Chapter 25 - Skilled and Authentic

The tension between skill and authenticity in church worship can often be a heated topic but Kauflin addresses this difficult issue head on and nails it.

"Churches that minimize the need for skill can tend toward sentimentalism, sloth, and pride in 'genuineness'" but at the same time, "All the musical skill in the world won't substitute for a genuine heart of worship." (p. 195)

There must be a balance between these two issues.  If we want to honor God by leading His church in worship, then we need to have the ability and skill set to do that.  If we don't, it will be very difficult for us to point people to our awesome God because they will only be focused on our own inability and lack-of-awesomeness.  Also, if we expect to lead His church in worship, then we had better have a genuine relationship with Him that is alive and active each day or we will only be a shell that's making noise and directing people to our own talent.

However, if we pursue either skill or genuineness (which is often mis-understood to be simple emotionality) or even both as an end in themselves, we will still come up empty.  The point is not to be better at this or that, "The point is, I do everything to magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ.  That's worship." (p. 197)  This definitely includes being skillful and being genuine, but do you see how the focus has shifted?  It is no longer about me and what I have done or what I can do or can't do, instead it is about "magnifying the greatness of God in Jesus Christ."  Instead of just saying "I want to pursue excellence in my skills and abilities" or "I want to focus on being more genuine."  we should be saying, "I want to be the very best I can be [in both my skill and in my relationship with God] so that I can serve others more effectively For God's glory." (p. 196)

As a worship team, as we play our instruments and sing with our voices what is it that we want?  Is everything we do with a desire of "wanting people to see  and celebrate the supreme worth of God[?] [Because] that's leading worship.  If that's not why [we're] doing those things, [we weren't] worshiping God to begin with." (p. 197)

I like the phrase, "It's not about me, it's not about now" and I would add to it, "it is about God and it is about His eternity".  This makes me ask, "Since life is about God and His eternity, what can I be doing in my life as a worship leader (as a dad, as a husband, as a friend) that will help me to magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ?"  I hope that this makes you ask this question for yourself and perhaps even make it a part of your prayer time.  What can you be doing in your life as a ______________ (fill in the blank with whatever roles God has placed you in) that will help you to magnify the greatness of God in Jesus Christ?

Chapter 24 - Rooted and Relevant

Too often today I hear people talk on one side of the issue or the other.  They either can't stand the old hymns and traditions of the church or they can't stand the new music, style, technology, and new traditions of the church.  Kauflin gives us a refreshing look at both.  He reminds us that we aren't, "the first to think about and pursue Biblical worship." (p. 189)  and that our own culture, time, and generation doesn't have a corner on the market for worship.

We, as Christians, come from a long line of strong Christian men and women throughout the ages and those men and women had the same Spirit of God in them that we have today.  God spoke to those men and women and they had lots of valuable ideas and insights into Biblical Christian living and worship if we are willing to look into their traditions and see them.  However, "The greatest traditions in the world are meaningless unless they effectively communicate God's truth to the people who come to our meetings." (p. 191)  Wonderful, theology-rich traditions are pointless if people don't understand them.  It is important that, if we are drawing upon those traditions, people clearly understand the meaning behind them.  There is value to be found in the hymns and traditions of the church past.  There is also value in being fresh and new and giving people ways to see and hear the gospel in ways that they have not before.  "Being the church is no reason to be thirty years behind in decorating styles, graphics, and technology...our goal is to communicate clearly..." (p. 192)  Both the old and the new can be wonderful tools for bringing people to a greater understanding of God and who He is.  But the point is that no matter what we draw upon, whether it is Old or New, that the focus is not upon the tool of communication, but rather the focus is on the purpose of the communication...the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  "..every church should make sure that the story of God's redemption can be clearly understood and experienced by those they're seeking to reach with the Gospel." (p. 192) 

"When it comes to forms of worship, any form that facilitates and encourages worship in spirit and truth by a particular gathering of people, at a particular time in history, in the context of a particular culture is pleasing to God...Cultures change, styles change, traditions change, times change.  God remains the same." (p. 193)

Chapter 23 - Planned and Spontaneous

In this chapter Kauflin presents a great contrast of using both the planned and the spontaneous during worship to follow the Spirit's leading.  There are many Christians who reside in the camp of "If you've planned it and it's not spontaneous, then it's not from the Spirit."  But this is simply a bogus notion.  God is a planning God.  He planned the universe through from it's beginning (creation), to it's redemption, (Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection), to it's conclusion (new heaven, new earth, and the bride of Christ (the Church) finally is united with Him), and on through eternity.  Saying that the Spirit must be spontaneous is like saying "The Spirit can't possibly plan ahead."  I for one have no intention of saying that the Spirit of God is limited in what He can do.  "We've found that the Holy Spirit's most important guidance often comes before the meeting even begins." (p. 182)

On the flip side, though, God has, and can certainly speak in the moment as well.  "Planning doesn't substitute for listening to the Holy Spirit during the meeting either." (p. 182)  This last weekend was a good example of how and why God might choose to speak in the moment.  If you weren't there this weekend I shared a short testimony of what God had been doing in my life and challenged people to actively pay attention to the Holy Spirit (and yes, I did cry in first service).  This is something that I couldn't have planned ahead of time because it wasn't until during the sermon that I made the connection between my experience and what Jim was saying.  And if I had tried to plan it all out and had a rehearsed speech to say, it wouldn't have had the same impact as it did in the moment.  I know for certain that the Holy Spirit was moving in me to share at the end of first service.  However, I'm still not sure if God intended for me to say it again at the end of 2nd service, but being unsure I decided to go ahead anyway.  I'd rather mess up trying to follow what I thought was God's leading rather than do things smoothly while ignoring Him.

"Spontaneity gives us the freedom to respond to present needs and promptings." (p. 185) "...the Spirit can also use us in powerful ways as we play notes we've practiced for hours during months of rehearsals.  But isn't it helpful to be able to do both?"

I think I (and we as a team) weigh more heavily on the planning side of the scale.  I like Kauflin's idea of "practicing spontaneity".  Being capable and able to readily respond to the Spirit at a moment's notice might take practice but it could help balance the scale.