Sunday Morning Missionary Part 7

Sing, Sing, Sing 

Ephesians 5:18-19 (ESV)
¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody to the Lord with your heart,

Something special happens when we sing in worship together, maybe even more special than any other moment we share as Christians. Maybe that’s why God reserved more pages in His Scriptures for a book full of songs than anything else. In the book The Pursuit of God A.W. Tozer wrote,

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

As we join in singing together we are being tuned to the same fork. Our attention is being drawn away from ourselves and being united with those around us to our tuning fork, Jesus Christ. In these moments of song we are praying prayers of adoration and praise, confessing our sin and our need for Him, proclaiming our faith and the Gospel to each other, and encouraging one another to believe it.

When we sing together in worship, Jesus is our tuning fork and He unites us around Himself. Does this mean we should only sing together, or that singing is the only way we can be unified in worship together? Absolutely not! Does it mean that we should skip prayer and preaching to sing? Of course not! But it should highlight how important the songs we choose and these moments together are, and how important it is for each of us to participate.

The Songs We Sing

Singing together in worship is a distinctly Christian activity. You can sing along with others to your favorite song on “secular” radio or at a “secular” concert. But even then, those songs cause you to consider your own life and your own dreams and desires.  But, when Gospel centered, Scripturally saturated, theologically accurate, and Jesus exalting songs are sung by a people who have been made spiritually alive together by the Holy Spirit something transcendent takes place.

It is unfortunate that in today’s Christian culture, our corporate singing and song choice has been riddled with such controversy and is now dominated by discussions of style and personal preference. Music has caused such division that local churches actually split over it. It got so bad that the name “Worship Wars” was coined. In an article Gordon MacDonald wrote in 2002 he observed, “For many young people choosing a church, worship leaders have become a more important factor than preachers. Mediocre preaching may be tolerated, but an inept worship leader can sink things fast.” While culturally speaking, churches, and Christians for that matter, are in a better place, I can tell you, as one who has had numerous conversations with people looking for churches, musical style or performance and personal preference are still being idolized.

At The Way, we don’t ignore musical style all together, and it is not that we don’t care if a song is sing-able. In the world we live, these have to be considered. But, musical style will never be the highest priority as we choose songs or arrange worship gatherings. If we are defined by our style more than the content, we have missed the point. We are not striving to simply provide a cool experience, but are striving to tune each heart to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We a

re confident that when we do, this is the only experience that will provide any level of satisfaction. So our songs are chosen and arranged intentionally each week with that in mind.

Before we consider style, tempo, or even our own personal preferences for a song we sing together it must meet 4 criteria.

1.  Gospel –Centered – the Gospel is our only hope and the motive for our living. On his blog Joe Thorn puts it like this, “to be gospel-centered means that that the gospel - and Jesus himself - is our greatest hope and boast, our deepest longing and joy, and our most passionate song and message. It means that the gospel is what defines us as Christians, unites us as brothers and sisters, changes us as sinner/saints and sends us as God's people on mission. When we are gospel-centered the gospel is exalted above every other good thing in our lives and triumphs over every bad thing set against it.”
2.  Theologically Accurate – we aren’t opposed to artistic language and metaphor. But, if a song blatantly opposes what the Scripture teaches about God, His identity, or His work of redemption and restoration, we will not sing it no matter how catchy or popular it is. Just because 99.5 Hit FM or 88.3 The Wind will play it on their radio station, doesn’t mean we should sing it in the church.
3.  Scripturally Saturated – This doesn’t mean that we only sing scripture set to song. But, the doctrines of God’s word should be readily apparent in them. For example, one of my favorite songs that we have sung is All I Have Is Christ by Sovereign Grace Music. Doesn’t just define God and His work, but also clearly agrees with the biblical perspectives of who we were apart from Jesus.
4.  Jesus Exalting – There is a perspective that if we sing songs that focus on us personally, we are not exalting Jesus. But, when these first three criteria have been met, there is great joy and encouragement as we think about the implications of the Gospel in our lives. The psalms are full of these expressions of God’s work on a person’s behalf. So, as we sing How He Loves, we can only exalt ourselves as those loved by God when we exalt Him for His work for us through Jesus.

