By Chuck Lawless
A few weeks ago, I posted findings on common worship distractions. Since that time, some readers have questioned me more specifically about our findings regarding the musical component of worship. So, the goal in this post is to respond to that request.
Let me be honest about my qualifications up front, though: I am not a musician or singer; I am a church consultant only reporting what our teams have found in more than 15 years of consulting. It is not my intent to be judgmental or offensive. I have utmost respect for those who lead us in worship. With those caveats in mind, here are ten distractions we’ve encountered in the music element of worship.
- Incomprehensible choir or praise team words – I start with this distraction (a repeat from the previous post) simply because we face this issue so often. The sound system may be poor, the singers may not enunciate well, or the music may drown out the lyrics – but in any case, we miss the message while straining to understand the words.
- Unsmiling faces leading worship – Some solemn hymns may not necessitate smiles, but something is lacking in singing about the joy of the Lord when the singer’s facial expression suggests something different. We have seen entire praise teams show little expression as they lead worship.
- Poor musicians or singers – I hesitate to include this distraction because I realize the level of talent varies by congregation. Nor do I want to suggest that only the most talented musicians or singers should be permitted to lead worship. I’m simply stating what we’ve experienced: sometimes the musical component of worship lacks quality.
- Unprepared singers – Here, level of talent is not the issue; lack of preparation instead appears to be the problem. Sometimes it seems – right or wrong – as if no one practiced this component of the worship service. In fact, we’ve occasionally heard it stated publicly: “Please pray for me before I sing today because I really didn’t have time to get ready for singing.”
- “Preachy” music directors – Some folks leading worship do a great job of succinctly and effectively speaking between songs. Others, though, seem to use interludes to preach a sermon in preparation for the sermon still to come. Too much talking may actually disrupt the worship more than facilitate it.
- Songs disconnected from the sermon topic – It seems strange, for example, when the sermon series is about family but none of the song selections moves in that direction. On the other hand, worship is often facilitated – and the teachings of that service’s content are easier to recall – when the musical selections and the sermon content focus in a single direction.
- Difficult songs to sing – Again, I am not a singer, but I do know when I’m struggling to sing a particular song. Some of our more gifted consulting team members are singers, and they at times question song selections on the “singability” of the song. What works for the gifted singer doesn’t always work for the typical person in the pew.
- Weak use of media for lyrics – This distraction is a corollary to the previous one. Lyrics on the screen are most often helpful. If, though, the phrase and sentence breaks on the screen don’t match the breaks in the singing, the worshipper may still struggle with knowing how to sing the song. Lyrics on the screen do not generally help worship participants learn the melody.
- Poorly done blended style – Anecdotally, we are seeing more churches move to a blended style of worship rather than offer multiple distinct styles of worship. That approach is not bad, but it becomes problematic when the worship leaders are strong in one style but weak in the other. Often, that difference is noticeable.
- Introducing new songs without teaching them – Numerous good songwriters are producing strong worship music today. Introducing new songs to a church, however, requires intentionality that often seems lacking. Many of us welcome a worship leader’s taking the time to help us actually learn the song as a congregation.
What other distractions regarding worship music have you seen?
Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary. You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both Twitter and Facebook.
Posted on January 8, 2015
Dr. Chuck Lawless is a leading expert in spiritual consultation, discipleship and mentoring. As a former pastor, he understands the challenges ministry presents and works with Church Answers to provide advice and counsel for church leaders.
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142 Comments
It’s distracting to me when “traditional” songs are played at the “contemporary” service.
I used to have the opposite feelings. Once a month the youth of our church led service. At first I was put off by the music and lack of respectful dress…then one day I watched some of the youth in the congregation. They were really engaged in the service. From that point on, I felt that once a month, I coukd tolerate the music and jeans and long hair on boys if it meant that other youth were really hearing the word.
I used to lead singing at my church. The pastor thought we should learn new songs as a congregation. His idea was well recieved and worked well. On wednesday nights before prayer time we would start a new song first wednesday of the.month,sing it every wednesday for a month and then the first congregational Sunday morning was the song we learned. It gave us one more way to push people to attend wed. night services.
Good idea, Nate. Thanks.
What a great idea! I used to be a music leader, so I’m having one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments.
My problem is with distractions from this site. Each time an article is shared, I have to go read it. Oh, you may say I can save it until later, but it is so relevant that I am pulled to read it no matter what! ARGH. lol
🙂
Good thoughts. Not sure I agree with #6. The content of worship music or song selection shouldn’t be determined by the topic du jour. To quote the late, great Chip Stam, “I love thematic worship. My theme is always the gospel.” Bryan Chappell, “Christ-Centered Worship” and Mike Cosper “Rhythms of Grace” are excellent resources on this subject.
Thanks, John.
Great post! Thanks for sharing. The worship and tech teams I oversee as the Worship Pastor know that our goal is “Undistracting Excellence”. I would add to #8 “wrong, missing or misspelled words on screen”. Ugh. I’d also add Poorly Thought Out Order of Worship. When I started at my current church, there would maybe be one song, boring announcements, another song, a random ministry update, 2 songs, a child dedication, then a “missions moment”. There’s also the topic of non-engaging communicators on stage speaking(announcements, congregational updates etc). If someone’s not good on stage in front of people, don’t put them on stage in front of people even if they’re an Elder or other ministry leader. Find The best communicator to communicate. The congregation will appreciate a better presentation.
Good to get input from a worship leader. Thanks, Terry.
Music/Praise team leaders who PERFORM/ACT when they sing. They are constantly in motion. They bend, sway, squat, they contort their faces. It is very distracting. I swear one would think they were having severe digestion issues.
Thanks, Ken, for taking the time to read the post and respond.
