One temptation for the church musician is to become overly focused on crafting an experience for worshippers. We can easily spend a lot of time developing a certain feel to a liturgy or a certain genre of music. This is a distraction at best and leads us away from the Word at worst. Though worship is certainly something we experience, our main calling is not to find the best “worship experience.”
I’m not saying that our experience is not important, and hopefully it’s great! However, first of all we are called to worship someone through something specific. The experience is sort of a by-product of worship. In order to help refocus our efforts, I will attempt to make one philosophical point and one practical.
Who and What
Though it may sound strange at first, I suggest that we know “the someone” though knowing “the something,” the who through the what. We get to know the Word incarnate through the Word revealed. The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks “What is God?” Why does it not ask “Who is God?” One answer (among others) is that there is no need. Any drive-by theologian/philosopher will tell you that when you come right down to it it’s quite difficult to separate who from what. In theology we call this simplicity; God is his attributes. It’s a mistake to make a sharp separation between God and his attributes because we get to know who God is through what he has revealed about himself.
It’s not so different for us. What are you? You’re human, right? However, that’s a bit too vague because it does not distinguish or describe enough. So, we often answer that question with our title, job description, or trait. You may be an underwater welder, or a story teller, or, poor soul, a musician. We can easily see that the what and who of a person is incredibly complex and inextricably intertwined. A person’s story and the person are impossible to separate. Experientially speaking, one is the other. Theologically speaking, a being is known through attributes, and is his attributes. In other words, the idea of “being” (the who) is useful only if we avoid divorcing it from description (the what). Divorcing the two opens the door to worshipping a Platonic indescribable who-knows-what, in which case experience would be all we really have.
Interestingly, those of us who place more emphasis on the word constantly get charged with being platonic when the reality is that those who want to enter an emotional state of indescribable oneness are much more deserving of that charge.
The Result
This basic idea points us to a very practical result: we worship Christ through the living Word. Therefore, developing a Word focused service is of prime importance. Of course, this does not mean that our worship services have to be overly intellectual or heady, and often they should not be. It does not even mean they always must have lots and lots of words. It simply means that we worship Christ primarily through the written Word, that our emotional engagement is driven by the Word, and that our affections are developed by the Word. When the Word is precious to us, so is Christ. If we are tired of hearing more of the Word being read, sung, prayed, and preached, perhaps we are tired of Jesus Christ.
Does our worship highlight the Word in every way possible? Would being word focused push us to be less wishy-washy in our song choice or change what we choose to include in worship? It should. Worship pastors and leaders have the responsibility to rely upon the Scriptures to help us make distinctions on which elements of worship speak truthfully about God and which do not.
A Sacred Cow
To touch on a potential sacred cow, do we emphasize “meeting Jesus” without an equal focus on knowing the Word? If so, I am convinced that we will inevitably trend toward cultivating the worship experience rather than meeting Jesus. If we focus on “meeting Jesus” our efforts might be characterized by an unbalanced focus on finding the latest songs which you “know will engage your people” and the most creative liturgy.
On the other hand, being committed to knowing Jesus through the revealed Word will naturally lead us to focus on the truth, goodness, and beauty found in the Word. If we are committed to a Word centered worship service, the experience of heartfelt conviction leading to grateful devotion should be the result. Far from be jettisoned, experiencing beauty, joy, conviction, etc. in worship should naturally grow if the living Word is our primary focus.
Finally, I’m not saying that we should not actively think about the arc, emotional quality, musical genre, beauty, skill, or style of the service. I am saying those ideals are only our concern in so far as they are called for by, or can highlight the Scriptures. Don’t, first of all, craft a worship experience. Trust the Word of God to craft the people of God into his likeness. It will not return void.