Tag Archive for 'Contextualization'

Worship Leadership Series (part two): Singing is Commanded in Scripture

Published
by
Michael Clary
on February 26, 2008
in Worship Leading
. 0 Comments

In many contemporary worship settings, the focus of the music appears to be primarily self-expression of one’s relationship with God. While there’s nothing wrong with this, I do believe that it is a misplaced priority. I aim to show in this post that worship music in the church is to be primarily for instruction in the truths of scripture and not for self-expression.

Ephesians 5:18ff says this:

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 5 is a great example of the purpose that God assigns to singing in his church. The positive command in 5:18 is to be filled with the Spirit. How, one might ask, is this to be accomplished? Continue reading ‘Worship Leadership Series (part two): Singing is Commanded in Scripture’

Worship Leadership Series (part one): Surveying the Extremes

Published
by
Michael Clary
on February 22, 2008
in Worship Leading
. 0 Comments

Albert Mohler quotes Paul S. Jones, who surveys the contemporary church landscape. It is a hedonistic, narcissistic, relativistic, ‘me-focused’ age, though, is hardly one that should inform and define our approach to God. And yet, it does. We measure our success by numbers, our relevance by how technologically integrated and up-to-date we are, and our worship by how good it makes us feel. In the minds of contemporary saints, hymns clash with the spontaneity, simplicity, and style that have come to rule in the modern evangelical church.

I agree with this sentiment. Here’s a sampling from a recent Passion CD (Our Love is Loud) featuring Charlie Hall:

Suddenly I feel you holding me
Suddenly I feel you holding me
Suddenly I feel you holding me.
Suddenly I feel you holding me.

Sweep me away.
Sweep me away.
Sweep me away.
Sweep me away.

Suddenly I feel your hand in mine.
Suddenly I feel your hand in mine.
Suddenly I feel your hand in mine.
Suddenly I feel your hand in mine.

Sweep me away.
Sweep me away.
Sweep me away.
Sweep me away.

No kidding. These are the lyrics to this song that thousands of young people sang at the tops of their lungs with eyes closed, full of tears, and arms uplifted.

Or perhaps you’ll appreciate the timeless truths that edify God’s people such as this one by Chris Tomlin:

We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
We’re gonna dance in the river. Yeah.
(are you ready?)
We’re gonna dance, dance, everybody dance.

Not exaggerating. Look it up.

This song is a zit on the nose of an otherwise brilliant songwriting career. I like Chris Tomlin. This song… not so much.

This blog has actually found the top 5 worst worship songs. I guarantee you’ve sang at least 3 of them.

That’s the extreme on one end. However, as noted in a previous post, these emotional excesses can lead to overreactions against them. Some contemporary churches have totally abandoned contemporary worship music and have gone all hymns, all the time. And then some are sarcastically calling for Psalm Chanting and no music in church for 10 years.

A healthy dose of balance is in order because great songs have been written throughout the ages of the church both ancient and modern. Great songs have been written in a diversity of styles. We don’t need to run screaming from a Passion conference, tear our robes, and swear to never sing contemporary music again. We do, however, need to exercise a little wisdom and balance in how worship is led. In our individualistic age, everyone has an opinion about music and the worship leader’s job is to help the whole body unite around a particular style of music.

This will be a long series, but here are the topics that I’ll be covering.

Part 2. Singing is commanded in scripture.
Part 3. Choose the right worship leader.
Part 4. The most important task for a worship leader: Song selection.
Part 5. The second most important task for a worship leader: Contextualization.
Part 6. Leading a contemporary worship band

Feel free to comment your favorite bad worship songs below.

What I’m Learning About Building a Racially Unified Church

Published
by
Michael Clary
on December 19, 2007
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

shuler.jpgI’ve had some interesting conversations lately about Christianity and racial unity. The first was a couple of months ago with a couple who have adopted a bi-racial child. They were part of a church who heavily emphasizes racial reconciliation and shows it with action. This has been a dream of mine, but honestly, until recently, it has seemed near impossible to accomplish.

The typical scenario is this: (1) White church wants to be more diverse. (2) They engage in tokenism by hiring a black person to either do music or be a community pastor with emphasis in reaching black folks and trying to get them to come to the white church. (3) He fails. (4) The church abandons the endeavor while patting themselves on the back for trying. Continue reading ‘What I’m Learning About Building a Racially Unified Church’

Racial Unity in Church Planting

Published
by
Michael Clary
on December 18, 2007
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Laura and I visited Cincinnati today. I was there a week ago and really sensed a leading from the Lord to seriously pursue planting a church there in the urban downtown area. I blogged about it last week.

A wise friend told me recently that when you’re looking to plant a new church, you want to see some tangible evidence that God’s hand is in the project and He is working to pull things together. In light of my trip there today, here are some ways that I definitely see God working.

1. This church plant was being planned before I came along. I was fascinated to find out, while meeting the Cincinnati Baptist Association Director of Missions, that his association has determined inner-city Cincinnati as his top priority for this year. While I was thinking that I would have to come into a new city to start a new work, God showed me that I will be going into a new city to continue and reinforce the work that others have already begun. Continue reading ‘Racial Unity in Church Planting’

Racial Unity, Arts, Mercy, College Students and Church Planting

Published
by
Michael Clary
on December 6, 2007
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

There are several streams of ministry desires that have been in my heart for some time. Some seemed more realistic than others. For example, Laura and I have a strong passion for racial reconciliation, but this problem seems so overwhelmingly difficult that I had relegated it to the “would be nice, but…” status. Essentially, the people that I have spoken with who understand this issue well told me that it would be very difficult for a white man to address the complex issues of black America with any degree of credibility. Continue reading ‘Racial Unity, Arts, Mercy, College Students and Church Planting’