Podcast Episode #094
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Having weekly posts here at the blog from Chuck Lawless has been a huge blessing to me. Not only because it takes some of the workload off of me to come up with another article for the week, but because Chuck has such a great perspective on the Church and shares some incredible insights. We’ve covered some of Chuck’s articles in the past on the podcast, and in this episode we discuss a recent post on worship music distractions.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
- Millennials are looking for authenticity in the worship service.
- The pastor is expected to have a well-prepared sermon. The music should be well-prepared as well.
- Worship is more than just a sermon or just music. It’s the totality of how we glorify God corporately.
- There should be clear planning between the pastor and music leader to tie in the music with the sermon.
- Most worship leaders are gifted with different types of music.
- When the music in a church service is too loud, it can distract from the act of worship.
The 10 distractions are:
- Incomprehensible choir or praise team words
- Unsmiling faces leading worship
- Poor musicians or singers
- Unprepared singers
- “Preachy” music directors
- Songs disconnected from the sermon topic
- Difficult songs to sing
- Weak use of media for lyrics
- Poorly done blended style
- Introducing new songs without teaching them
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Could you define the term “preachy” music director? Is it one who talks too much, tries to apply the song to the congregants’ lives, spends too much time talking in between songs, or something else?
Regarding the preachy music director……..
The prior church we attended had a music director that apparently felt the need to present his own mini-sermon between each song. Sometimes he went on-and-on-and-on to the point where it was very annoying and people were almost falling asleep on their feet waiting for this guy to shut up and get on with it.
Just simply introduce the next song and move on.
Spot on, Hal! The great bass singer J.D. Sumner used to say if it takes longer to introduce a song than it does to sing it, then it’s probably not worth singing.
This comment probably falls under number 9 Poorly blended style.
To me there is nothing more distracting from the song worship time than having one member of the praise team that feels this is their personal opportunity for a stage performance. While all the rest simply stand there on stage with mic in hand leading the songs this one individual is all over the place like Mick Jagger and the rest of the worship team are his backup singers. This is especially distracting for the men in the congregation if this self-appointed lead performer happens to be a female that is less than modestly dressed and with stage moves that slightly resemble that of a pole dancer. This leaves the men in the audience feeling as if their music worship experience has been ambushed.
The next thing is loud music. I can’t understand why these music leaders feel it is necessary to blow the windows out of the building in order to have a quality music service. Often times it is so loud that it is painful to listen to. This cannot be good for the health of peoples hearing.
Spot on again! I hate to sound like your personal cheerleader, but your comments have really touched on some of my pet peeves. Thanks for posting!
My wife and I read and pray each morning and are reading through the Bible for about the 6th time in the last few years. Each time we find something new and so much in sync with what we are seeing happening in todays world. We are finding it in the minor prophets such As Haggai, etc. We ask each other why we don’t hear sermons on these and Sunday School lesson truly taught from these as elates to todays Church and were it is failing to recognize God’s instructions in living to honor and glorify HIM. Why is the church loosing ground because of feel good music and love every body preaching with out challenging the people to live according to God’s standard.
Amen Richard!
Sin, repentance and redemption is what Jesus was all about. His entire purpose for his earthly existence. However, today the topics of sin and repentance are rarely preached in many churches across America..
Why….it’s because sin and repentance is not what sells. It’s not what fills the pews and the offering plates.
People what to have their ears tickled. They want to come to church and go home feeling good about themselves rather than convicted of their sin and feeling good that they can be saved from it.
Our church is now in a transition where we had years of mostly the “feel good” preaching and with little meat of the word. Finally…praise God we now have a minister that preaches more of the meat and does preach sin and repentance. As a result, we have had some leave the church because they were choking on the meat. But the conversions are coming.
Having been a Minister of Music before becoming a Pastor, I can speak from the music side. I am “Old School” choirs, ensembles, soloists, etc. rather than Praise Teams. Complacency and unpreparedness whether in the pulpit or in leading worship can kill a service. Music has always been a vital part of the worship experience.
