Our Philosophy on Music & Worship
At Sycamore, we believe that music, drama, tithes/offerings--indeed, every waking moment of our lives--are to be spent giving glory to God. He has given us, as His image-bearers, opportunities unique in His creation to proclaim back to Him His magnificent worthiness, and the skills to do so. Commensurate with these abilities to worship are our responsibilities to do so.
In Luke 19, Jesus entered Jerusalem in peace (on a donkey). The religious "establishment," the Pharisees, insisted that the crowd was making too much noise as they lifted their hosannas to the Messiah. The Lord's response was direct and emphatic: "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."
It has become part of our Baptist--indeed, our Protestant--semantic that "music" be regarded the primary manifestation of the worship of God. This is not without Scriptural precedant; indeed, short of the actual ritual of sacrifice, music was perhaps the most visible responsibility of the priesthood. However, the responsible disciple understands that, even then, worship was more about what was going on in preparation for the worship service. Not only the priesthood, but the people themselves, spent their whole lives preparing for the encounter with God.
The praise of God on our lips is a natural outflow of utter awe for who God is, and of gratitude for the mighty deeds God has done on our behalf. In our modern culture, the Evil One has been refining his techniques (perhaps aided by our creation of refined tools) at distracting the people of God to looking more to their own entertainments and gratification than a healthy preabsorption of the Almighty. Not only do we expect a worship service to be done "our way" (or, perhaps the greatest indictment on the modern church, "the way we've always done it"), but we seem to believe it is a once-a-week circus, done for our amusement. Nothing could be further from the truth!
There are several themes we try to stress in our worship at Sycamore, to remind us of who we really are, who God really is, and how we really ought to relate to Him:
- God is the Master; I am the doulos, the bond-servant. Everything that I am, I have given to Him, at His disposal 100% of the time (not just on Sunday morning). (Rom. 6:19)
- God is the recipient of the praise; I am the priest granted access to the Holy of Holies. I am to come before a holy God with utter awe, indescribable love, and total confidence. (Psalm 84:1, 2)
- God is the Receiver; I am the one paying homage. He must be the object and focus of the worship service, not me. Consequently, I am the one doing the "work"--it is improper to come to a service with the primary motivation of "getting something out of it." (Rom. 12:1)
Also at odds with an accurate concept of worship is the notion that it must serve some evangelical function. Jesus did say that if He were lifted up, all men would be drawn to Him (John 12:27-33), but this is a function of the Holy Spirit. We must take care that we're not using music as a "gimmick" to fill pews. As it is said, "What you win them with is what you win them to." Many churches find themselves stagnant now for that very reason--they throw programs at the public, hoping that his will "entertain" people into the church, rather than doing the ultimate expression of worship--getting out and being witnesses of the saving grace of God. Additionally, it must not be used to siphon off believers from another church looking for a new, fresh "style." This smacks of self-gratification rather than self-abasement. If worship has any function beyond correspondence with God, it is to show the world who He is and what He has done. That is a worthy motivation, as long as we keep that our proper context.
Music is a tool--it is only a tool. Drama, children's participation, instrumental programs--all of these are tools. They are not evangelistic methods, they are not objects of worship, and they are not worship in and of themselves. They are but a few of the many means God has given us to speak His magnificence back to Him. For this reason, we should feel obliged to do the best music possible--not the music we like the best, not the music we think outsiders will like the best, and certainly not the music that makes us feel the best. It is for Him, and that is the end of the matter. If we "get" anything out of our worship, let it be a product of having communed with the Lord, so that we may say we came to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:7).
Michael Mays
September 10, 2006
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