Music serves as a metaphor for life. This was the thought I had recently as I observed a drum solo being played as worship during an offertory. Let me explain further.
The Local Church: The Intersection of Past and Future
One of the interesting things about our local churches is that they are often the intersection point of activities for our lives and faith communities in which history meets the future in the developing narrative of God's work among us. What has happened in the church's past, it's traditions, often meets in various ways with what God is doing in the present as the presence of God's kingdom invades the culture and people of today. Forty years ago, you would be thought of as a radical to consider letting guitars into the church's music ensembles. Twenty years ago, while the praise bands had been infiltrating many of America's churches, there was still a cautious attitude about the use of solo instruments and more. Today, it seems hardly abnormal to have stylistic rock/pop music as the sound bed for our musical times of worship.
The Local Church: A Backdrop of Constant Change
In 1990, I couldn't have imagined walking into a church where the offering was done to the backdrop of a drum solo, with everyone both enjoying it, considering it praise, and at the same time giving their literal offerings. So, it may not seem at all unusual to you to hear a drum solo for an offertory. But consider, for a moment, how far our musical and liturgical traditions have changed in the short time of just 40 years. This kind of transformation is the tip of the iceberg of various kinds of changes we have seen in churches at every level, not just musical styles. From structure to liturgy to leadership to buildings to attire to speaking to technology to ministries to almost every aspect of community church life- things have changed. I created a historical timeline of some of those changes (related to worship resources) in this visual graph taken from my recent book "Ultimate Worship Resource Guide".
Yes, the church has been hit with a flood of change in the past 40 years. And things will continue to change. Progress, is ironically, the one thing that will not change it's course. And it bears down on the context and culture of the local church just as much as it has on the rest of society.
Because of the vast sweep of change the local church has been enduring, there are times when I think we just need to take a breather once in a while. Sit back, and realize that all this change is tough. Yet, in many ways, it is very worth it. We must follow God's desires and cling to those, while at the same time embracing the people He has died for and allow the backdrop of their sounds and styles not to be deemed "evil" simply because they are not what we grew up with. Hold everything up to the light of God's word and keep the good. Every good and perfect gift comes from our Father.
God's Delight At Our Joy
In that light, I wanted to share a spontaneous moment at a local church in Franklin, TN. This was on a recent Sunday morning, during the offering time. As this was happening, I reflected on the changes in church musical styles in the last 40 years and smiled as I sensed God's grace on each style, not as a "holy approval", but as a blessing from a Father who is joyful at all the expressions of love given from His children out of pure hearts.
We know that God's love and grace are at work, reaching towards us. We also know that the tumultuous churning of society has paced our culture into a constant state of a change- an ongoing revolution. God has not left us to be disillusioned and lost. He has called us into his life and to embrace Him, despite our fears. Yes, change is difficult. And the only way we can live through it is to embrace the reality of God's love as the one true anchor for our souls. Out of His love, He will build the values and character that come from a life given way to the rhythms of His grace- a constant ebb and flow that teach us to trust, to hope and to love. And to do so, even when we do not feel much faith, hope and love in our circumstances.
Here, then, is a token of that joy, that rhythm, that hope- in musical form. Enjoy!
Worshiping Him!
Kim