Thank you for your insightful article.
I want to address #2 – “unsmiling faces leading worship.” Sometimes, a smile would be inauthentic – which is even worse than not having a pretty face. I understand the statement, but modern worship leaders are not song-leaders in the revivalistic sense, nor are they cheerleaders. It is vitally important, however, that they be hospitable hosts. Generally, that will imply a “bright countenance.” (I say, “generally” because there are times when lament, grief, confession, and repentance are fitting worship actions.)
In my opinion, a better starting point for appropriate facial expression is for several factors to be aligned in the worship leader. First, the worship leader(s) needs to understand that their primary role is to facilitate the people’s worship. It is not to be in their own little world or to put on a “stage performance.” Second, worship leaders need to be engaged in actual worship when they are leading. Actual engagement will be reflected in an appropriate expression. Finally, they need to genuinely love and LIKE the people they are leading. This kind of affection for people is essential for anyone who leads in the church. With those factors in place, I’m quite certain the facial expression of the worship leader will be appropriate – and most generally, joyful.
Yeah, I’m kind of torn on that one. I like to see people smile when they sing, but I agree that sincerity is more important.
I disagree with #6. The music and the sermon do not serve the same purpose. And, there are many times when God has delivered messages through the music that had absolutely nothing to do with the sermon. I think that when we try to tie the music to the sermon we often miss these messages. And, I believe that such an attempt to force connection to the preaching can actually interfere with a connection to God as we near the sermon.
Forcing the tie between the two is seemingly an indication that the purpose of church is the sermon and the sermon alone. I would disagree, and I believe that the Bible does as well.
It seems to me that if the 2 are constantly arranged to compliment each other that it becomes so structured that I feel I am being manipulated instead of led by the Spirit. It becomes more of an exercise in psychological manipulation of the church leadership instead of direction from the Holy Spirit.
I believe that our worship should be thought of as a place of refuge and out-reach to our Lord. Individuals who are truly seeking God’s presence in worship are truly seeking a place of refuge and God’s compassion deep inside our hearts. For the individual who may be visiting a worship service and not really understanding what worship is about or maybe not excepting what God offers in righteousness, so the worship service can be confusing to them anyway. That is another good reason for the music and ministry to be well planned out. After all that goal should be to bring worship for the true believer and also work as an example to the unbeliever. Something I did not read in your top 10 list was the fact that there are pastors who may allow musicians or even worship leaders who have a reputation or not living in a righteous capacity if we are following scripture. I have always believed that unique person leading in worship, even if it is a musician, should be known by the pastor to be living the life as an example to others. It kind of goes back to that passage about casting your pearls before swine. I know there are many different interpretations of this passage however the one that I believe may very well this fit this discussion. Anyone who is participating in worship is an example of leadership, musician or singer, in my openion. When there are people in the congregation who know for a fact ( not being judgmental) , that a person is living in sin, then that alone becomes a huge distraction as well as completely unscriptural – to allow.
While this may not be the case in most churches, I have been involved with more than one church where this very example becomes a huge distraction when the issues arise.
With the pastor sees a new convert who is very talented with music, whether a singer or a player and knows that the individual is not mature in Christ to lead however places them before other Christians, whether they are new or longtime friends of Christ, it can become a distraction especially with the pastor must explain why he has allowed someone who is living in some unscriptural way to lead God’s people to worship.
I believe that when a pastor sees a situation where he can coax other family members into church by doing what is known as a “bait and switch” to get Family members into a church setting because a relative is a member of the worship team, knowing that the individual is living a simple life.
The next comment is very strong however I believe it to be true. Pastors who knowingly place individuals into a worship team that is openly in a simple lifestyle, should be removed. Talking about the pastor. However many pastors who are in this position have surrounded themselves with so many people who will not hold them accountable to scripture and this creates a second distraction for leadership. It causes a snowball effect that will eventually affect family members and future decisions for christ.
“Simple lifestyle”? Judging from the context of your comments, I”m assuming you mean “sinful lifestyle”? (Lest I sound too critical of Roger, I suspect this may be one of those “AutoCorrect” issues).
