I had a conversation recently with someone about worship music. They were talking about how worship music, whether in church or on the radio, makes them feel good and lifts their spirits on a bad day. Since the early 90’s, worship music has been big. Big in evangelical churches, big for Christian artists, big on Christian radio, and big for Christian music labels. The lines have blurred where concerts have become worship events, and church services have become impressive performances. I know I’m not the only one thinking it, but I’ll say it. I don’t quite get it.
Maybe it’s my analytical nature, or my often-skeptical way of looking at things, but does anyone else feel a little uneasy about paying $25 for a ticket to see a famous performer in an arena worship Jesus? Perhaps all that money is going to charity and not into making the performer rich, I get that. And this is not so much a critique of the industry or the big names, but the fact that it even is an industry gives me pause. Industries arise to fill needs. Whose needs? I don’t think it’s God’s needs, so it must be our needs.
And I know it makes you feel good, I’m not disputing that. I often enjoy Sunday worship with its collective appeals to the truth of the gospel or its call of yearning for the presence of God. But I have been in situations where I feel like a spectator, where the singer, between songs, will say random breathy god-isms with no context or meaning, or an emotive change of key seems to magically usher in the Spirit, and I can’t help but thinking… is this all about me? Am I supposed to be the center of my worship experience? Do we consume worship music simply because it makes us feel good?
If I sound a little harsh, I apologize. This is not intended to be a treatise on the evils of worship; far from it. What I am attempting to do, ahead of this season of Advent, is to unmarry our tendencies toward consumerism with our experience of worship. Worship is about one thing, be it through study, song, or prayer, and that one thing isn’t me. My experience does not determine the quality of the event.
Throughout this holiday season, I will try to bear in mind that it is not primarily about me. If I worship through giving, it’s not so I feel good. If I worship through singing, it’s not for the emotional high. Those things can be secondary effects, but making God the center of worship is what worship is about.
--Jeff Hyson
