Music: help or hindrance in worship?

In speaking of music, Longfellow described it as “the universal language of mankind” and Tolstoy called it “the shorthand of emotion.” Every human being knows from experience how their deepest joys can give rise to exuberant song and they have often learned how to paint their deepest sorrows with the darker colors of music; thus every human emotion can be expressed in musical notation. I like the vivid portrait given by Neitzsche: “In music the passions enjoy themselves.”

So you’re taking a shower, or walking along a remote forest trail, or driving cross-country in your car—alone with no one else in sight—and a tune you know or one you compose “on the fly” comes into your head and moves across your vocal chords, emerging from your lips as a melody. Music and joy seem especially fond of one another. The people of God throughout history have placed great emphasis on recounting the joyful benefits of the redeemed with singing. The various authors who contributed to the songbook of Israel—the Psalms—were masters at expressing worship and praise to God through poetry put to music.

But like a lot of other things, it seems to me that music loses something when packaged for mass consumption, like the salad dressing or sauce from your favorite restaurant that never tastes quite the same when you buy it at Wal-Mart or whatever the name of your local supermarket. Or you might compare it to hearing your favorite musical artist at a live concert versus listening to one of their recordings. Why? Is it boredom? Familiarity? Availability? How is it that we can be moved to genuine worship through music one day, but unmoved by that same music at a different time/place? Do our musical taste buds change or is it something else?

I have often been deeply moved by certain songs. The first time I heard, I Can Only Imagine (above music video by MercyMe), the tears flowed from deep within me like an artesian spring, so much so that I had to pull my car to the side of the road and just weep for awhile. And give thanks. It prompted such vivid gratitude that to this day I can still remember. I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences: times when music seemed to bring you closer to the throne of God. Theologians sometimes call it “a means of grace.”

So there’s a natural and understandable desire to recreate those moments, but we soon discover that it’s like chasing the wind. I often get the distinct impression that we try to “work up” those God-feelings when we get together with other Christians: it’s like putting that famous sauce on your steak and expecting to be magically transported from your small kitchen table to that nostalgic western steakhouse, complete with peanut shells on the floor.

Maybe it’s just me, but I can get really irritated with “worship leaders” because I feel that I am being manipulated into an experience rather than simply trusting the the Holy Spirit to lead our worship. We don’t like the fact that He moves when and if He pleases, described by Jesus as unpredictable and uncertain as the wind; so we have to mass-produce the same effects, we think (but we’re just fooling ourselves).

Recently, I was in one “worship service” (far from it, in my opinion) where we must have sung one chorus no less than ten times! And the young guy leading from the front—please, I am not questioning his motives or sincerity—seemed oblivious to the fact that many of us simply quit singing after about the fourth repetition. Maybe he was lost in wonder, love and praise, but I found myself angry enough to spit nails. I’m just being honest with you, just like I was with God as I sat seething in my seat. So do you think that guy’s “ministry” helped prepare me for receiving the Word of God or was it counterproductive to it? Yeah, you guessed it.

The strange thing is, a couple of days ago I heard the same song on someone’s MySpace page and God’s Spirit surprised me with His immediate presence. It was an unexpected blessing from an unlikely source. I think Father enjoys these sneak attacks of grace far more than our organized efforts to grab His blessings whenever we feel like it. What do you think?