I think this depends on how the leader worships. There are definitely leaders out there who dance around or make motions similar to the ones you mentioned that do it for show, but there are also leaders who do this genuinely because they are engaged in worship. I used to be in complete agreement with you on this one until I caught myself doing some of those things while leading a song 🙂
Good article. I think #5 is particularly on target. The late bass singer J.D. Sumner used to say if it takes longer to introduce a song than it does to sing it, then it’s probably not worth singing!
🙂 Thanks, Ken.
I heard someone say, “Lord, deliver us from singers who think they can preach and preachers who think they can sing.”
This is actually one of the unwritten rules in our music ministry. Leave the preaching to the preachers and the singing to the singers.
>”Lord, deliver us from … preachers who think they can sing.”
I knew one pastor who point blank refused to sing.
He claimed that if he sang the hymns, it would be so off-putting to the congregation, that they wouldn’t stay for his sermon.
One of my great pet-peeves in life is musicians who talk about the songs they sing. Christian radio is especially bad about wasting air time with musicians talking about the “inspiration” for their latest song. Just sing the song!
While I agree that many music leaders talk a lot without really saying anything, I believe the music leader should be just as capable of communicating the Gospel in speech as they are in song, and just as competently as is expected of any other teaching pastor. I’ve experienced too many times where the music felt too much like a jutebox, cranking out the most popular tunes with no understood connection between songs, or between the songs and the sermon. I think it can be important to share the historical and practical context and explain the Biblical truth of the songs we are singing, but with prepared thoughtfulness and concision.
Thanks for this helpful article Dr. Lawless!
Big distraction for me is worship leaders and teams that do not worship! I have told several worship teams in my years as senior pastor that their job description is to LEAD the congregation to intimate worship before the Lord. How can they lead then there when they, as leaders, do not go there themselves?
As you mentioned, a lack of preparedness is another huge distraction. Again, I have tried to teach young worship leaders the importance of what I call the “3 P’s” of worship leading…Preparedness (preparing our hearts, our song lists, and our instruments)…Practice (practice, practice, practice!)…and Prayer (seek God for the right songs, surrender your self and your talent to Him, and submit to His Spirit to lead effectively). Not every praise experience is going to be perfect for everyone, but following this plan can assure that at least every praise experience is right for our audience of One!
I like the “three P’s,” Wendon. Thanks.
I partially agree with this. I agree that the leaders should be worshipful, and I have been turned off by leaders who make music worship seem like a performance. However, I have also experienced music worship where the leaders are perhaps too into the worship, and make mistakes because they were too worshipful to lead, and got lost in the music.
When the worship leader seems more interested in giving a concert than leading the congregation into worship
Lack of spiritual maturity in the worship team
Repeating the chorus too many times
Thanks, Melissa, for reading and responding.
As an addendum to #8, I’m distracted -and often frustrated – if the lyrics on the screen lag behind the congregation’s singing.
Good point. Thanks, Rebecca.
Worship leaders wearing inappropriate attire.
Thanks, Randy.
That’s a tough one Randy. “Inappropriate attire” is differently defined by anyone you ask. I once was prayerfully considering (and stressing over) how to have a difficult conversation with one of our female praise team members about her low cut blouses. Thankfully, before I did though, one of our other praise team members said to her “Hey, I see you brought the twins today.” She was embarrassed but got the point and chose differently after that. That kind of inappropriateness has to be addressed.
But…
Some in our church think I am dressed inappropriately when I don’t wear a full suit.
So “inappropriate” is very tough to define.
Thanks. The “twins” comment was exactly what I was referring to by inappropriate.
I agree. I’ve always said to those who lead worship with me, if you have to ask the question, “should I wear this to church?” You probably shouldn’t. And I’ve had to address this issue with folks in the past, sending them home to change
Oddly enough, I am a female who likes to wear skirts and dresses to church. I also play piano on the worship team. My skirts are always knee length or longer, and cover my knees when I play (as a 30-something musician and junior high band teacher, I understand skirts and modesty during performance). However, after someone complained to leadership (not to me personally) about my choice, we decided to solve the problem by putting plants in front of the piano. While neither myself nor the church administration believed my attire was inappropriate, it was still distracting to someone who was trying to worship, so we did make a change that hopefully pleased everyone. But this is another situation where what is deemed “inappropriate” might not be so inappropriate to others.
Karen, what a wonderful spirit you have about this matter. Instead of fussing and feuding, a simple solution was found that worked for everyone. God bless you!
yes, same here. when i was finally shown a video (we usually don’t tape our services) and it was pointed out to me, it made sense. I would usually be the most casually dressed person on the stage and it was only how I fit in with the rest of the “picture” that I stood out. If it was just me on the stage, it wouldn’t be noticeable. A good rule of thumb: if your pastor wears a suit, you wear a suit. Also i think that we don’t want to believe a fact that might seem old-fashioned, but it is still completely true: if you want to be taken seriously, dress seriously. If what you are doing is important, dress important.
I get distracted by the excessive physical movements (swaying, bouncing) and facial expressions (grimacing) of the musicians. I’d rather they be out of sight.
Thanks for the additional thought, John. In some traditions, the singers and choir are indeed out of sight (perhaps in the back of the worship center rather than in the front).
Provocative points about distractions. Those who are “up front” should be authentic and aware that they can distract with attire, actions and attitudes.
I arrive at church 20 minutes late to skip the awful, American idol “wanna bes” squalling and drumming. When did church become a platform for every untalented singer and instrument player? Please stop the madness. It is not worship. Its bad music
Worship leader has to have his mic louder than everyone and his instrument louder and often comes ill-prepared or cancels rehearsal. Yet, no one dare bring any of it up.