I agree with most points of this article but think several need additional comment. I come from a traditional point of view and think that the vast majority of Praise Team songs are theologically shallow, poorly written, “seven-eleven ” ( that’s seven word phrases repeated eleven times) music.
Now from the safety of my fall out shelter I offer the following:
It’s difficult and sometimes odd for choir members to sing, read music and smile at the same time.
A part of music ministry is that first the choir is blessed through learning the poetry and music of an anthem and then giving that blessing and gifts up to the Holy Spirit for presentation on Sunday. When all of that happens the director doesn’t need to talk a lot.
I’ve tried often to select anthems that reflect the sermon topic. The primary result is that we sang a lot of weak anthems with no other purpose than meeting that goal. Also, it’s not the director’s responsibility to match in music what a minister is preaching when that minister doesn’t know from week to week what his topic will be. A worthy anthem cannot be well rehearsed by a typical volunteer choir in one or even two or more rehearsals. When matching anthem topics with sermon topics is an issue and depending on the musician-pastor team, it might be better if the pastor found out what the choir was singing and matched that topic in his quickly prepared sermon.
Printing the words to an anthem in the order of worship helps a lot when diction is poor.
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute.
Difficult Songs to Sing is actually fairly important to my husband. It’s one thing that he really comments on when we exit a service, with great frustration, if there are songs we’ve never heard before, and if they kind of go all over the place musically, rather than a simple, perhaps repetitious, melody. Maybe it’s because my husband isn’t quite as musically inclined as some, but at the same time, most churches no longer have hymnals, which showed the musical score, so congregants could see where the melody was going when learning new music. When all you’re seeing are words on a screen, and you have no clue of the direction of the music, it can really help kill the musical end of the worship, as you spend the first part of the service struggling and muddling through the songs, some of which were in no way designed for corporate, choral singing.
Another distraction to worship is attire, sloppy, inappropriate personal appearances. Some are flashy, others boisterous, overdone jewelry, low cut neck lines, extreme high heels, short skirts and dresses, ill fitting clothing, Sports team color and themes, printed advertising, you get the picture.
Thanks for the info, I read daily, printing copy for others in ministry and file my own printed copies for future references. Praise God for all your work and sharing.
I know styles have changed since I was young, and I’m not suggesting we should go back to the days when everyone wore coats and ties to church, but I do think a little more neatness and modesty would be refreshing. Even at state and national meetings we often have worship leaders with uncombed hair and their shirttails hanging out. What purpose does that serve? It makes me wonder if someday they’ll be standing up there with their pants at half-mast. After all, “that’s the style”….
I don’t get #6. In most cases the sermon follows the singing. In other words, how can people be distracted by songs disconnected from the sermon before they know what the sermon is about?
After speaking in churches in 7 foreign lands and enjoying worshipping with them their music was very much a part of the total worship. Each was different and added to the sermon plus the people were ready to worship. None of them (some were in other languages) took away and were none of the problems shown in this topic. I have spoke in churches all over the USA and I can see the problems laid out in the points, Not being too critical of the churches but at times we sometimes have music leaders who are not energetic, others are not familiar with the lyrics, others are not or don’t know how to sing clearly or the music is too loud to hear the words.
I am glad I now attend a church where they use the old time choir and pipe organ. However, before I did, there was “a praise team” or nothing but the congregation.
That being said, there is the song which is out of place or inappropriate. On Easter Sunday, a dirge is out of place. On the Sunday after a national or global tragedy, a happy song and clapping are out of place. I suggest the worship leader pay attention to the overall mood of the congregation and sing an appropriate song.
A few more distractions I have found in SBC church plants in my area: (1) sanctuaries painted black with spotlights on “worship” performers; (2) loud drums and whining guitars that drown out the vocals; (3) praise teams gyrating on stage in tight pants. I realize my age is showing with this comment, but I’ve never had a real problem with various forms of doing church as long as there is some substance and reverence to it.