God the Father seeks people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). For our sakes it is fortunate that He does the seeking. The Holy Spirit creates in us a sense of awe and reverence for the Father that we could never manufacture on our own. As a church, we can’t produce true worshipers. Our only contribution is to provide instruction and an atmosphere to nurture a worshiping heart.
So as we should, we teach about private worship. We speak of personal disciplines that develop a habit of worship. We also give instruction regarding corporate worship, that which occurs when a church meets. We assume, however, that structure and atmosphere are already in place. This is especially true regarding Sunday music. We assume the only obstacle to music worship is the desire of the participant.
In reality, there are things we do that hinder music worship. One is a lack of quality. Psalm 33:3 speaks of music played skillfully before the Lord. It’s not that only the professionals should lead music. It’s that we vastly overestimate the willingness of worshipers to endure participation in mediocre performances.
Ironically, another hindrance stems from an overemphasis on quality. We wrongly assume that spiritually unqualified musicians have little effect on the overall atmosphere of worship.
Another obstacle is stifling routine. The Old Testament Psalmbook showcases a wide variety of music structure and lyrics. Yet we sing our favorite few, week after week.
But the irony of routine is that some of it is essential. Whether they know it or not, churches that introduce new songs week after week tend to produce observers, not participants. And if we object that it is only older generations who seek routine, we ignore the evidence that even younger generations welcome a measure of predictability in their chaotic lives.
So I guess we can conclude that it’s complicated. We must commit ourselves to a relentless and ongoing evaluation of what we do with worship music. We ought to look at every aspect with this question in mind: “Does this contribute to producing worshipers?” Perhaps one of the best things we could do is ask those who sit before us each Sunday. I’m relatively certain that many of them already have some answers for us.
