[AD(J)]

Hey all, it's been a while, but I'm glad to be back around.

I'd like to get your opinions on corporate musical worship (as opposed to a living a life of worship, which I will try to define below) and its intent; Is it purely for God or do we get something out of it as well?

The framework I am interested in is that of comparison to other religions, and the reason I ask is that I recently heard a sermon concerning music that troubled me.

The only other thing you need to know (if you don't already) is that I am the 'music guy' at my church. This has a great deal of bearing on my views, their relation to my pastors views, not to mention the people who I am charged with leading in weekly worship.



The framework: I see most world religions as having a characteristic 'way to live,' dating as far back as the 700's BC with Lao Tzu and The Tao (literally, 'the way') and on up through the ages, including Christianity.

For Christians, we see this way summed up when Jesus was asked to define the most important commandment. He replied, "Love the Lord your God with [everything] and love your neighbor as yourself." To me, this the scriptural definition in the simplest terms of being a living sacrifice, a life as an act of worship to God. There are other scriptures that speak of a being a living sacrifice, but I think this verse sums up the nuances of all the others very succinctly. To be a living sacrifice, to live a life of worship is to put God first and to love others (which is unnatural) as you love yourself (which is natural). It's the fact that this is so simple and yet so difficult that it is characterized as being a sacrifice. It's hard to do.

Furthermore, I see this paralleled in many other world religions, some phrase it differently, others would define it's purpose differently, but there is a common theme of love for God or The Way, and love for your fellow man, social justice, doing the right thing, etc.

No worries up to this point.... Okay.




Now to get more narrow in scope; Where does musical worship fit into this picture?

In other religions, I see the use of music or even mantra/chant elements as performing a sort of centering function, the method in which people connect to God. Even in early Christian tradition we see Gregorian Chant and other monophonic traditions that closely resemble this idea of reciting spiritual truths and thus worshiping God, but the difference (as it has been articulated to me, at least) between Christianity and other world religions is that musical worship is solely for God and we, as worshipers, should have no agenda or expectations.

For most other world religions, adherents have spiritual experiences during musical worship/meditation/chant/etc... This is often how people commune with God, by closing themselves off from the outside world through a repeated mantra, phrase, melody, or even in reverent silence. The musical or repeated elements of this worship experience seem to have a mildly manipulative quality, serving to shut down the critical mind and allow the worshiper to be enveloped in the experience. People whom I have spoken with from other religious traditions would not disagree that there is an almost hypnotic effect to musical worship or the use of mantra; they would say it is a means to connection with God, a connection that necessitates such measures on the part of the individual.



The similarity I see is that with Christian worship music, though it has been influenced by western music structure, ie, verse, chorus, verse, bridge; we still have repeated spiritual truths and attributes of God, much like these ancient traditions. We just put a more modern spin on it with the musical styling, but it all grows out of the old school Gregorian Chant and we can trace it's history without missing a beat (no pun intended) right up to these modern guys like M W Smith and Chris Tomlin.




Now I've been told that when we 'enter into worship' it is solely for God and we should not go into the experience selfishly, looking for anything of our own to take away from it. Most other religious traditions will admit that the use of repeated phrases and melodies is a somewhat manipulative device that allows a worshiper to turn off their critical mind, the mind that would inherently doubt the intangible realm of God, in order to draw close to him and experience his reality.

But the moment I brought up this parallel with a collection of people at my church, the opinions of whom I have come to value, I got a resounding response to the negative. They wholeheartedly rejected the idea that music is a 'hypnotic device' in any way, and maintained that Christian worship is solely for God and God alone.



The sermon: This leads me to a recent sermon (which I have to believe was somewhat prompted by my apparently scandalously open minded view of musical worship) that served to establish that Christian worship is solely for God, and while we may experience a closeness to God during that time, it is only by His choosing to reveal himself to us and is not something we should ever seek, because to do so is a confusion of what worship is intended to be.

Now I feel suddenly on the outs with some of my close friends, and also with my pastor. It's like no one in this church has ever been confronted with the idea that music can and often is mentally stimulating in these sorts of ways. Beyond that, it seems like the consensus is that for me to go into worship expecting to connect with God is selfish.

Can't I just be admitting what should be happening if my worship is pleasing to God by expecting to connect with and experience him?



I'm not sure exactly what direction this should go, I know this could be a big topic, but I'm interested in some other view points.

Thanks so much!!
Tony