Blended Worship
Good for the Body
I found the following article at
Experiencing Worship it is being reprinted
here with permission. I know
you will find it interesting and helpful.
Blended Worship: Good for the Body
Blended worship has as its goal the joining together of the people of
God in all their diversity, under one roof and in one service, to
glorify God through the offering up of corporate praise. The term
"blended" speaks of the artful weaving together of varying musical
styles and other elements into
a seamless tapestry which honors the Lord without alienating any
particular group.
The strongest argument which can be marshalled in favor of blended
worship (as opposed to offering different types of services, such as
"traditional" and "contemporary," or only one specialized type) is a
biblical and theological one. It relates to the very nature of the
church: worship should rightly be
blended because the body of Christ itself is blended (see I Corinthians
12).
By definition the church gathers into one living organism people from
all
different backgrounds and walks of life; in fact, unity within the kind
of
diversity seen in the church is in itself a testimony to the divine
nature of the institution (Galatians 3:28; Ephesians 4:1-6) -- for,
while by nature "birds of a feather flock together," Christ's body
invariably includes an unusual combination of quite disparate
individuals, who have in common only their faith in and love for Christ.
But that is the whole point! In order for corporate worship (unarguably
the most important thing the church does together) to accurately
reflect
the nature and the unity of the body, it must include the people of God
in
all of their diversity, unified in the worship by the common focus of
that
worship: the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of glory.
That Christ-centered focus is the key which allows us to transcend
petty, man-centered squabbles over musical taste and preference. For if
we are united in our commitment to the glorification of our Lord
through our worship, we will be blessedly distracted from lesser things
which might divide us. And it is in our corporate worship of all
places, as the most purely God-directed activity of the church, that
our unity should be most in evidence. It is a
scandal that worship has too often engendered the most divisiveness
among God's people (in what one writer has referred to as "worship
wars")!
In fact, for true blended worship to really work, all of God's people
must be willing to make concessions relative to their own personal
preferences - no one will get just the kind of music he or she likes
all the time, but that becomes an acceptable sacrifice in light of the
common good. (But it is important that all are called upon to make
stylistic concessions, not just
one group.) And even beyond the worth of harmonious corporate worship,
the
process of making such concessions is in itself a spiritual exercise of
inestimable
value. It is well-pleasing to the Lord when we prefer one another in
such
a way (Romans 12:10; Philippians 2:3) and "consider one another as more
important
than ourselves."
So may we focus in our worship on the One who alone is worthy of our
worship, and in so doing bring to expression the oneness which all we
who have trusted in Christ genuinely share. May we seek to please the
Lord with our worship, bringing our humble gifts of praise and
esteeming as well as the gifts which others bring, to the end that He
might be honored not only by our outward expressions but also by the
attitudes of hearts (which are much more important to Him anyway!). May
our worship reflect the unity within diversity which is the beauty of
Christ's body, blending "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" (Ephesians
5:19) in a harmonious symphony of praise.
Ron Man
Pastor of Music and Worship, EXW Contributor
March 20, 2007
More great articles by Ron Man (and others)
can be found at Worship
Resources
Links to some
of my articles:
Praise Band A little bit about how we got
started.
Our Continuing Journey latest updates.
Introducing praise music in an established church
This has become more of a history lesson of our struggle and our
mistakes
Blended Services Do Work! The experts
were wrong - We finally figured out how to make it work!
Come Let Us Worship And Bow Down The problem
of Idol worship in the church
Hymns Versus Praise Songs A humorous
look
A Little Musician Humor Lighten up!
Guitars! Jesus wants me to have a new guitar?
Terrorism In The Church Take a stand
against spiritual abuse.
Cool Links Some helpful resources
Guest Article:
Blended Worship - Good for the Body A
wondeful article by Pastor of Music Ron Man