In churches all across America (and the world), there are worship leaders getting people to sing along as one voice. Some churches have great production value, some don’t. Some have huge choirs and organs, some don’t. Some churches teach the idea that singing the songs is just a part, and that it is all a part of giving God the glory. And some don’t.
There is a trend that is not new, but cycles around from time to time. This idea that the better the “worship time”, the better the worship. Now a days, its the better the musicians, the better the lights, the better the “flow”- the better the worship. In years past it was “the bigger the choir”, “the bigger the orchestra”, “the better the choruses”, “the better known the hymns”, the list goes on. What I am saying here is this is not a new problem in worship, and I am not calling out the up and coming worship leaders. This is for everyone.
It is easy to get wrapped up in making such a good worship experience that we forget to experience worship.
The past few weeks at Velocity, we have stripped down to a guitar and bass. Not because simpler is better, but because I wanted to spend some time on us really focusing on what we were singing, not the music we were singing it to. I don’t think there is anything wrong with a stage full of musicians and instruments and lights- but I think it can be easy for forget why we are singing. The same can be said about simplistic set ups. People can begin to worship the “simple, organic feel” just as they worship the “big band, production minded” feel.
It Isn’t About The Style
I have said before in a post that it doesn’t matter if you connect with a song- you are called to worship God, not the song. The same is said about style. If we get so caught up in the style of the worship that we miss out on the actual worship, we have missed to point.
We need to find communities where we can worship freely. That might mean that you find a community that matches your “style”, because others styles become distracting to you. But that could also mean not being part of a community that matches your preferred “style” of worship- because you have been worshipping the style, not God.
Velocity Worship 