Faith represents mainstream, historic Christianity. It is fed by a number of sources. First, the creeds of the Church Fathers. We confess the Trinity, one God in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and the two natures of Christ incarnate, both fully divine and fully human at the same time (God and Man). Second, as heirs of the Reformation, we agree with Luther, He only is a theologian who can distinguish between law and gospel. Abandoning salvation by works or salvation mediated by the church, we hold to Pauline Justification by Faith alone. Like the Reformers, we concur that Popes and councils can err. Thus we accept the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, the Word of God written, as the only absolute authority for the church. This (sola Sciptura) is the final rule for faith and practice And like the Reformers, we know that still our ancient foe, doth seek to work us woe (Luther). Spiritual warfare is our lot in this world. While we live in Christ s kingdom, we do battle with Satan s kingdom, knowing that the victory has already been won. As Luther sings, Let goods and kindred go. This mortal life also. The body they may kill. God s truth abideth still. His kingdom is forever. Third, we embrace the themes of the Evangelical Awakening of the 18th century, led by John and Charles Wesley. We believe in the necessity of personal conversion to Christ through the new birth, authored by His Spirit, and personal holiness as its necessary fruit. The character of Christ and the works of the kingdom: reaching the lost, healing the sick, serving the poor, and seeking justice for the oppressed, come through this transforming work. As Detrich Bonhoeffer writes (in proper sequence), Only he who believes can obey and only he who obeys can believe. Fourth, we are heirs of the Great Century of World Missions (the 19th Century), and believe that the Great Commission stands, making us intentional missional communities. Calls for conversion and church planting are not optional. As a movement, we exist to bring the nations to Christ. Fifth, we are also heirs of the 20th Century Pentecostal/Charismatic renewals. We welcome this stream of the Spirit into the church, while remaining solidly evangelical in our theology. As our Statement of Faith confesses: We believe in the filling or the empowering of the Holy Spirit, often a conscious experience, for ministry today. We believe in the present ministry of the Spirit and exercise all of the biblical gifts of the Spirit. This leads to action: We practice the laying on of hands for the empowering of the Spirit, for healing, and for recognition and empowering of those whom God has ordained to lead and serve the Church. Sixth, the Biblical Theology Movement instructs us. We see New Testament faith as fully eschatological. This means that we are not simply waiting for the End, we are living in it. The consummation of all things has already begun in the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the outpouring of his Spirit at Pentecost. We live in the tension of the kingdom come and coming, the already and the not yet. We grow in sanctification and build churches knowing that the kingdom is here, but not fully here.

7 ard? A Theological Reflection By Don Williams, Ph.D. The Theological Story of the Vineyard Our Statement of Faith, offers not only a clear theological structure, but also the story of Redemptive History ( Heilsgeschichte ). Perhaps anticipating Post-Modernism s stress on stories, we too have a story to tell. It is this story of the kingdom, rather than, say, the structure of the Trinity (as in the Apostles Creed), which guides our Statement. It confesses the One God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as the true, eternal God, who is also the creator and ruler of all things. It then immediately moves to Satan s heavenly revolt and his counter-kingdom now infecting this good earth. Through his temptation, our original parents fell from grace, bringing sin, [and] sickness to the earth. As a result, Human beings are born in sin, subject to God s judgment of death and captive to Satan s kingdom of darkness. But God still rules his universe. As Luther said, Even the devil is God s devil. God therefore intervened to reverse the effects of the Fall by establishing his unconditional covenant with Abraham, promising blessing to the nations, by delivering Israel from bondage in Egypt, and by giving the law through Moses. Its purpose is to convict us of sin and bring us to Christ alone for salvation. Later, God makes an unconditional covenant with David, promising an heir, seated upon his throne forever. This is fulfilled in Christ, the incarnate, eternal Son who comes from his line and reestablishes God s kingdom over Israel, and then extends it to the nations. With the Apostles Creed, Jesus is confessed as God s Son, conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary. But our Statement of Faith not only speaks of his incarnation and atonement, but also of his kingdom ministry. Jesus was anointed as God s Messiah and empowered by the Holy Spirit, inaugurating God s kingdom reign on earth, overpowering the reign of Satan by resisting temptation, preaching the good news of salvation, healing the sick, casting out demons and raising the dead. Gathering His disciples, He reconstituted God s people as His Church to be the instrument of His kingdom. This is crucial to Vineyard identity. Jesus preaches and ministers the kingdom, trains his disciples to do the same, and passes this on to every generation of the church. We stand resolutely in this line. For the Statement of Faith, the ministry of Jesus climaxes in his death and resurrection. The meaning of his death is expressed classically: In His sinless, perfect life Jesus met the demands of the law and in His atoning death on the cross He took God s judgement for sin which we deserve as law-breakers. By His death on the cross He also disarmed the demonic powers. Jesus is now the reigning King: The covenant with David was fulfilled in Jesus birth from David s house, His Messianic ministry, His glorious resurrection from the dead, His ascent into heaven and His present rule at the right hand of the Father. As God s Son and David s heir, He is the eternal Messiah-King, advancing God s reign throughout every generation and throughout the whole earth today. Next, the Statement of Faith speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The Spirit brings the permanent indwelling presence of God to us for spiritual worship, personal sanctification, building up the Church, gifting us for ministry, and driving back the kingdom of Satan by the evangelization of the world through proclaiming the word of Jesus and doing the works of Jesus. This ministry climaxes with Christ s visible, glorious return, Satan s destruction, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgment. Then God will be all in all; His kingdom, His rule and reign will be fulfilled in the new heavens and the new earth in which righteousness dwells and in which He will forever be worshiped. Conclusion The Vineyard s Statement of Faith is also the Vineyard s Story of Faith. Through the whole of Scripture, God is King, reigning through his kingdom. Our theology identifies our non-negotiables, the sweep of Biblical revelation from eternity to time, from creation to consummation. It focuses our identity and nurtures us in the truth. It protects us from heresy and idolatry, and steels us for suffering and persecution in this fallen world. It also gives us the Big Story, our meta-narrative to tell. As we confess our faith, and are caught up in its story, it enlivens our worship and becomes a weapon in our warfare, to bring down Satan s kingdom, to subvert this world s systems, and proclaim Jesus alone is Lord. The Big Story of the kingdom intersects our little stories and we discover that we were made for this! As we live out this faith, in proclamation and demonstration, we contribute to the larger church. By signs and wonders, evangelizing the poor, healing the sick, and driving out demons, and contending for justice, we confront the secular mind-set and manifest God s intention to fully restore this fallen creation when Christ returns. In this we also answer the question: Why Vineyard?

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