Disclaimer

Whenever you write a blog post that is more evaluative than the usual ‘Here is a picture of my cat’ it can feel like a rant. We’ve all read the vomited tirades of an angry, reactionary blogger which have left little room for reason, fairness or thinking the best of others. So I thought it best to avoid misinterpretation by offering my presumptions in the form of a pre-blog disclaimer. This blog doesn’t feel like a rant to me, but simply asking important (but not easy) questions. So:

1. I am attempting to evaluate a culture and a method, not individuals or ministries. Asking questions and encouraging discussion, not providing judgements.

2. I presume that individual worship leaders & song writers love their church, love God and are seeking to honour Him.

3. I presume that many of the practices I am questioning have either been adopted in good faith or walked into blindly. Certainly not adopted under with any explicit egocentric intent.

4. I am part of this, not simply throwing stones from the sidelines, I am doing things the best way I know how. I’m just convinced the ‘best way I know how’, probably isn’t the ‘best way’.

Okay, with that out of the way the blog can begin……..

When did our method of worship become a facsimile of the music industry?

From stages and PA systems to record deals and labels. From set-lists and green rooms to press releases and photo shoots. The way in which worship happens today mirrors the commercial music industry. These methods and processes have been wholesale adopted as our preferred method of producing worship music and delivering it others.

Yet this is a failing industry we are copying. It is also an industry whose commercial concerns have gradually superseded all others.

I view the calling of a worship leader and song writer as many faceted. It is the calling of a pastor, it is the calling of a prophet, it is the calling of a poet. It is not, however, the calling of a Rock Star. That is what Rock Stars are for.

Now I’m not saying we need to stop standing on stages, singing into microphones or recording CD’s. I’m not saying that the only worship that has integrity is an a-cappella sing-song of community based songs (not yet anyway). What I am saying is that we just accept that ‘this is how things are’. We all accept that the trappings of RockStar-dom are an inevitable part of being a worship leader. That is dangerous.

What worries me most is not that some of our practices may be unhelpful - that is surely always the case - but that we do not even acknowledge the ‘grey’ areas. Take the issue of famous worship leaders. I recently tweeted that a ‘world renowned worship leader’ is an oxymoron - suggesting that if you become world famous for leading the worship of Jesus, there is a strong possibility that you are a piss-poor worship leader. That is not my conclusion (it is too simplistic) but it is a fair argument that we don’t hear.

We also do not address the issue of money. Even when worship leaders like Martin Smith courageously approach the subject (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clk_rb6yy2w&feature=related) the conversation centres around what to do with the riches rather than the moral question of how they are generated. Again, I am not making judgement calls on this issue - it is complex - but the fact we don’t talk about it means that most churches only sing songs written by millionaires. Just how healthy is that…? It’s a conversation we need to have - but like all conversations it needs to be held with grace, love, thinking the best of others and with an absence of judgement.

I suspect we don’t have these conversations because we don’t like where they will lead us. If they are driven by the Holy Spirit I suspect they will lead us to change and sacrifice. Two things we’re not always quick to embrace.

The driving force behind my determination to talk about these things and their dangers is not a personal crusade towards integrity - even I am not that pretentious - but it is on behalf of the next generation.* Time and time again I meet young worship leaders and song writers whose compass seems to be off. Their heads are turned by a seductive industry and a public ministry. The lures of the semi-Rock-Star existence they see in a worship ministry pulls the heart away from devotion to God and a passion for their church. There is a serious absence of discernment. A serious absence of deference. A serious absence of, well, seriousness about the calling of a worship leader.

For many, being a worship leader means becoming a pseudo-Rock-Star who is addicted to coffee, obsessed with Apple products and constantly talking about ‘creativity’. It is someone who reads ‘Wired’ more often than scripture. Someone who is more familiar with Steve Jobs’ keynote addresses than anything by Tozer or CS Lewis. 

For me, it won’t go away. This nagging sensation that we are contributing to something that is becoming grotesque, lacking any authenticity. That worship leaders are allowed to strut around as faux celebrities and excuses are made as we squeeze our Rock-Star fantasies into our ministries and into our churches…

I’d like to see more ‘successful’ worship leaders and song writers who visibly struggle with the grey areas of fame and money. More discussions about how we can resist the slide of our endeavours becoming an ‘industry’. Encouraging greater support for each other so that we do not rely on self promotion and marketing. Ensuring that the unquestionable focus of what we do is the Glory of God, a passion for the Kingdom and a love for the Church.

dg

*yes, I realise this is also monstrously pretentious.