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Thank you very much for this article. I'm sure I would not have seen it if not for FR.

I believe it is a good thing that people can worship within their comfort zone. Whether it's in a beautiful traditional church with an awesome pipe organ and choir, or in the secret and small confines of a house in Shanghai with nothing but your own voice and maybe a guitar, we need to give our praise to God. Only God can judge the way in which we worship, and if we're doing it from the bottom of our heart and from our soul, He will love it.

Think of this example. If your son or daughter sings for you, praising your name, whether accompanied by an organ and choir, or by electric guitars and drums, do you not feel loved and appreciated? And does it matter to you how proud they are that you are their father or mother? I would venture to say the prouder, the better.

Does that mean that a worship team is proud of itself? To the contrary. A worship team is doing the work of the Lord, giving the congregation a means through which they can give their thanks and praise to God.

This article does not discuss how worship teams convene at conferences like "Urbana" to remind themselves of their duty to Christ. The primary issue that worship teams must be aware of is the human ego and how it can obstruct the congregation and itself from truly worshipping God.

The bottom line is, if the style of the music (endless guitar solos, etc.) or the loudness of the music (worship shouldn't make you deaf) or really flashy clothing distract from the overall purpose of worshipping God and putting Him first, then the worship team may not be doing God's work to the best of its ability.

I never dreamed that I would be part of a worship team. I get stage fright in the worst way: I shake and my face turns red involuntarily! I was content to take from the service and be on my merry way.

But then someone found out that I knew how to mix sound on a PA system. Someone asked me if I would try helping with the sound system. I enjoyed helping.

After a year or so, someone heard my singing and asked me if I might try backup singing. I wrestled with the idea for a long time - for I had been given an extensive musical education by my parents, which I had rejected years ago to pursue my career. Besides, why embarrass myself up there anyway?

My wife dared me to do it, promising that she would join too so that I wouldn't be alone (what a lady!). So here I am, another year later, playing accordion and acoustic guitar (electric if I could!) in addition to singing. The friends we have made in the process have been priceless. And most of all, we enjoy the extra time we take practising every other week.

The important thing is, God gives us gifts to use for His purpose. He gives others financial abilities, political abiities, scientific or athletic abilities. He gave me musical ability. He has called me, through various people, to use it or lose it.

The church that I attend has a mostly Chinese congregation. They've been around for almost a hundred years. There are two services. One is in a sanctuary and is a traditional service with hymns and creeds, spoken mostly in Cantonese. The other is in English in a gymnasium with a worship team, modern songs on an overhead projector (we mix in some hymns as well) and an American pastor who is a gifted orator. I enjoy both kinds of services, especially our joint services when we celebrate special occasions.

But you can guess which service I prefer. I like the fact that numerous university-age young adults attend the English service with modern music.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that this service is "casual", because we follow an order, have communion and take it as seriously as anyone else. But if you speak the language of young people, including the musical language, then can they not better understand the message that God wants them to hear?

There is a question about whether the lyrics of modern Christian songs would be pleasing to God, or whether they are simply self-serving. I'll end this post with a few examples that we sing regularly that you may not have heard:

Heart of Worship
by Matt Redman

When the music fades and all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You
All about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the things I've made it
When it's all about You
All about You, Jesus

King of endless worth, no one could express
How much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is Yours
Every single breath
---

Here I Am To Worship
by Tim Hughes

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness
Opened my eyes, Let me see
Beauty that made this heart adore you
Hope of a life spent with you

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you're my God
You're altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me

King of all days
So highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly you came to the earth you created
All for love's sake became poor

Here I am to worship
Here I am to bow down
Here I am to say that you're my God
You're altogether lovely
Altogether worthy
Altogether wonderful to me

I'll never know how much it cost
To see my sin upon that cross

What you say about a "comfort zone" is absolutely true. A lot of our opinions about music in church are shaped by our training and our particular church, as well as just what we're just used to. (I have a couple of Church of Christ friends - the old C of C, not the UCC - that don't allow any instruments in worship, just the human voice. Don't know how common that is outside the South.)

With the caveat that too much noise and commotion detracts from the Eucharist (as I noted in the message above).

I do think however that there are some absolute standards in music (as there are in just about anything.) Music that is poorly written, poorly composed, or poorly performed is not our best effort to give to God.

To respond to your analogy, of course I would love my child's song of praise no matter what instrument it was performed on or how well (hey, I listened to some pretty dreadful stuff while my daughter was learning to play the violin!) And I'm sure that God loves and appreciates our praise although the best music on earth cannot compare to the perfect music of the heavenly choirs.

But although I love my children, I would be disappointed if they did not put forth their best effort but just went through the motions.