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
Good blog post that does not focus on music styles. I personally like a blended service that incorporates the richness of hymns with the contemporary praise. Here are my thoughts on this topic though. Distractions:
a) Solo/vocal runs by the praise leader. These do not help lead the congregation at all – they sound like a pop concert, distract from the message, and sometimes sound like the person is moaning or in pain. Really?!? This seems to only serve as a way of directing attention to the person – not to God, and does not help the congregation.
b) any music that drowns out the congregation’s voices. ..and only singing loud, upbeat music. Sometimes worship can be quiet and contemplative or reflective. “Be Still and know I am God”
c) Repetition of the same handful of songs every week. Yes, teaching new songs is important, but singing the same 3-4 every week for a month is very very boring and monotonous. And using one of those songs for the invitation or closing hymns (a repetition within the same service) is also boring. It might be better to introduce 1-2 new songs each month, blended or mixed in with a variety of more familiar songs.
d) I don’t agree that the worship songs need to be directly related to the sermon, after all, it’s all about God in one way or another. However, I don’t think there should be a huge disconnect either. Our former church started singing upbeat praise choruses during the Lord’s supper/communion. I have to think about this some more, but it was a HUGE and shocking change after years of having quiet, contemplative music/songs that reflected on the crucifixion. Maybe praise choruses aren’t so bad for this due to the resurrection and salvation, but still, it’s hard to do a complete 180 turn around on this.
e) total disregard for the rich heritage and musical complexity of hymns and related classical music. This is a distraction to worship for anyone who has grown up in a traditional church and still wants to sing at least a few hymns every week, even if they enjoy contemporary praise music, too.
I completely agree with all the points made by Church Member.
Worship music to me is a huge topic. It isn’t looking at the leaders necessarily and it is sometimes getting past others vocal issues (I’m probably a distraction to some). I actually had to come to the point and realize that I’m singing/worshipping God, blessing Him and offering all my thanks, gratitude, and praise for all He is, has done for me, and continues to do in our relationship. My only issue or hang up in a church is when it isn’t lead that way or so planned and timed that it really isn’t about God and worshipping Him. I’ve been to some churches where they do their 3 songs and as soon as you really want to get into it and praise Him, the song is over. How can we bless Him if we are so routine and ritual and don’t allow room for feelings? I’ve also been to some churches where they can run a song into the ground, but that leader is suppose to be “in tune” and maybe they are feeling something and I’m not going to deny God or anyone else the blessings that come from that time with God through music. If Sunday is going to be about God, then fully allow it to be about God. Come to church expecting the unexpected without limits.
I enjoy the Praise and Worship portions of the service, so long as the lyrics are understood and not too wordy. Our praise celebrates what God means to us, while our worship is personal from us to God.
Our responses in worship vary from congregation to congregation and from person to person. Some raise their hands and stand while others move to the beat of the music. God has been too good to me to sit still without physically expressing His presence and pleasure in my worship to Him. He is deserving of our Praise and Worship in whatever you give to Him.
David danced out of his clothes in praise to the Lord!!
new wave Christian music, when not taught and introduced over time to any congregation, confuses an entire room! I have seen this far too often making it appear that the worship team does not consider the message and the complexity of the chosen music!
I cannot see contemporary music as doing anything to promote true worship of God. The focus is not on God but the performers, who seem caught up in glorifying self and the music itself. Often you cannot understand the words for the loud music. I think it’s all a mess and not worship at all. I think young people today have not been exposed to real worship and therefore know nothing about it.
Hey Ralph,
Even as someone who is a Full-Time Musician, Professor of Music @ Drexel University in Philadelphia, a Voting Member of the GRAMMYs and someone who has played on numerous Worship Teams over the past 18 years, I TOTALLY AGREE with your statement – it says it ALL!! THANK YOU 🙂
Mark Beecher
Wow, there is no answer that will satisfy everyone. Perhaps we get too caught up in our own wants. Are we expecting perfection from those that lead worship? It seems that it becomes an impossible job once you add up all the complaints and demands listed in these posts. There doesn’t appear to be an acceptable approach given what I’ve read. I hope good works are going on outside your churches, as it seems you’re all too willing to eat each other alive within the sanctuary. Be grateful for what you have.
Thank you Jeff. There seems to be no end of criticisms for those who are trying to contribute to the service. That could be why it’s so difficult to find trained, skilled church musicians. All the complaining reminds me of Exodus 15:22-25. In addition, there are those in church who want to worship God that don’t want to hang around with people who cannot appreciate the efforts of others. Maybe a better blog would have been a list of things we appreciate about those who work hard to uplift the spirits of our fellow worshipers.
As the head sound technician, it is important that our techs know the songs as good as the praise team or even better. The sound tech needs to be able to react and make corrections to the mix if a singer or musician makes a mistake, drops out or has an issue. It is our responsibility to help maintain a smooth flow to the service along with the correct vocal and music mix.
Wow, a lot of additional distractions. The practice of the worship team during the arrival of the congregation? So I get to hear it twice, I guess. Standing for 25 minutes straight in one spot? I can’t stand in a line for ten. Having everyone sing in the unmatchable key of the leader? Slowing fast songs down? Sleep inducing.
I can handle music that is unpleasing to the ears, but not for almost half the service, performed far and away from how it was written, or the same ones week in and week out.
I have tried introducing new tunes, and was met with the person turning away without so much as a “let me bring it up to the team” or even just a “no thank you”.
I agree with a few of these distractions, but some are just seen through a persons preference or tradition.
If you were raised in a quiet traditional church..movement may bother you…BUT if you were raised in a say Pentecostal church, no movement will distract you. If your preference with an organ and piano…a mandolin and banjo would drive you nuts. In areas like this it is preference and prospective. Just my thoughts….
The most distracting thing would be when the performance takes precedence over the function. Who cares if a hipster church had a music team in hipster clothes, if the worship leader can’t sing (just don’t sing into the mic – and yes, it really can work), or the priest wears whatever he’s meant to wear? As long as the congregation is worshipping too, which is the whole point of leading, then all is good. It’s not meant to be a performance.
That said, if the music is so loud that small children start crying in pain, it might be an indication something is not quite right.
At the moment, mindless repetition of short chorus lines is annoying me, but others in the congregation seem to get closer to God from it, so it’s a matter of putting up with this phase.