Q&A from Ps Jack Ku
Dear OCF brothers and sisters,
Please see below my brief thoughts on your questions. Some of these questions certainly require further discussions, but I am confident of your maturity in that you will continue to grow in your knowledge and ability in musical worship. I will leave you with some principles to consider when leading and participating in musical worship. Intelligibility vs excellence, emotion vs understanding, individual vs corporate, authenticity vs order.
Blessings.
Congregational worship:
If I don’t connect with or understand the lyrics of a worship song. Should I stop singing or keep singing along?
Depends on the reasons for not connecting or understanding. One should try his/her best to adopt the music being used in his/her Christian community as an expression of worship of God in love and humility. However, it is possible that the musical elements used by the leadership of the community is so inappropriate to an extent that they become obstacles to the people’s worship, e.g. bad theology in lyrics, impossible melody to sing-along.
In these exceptions one might not be able to continue singing but should certainly communicate the difficulty to the leadership about the issue afterwards.
It is possible that this disconnection between the leadership and the individual would require more than one conversation. How much effort and time one should give to such communication before considering another Christian community is up to the individual and his/her community.
How do we admonish and teach each other through songs? (Colossians 3:16)
Sing good Christian songs with and to each other…
Is it wrong to be feeling emotions during worship?
No. Emotion is part of who we are and an appropriate expression of our worship to God. Emotionalism, on the other hand is considering emotions as a primary measure of validity of worship, which would be inappropriate. In short, it is good if we feel emotional during worship, and it is okay if we do not, because it is not the measure of God’s approval.
Christ is why our worship is valid and accepted.
Why do people raise their hands during worship?
I suspect it is a genuine expression of worship for some, a superficial imitation for others, and an expression of pride for others still.
It is hard to tell one’s heart from outward gestures. We should be careful to not pressure people with gestures during worship as well as judging others from their gestures alone. Decency and order should be considered in our gestures during corporate worship.
Why do we start church services with music?
The structure of worship elements varies from different times and places (culture, denominations, history). I suspect many traditions have decided to begin and end the worship service with music because of its ability to command attention, enhance words, and invoke appropriate emotions.
Are there songs that are only appropriate particularly for congregational and personal worship?
Yes. Singing together with others requires more considerations than singing by oneself. Both in lyrics and in musical elements, i.e. plural pronouns, collective themes, not too high, not too low, not too fast, not too slow, etc.
What are your thoughts about jumping and dancing during worship?
I am afraid I am not familiar with the concept of jumping or dancing… except on the basketball court.
Please refer to my thoughts on raising hands for this question.
Leading worship:
How important is the weight of a worship leader’s heart versus their musical ability? What place does musical ability have in Christian worship through singing/music?
The heart for a service and the skill should go together. Even if one does not have the skill to begin with, with the heart for the service one should improve on the skill for the service in time.
It is hard to accept that God will call someone to have a heart for a service but is terrible at doing it. The analogy of different parts of the body of Christ implies different roles and skills that the individuals have in Christian community. There are obviously some overlaps in roles and skills, but they are nevertheless distinguishable.
Having said that, how good should one be in a community to serve in certain role depends on the community (size, maturity, resources, leadership, etc.). But heart and skill are both important and will go together in time as the individual and the community matures in playing their role.
How can one better lead the assembly to truly worship God musically rather than leading them to sing words on a screen?
It begins with the leadership’s being conscious of the meaning of worship music. Then, lead through modelling (leaders’ worshipping with example) and active leadership (guidance, encouragement, education) before, during and after the service.
Specific actions will vary depending on the culture of the particular community.
Is it wrong to sing Christian worship music as a performance?
Not necessarily. It depends on the context of the performance.
Christian artists of various forms of artistry can legitimately express worship through their art to the unbelieving world. Performing Christian music is not necessarily wrong but performing for self-glory while pretending to worship is hypocrisy and wrong.
What is the place and purpose of instrumental interludes in Christian worship music?
Similar to melodies with lyrics. To express and/or enhance believer’s worship. Even though it is less intelligible than music with lyrics, but it is still a form of language and can express one’s worship.
How can you tell that you are decent at singing so that you could potentially help lead worship in that way?
First know the basic measures to gauge the skill of singing. i.e. pitch, rhythm, volume, expression. How well can you sing in tune, in rhythm, with volume and expression? Second, get honest opinions from dependable sources of the things mention above. i.e. not just opinion from mom…
Song choice:
How do you decide what songs to play at Church? Is it bad to sing personal songs during congregational worship?
Consider the theology in the lyrics and quality of music when choosing the songs.
But one can make good choices without being an expert in theology or music if one recognizes good sources. There is a saying in choosing classes at the university, ‘choose the professor rather than the class’. Same principle can be applied to choosing music, know the good Christian composers and choose from their pool of songs, or their recommendation. (Getty’s music would be my starting point)
Depending on the definition of ‘personal music’, if the music is inconsiderate to corporate singing then it is bad. E.g. too high, too low, too fast, too slow, too unpredictable, etc… This music has their place for listening, or passive participation in worship, but should not replace congregational singing.
Is there a point where songs that are classified as praise and worship songs might have lyrics that are too vague? If so, how do we identity this point?
Yes, songs can be too vague that it becomes unhelpful to worshipping the God of the Scripture.
But these are not absolute and need to be identified through discussions within your community. i.e. certain songs may be too vague and inappropriate for a group but not another, and some songs may be too vague on its own but okay in a song set…
What are some of your favourite new songs that have come out in this decade or so?
Most of the Getty’s songs.
Where do the words of songs normally come from? How should we write the words?
From personal experience and ideas. I am not a lyricist and have not written any useful lyrics, so, sorry can’t help you there…
Is there a difference between worship music and praise music?
I am not sure of the exact definition of these categories. I’d assume they are contemporary uses of the terms and ‘worship music’ are intended for purpose of Christian worship. But I think they are not precise categories.