Worship Matters

The "Worship Matters" website today had a great article. I've quoted part of it here. There are certain tensions that church musicians face.... "is it performance?" "is it 'just for church'?" "Do we do the latest music just because it's the latest music?" "Should we do music to "entertain" or "hook" people so they'll come back?"
This article so clearly expresses my heart (and my husband's) for our ministry.

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"Let me be clear: we should strive for excellence for the glory of God. But competing with the world’s production standards should never be our ultimate goal. The world will almost always “out-WOW” the church in terms of production quality.

More importantly, our talent and expertise are not what we rely on to draw people to Christ. It’s the gospel, proclaimed and demonstrated through a group of ordinary believers who have an extraordinary Savior. It’s our humility, joy, servanthood, power, integrity, and love, all produced by our relationship with a risen Savior. As Paul put it, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” ( 1 Cor. 2:2-51 Corinthians 2:2-5 [2]For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. [3]And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, [4]and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, [5]that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (ESV)
This text is from the ESV Bible. Visit www.esv.org to learn about the ESV.
). Ultimately, we don’t want anyone’s faith resting in the power of our performance or the creativity of our stage designs, but in the power of the gospel.

The Church As Production Company
The New Testament gives no indication that the church is responsible to put on lavish productions for the purpose of evangelism or edification. That’s because the church isn’t a production company. Performances, plays, and productions, despite the evident fruit at times, were never meant to be the main instrument of evangelism for the church. The main instrument is a body of believers who have been redeemed through the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ, and who have now been called to proclaim the excellencies of him who called them out of darkness into his marvelous light ( 1 Pet. 2:91 Peter 2:9 [9]But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (ESV)
This text is from the ESV Bible. Visit www.esv.org to learn about the ESV.
). How do they do that? Primarily by preaching the gospel, by doing good, and by keeping their “conduct honorable, so that others may see their good deeds and glorify God when Christ returns” ( Heb. 13:16Hebrews 13:16 [16]Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (ESV)
This text is from the ESV Bible. Visit www.esv.org to learn about the ESV.
; 1 Pet. 2:121 Peter 2:12 [12]Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (ESV)
This text is from the ESV Bible. Visit www.esv.org to learn about the ESV.
). In other words, it’s more a matter of faithful living than lavish productions."

Read the whole article here: Worship Matters

I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this.