What we are singing together matters and Sunday Morning Missionaries come ready and longing to sing and tune our hearts to Him in song together. In fact, there aren’t many things that would keep us from it. 

Sunday Morning Missionary Part 6

Big Church

To this point, our focus has been directed to those moments of the Sunday morning worship gathering before the service actually begins. Hopefully, you sensed how important it is that we each strive to be very intentional in our efforts to love one another, express hospitality to visitors, and serve one another as we gather. But as important as those moments are before the service, the Sunday morning gathering is more than just another opportunity for the church members to spend time together. We set this time aside to specifically worship God together through unified singing, the preaching of His Word, and the observance of His sacraments. Just as each of us have a significant part to play before the service; we each play an important part throughout the service as well.

I remember as a child not wanting to go to “big” church.  I don’t know if anyone else ever referred to the church service this way. But we called it “big” church because all the adults or big people went there, and kids under a certain age would do something else. My lack of desire to go to “big” church didn’t sway my mother’s mind though. I definitely sat through my fair share of Sunday morning church services. It seemed so boring, and it was so difficult to sit still for so long. It wasn’t the singing I had a problem with, I actually enjoyed that. During the singing we got to move around and we didn’t have to be so quiet. But once the preacher took the stage a most intense internal struggle to sit still began.

In our over-stimulated world, it’s not just children that struggle with this anymore. Church leaders everywhere are doing all kinds of crazy things to “spice” up their services to make them more engaging. This is not always a bad thing, there is a reason some churches have been referred to as “the frozen chosen.” There should be a sense of joy and celebration as we gather. But, it isn’t hard to go too far in the other direction and allow our antics to take center stage. @celebritypastor recently posted, “My usher team got all huffy when I asked them to wear reindeer costumes today. Their hearts are two sizes too small.” When the most memorable moment in a worship service is not an encounter with the living God, but rather the cool lighting effects, or the pastor swinging in on a rope, or ushers dressed like reindeer, a line has been crossed.

Methodology and the use of technology are never the ultimate answer to bringing life to the church service. We’ll never get past our boredom in church, until we quit going for a reason other than seeking Jesus. I was in my late twenties the first time I went to church because I wanted to go. But once I learned that the service wasn’t a spectator sport, everything changed. When I sought Jesus, good songs became great songs, good preaching became great preaching, church services went from being a duty to a delight. When I began seeking Jesus’ face, the style of music didn’t matter, I put less pressure on the preacher to perform, and I always left fulfilled knowing I had been with God’s people in God’s presence.

Remember, what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, whatever we do should be done to His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31). It should be done with Him as the central motivating factor. Everything else is just a simple methodology that will bring no fulfillment or bear any spiritual fruit. It may feel good for the moment, but If Jesus and His Father’s glory are not the main goal of the service those good feelings fade and leave us empty handed.

At The Way, we are not often polished with a lot of frills. But, the leadership strives to ensure Jesus is clearly exalted, and His Gospel message is proclaimed repeatedly each time we are together. Each song is chosen and placed in order intentionally. The sermons are intended to not only explain the Scripture, but also to help us see how the Gospel is the answer. Each week we observe communion, not because it’s a cool tradition, but because it emphasizes even our response is in light of the finished work of Jesus on the cross and the hope of His resurrection. But, no matter how hard the church leadership works, there is still a necessity for the members to come as a people on mission. To pull off life-giving, heart-changing worship gatherings takes us all of us doing our part.

For the Sunday Morning Missionary the worship gathering is not just another stop on the weekly itinerary. Sunday Morning Missionaries come to church with their hearts prepared and ready to worship Jesus together. Sunday Morning Missionaries don’t passively hear the sermon, but listen intently for God’s voice from His Word. Sunday Morning Missionaries come seeking Jesus because they know nothing else satisfies. Sunday Morning Missionaries come knowing that this is one of God’s blessings that equip them to be missionaries Monday through Friday.