Have a watch of this little video clip
If you are unable to access it, the person being interviewed claims
- That modern worship is about entertainment and that there is a failure to cover the range of subject matter needed because all we want to do is sing happy stuff.
- That it would not be possible for Jonathan Edwards to preach “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” after we’ve just had what he refers to as “a jolly up.”
Some of you might be nodding along in agreement. Pleas don’t. First, it’s not true. I’ve done the exercise to place songs in order according to subject and you will find if you do it that contemporary worship songs do cover the range of subjects and circumstances. Secondly, it is rather like comparing apples with oranges. You can’t compare the worship songs written at any one point of history with the range of hymns and songs written over several hundred years that have been compiled into hymnbooks.
Thirdly, the comments about Jonathan Edwards and his “sinners in the hands of an angry God” sermon are absolute nonsense. Why? Well, just think it through. The sermon referred to is a serious sermon that both convicts people of their sin and points them to the sovereign patience of God as their only hope of salvation. Now, it might not seem possible at first to preach a sermon like that after singing lively, joyful songs of thanksgiving and praise.
However, consider three things. First, should that kind of sermon be the staple diet of Sunday preaching? Do we preach to sinners in the hands of an angry God each week? There may be a place for such shock tactics to call people out of stubborn, hard-hearted complacency. However, I want to suggest that this should not be our normal expectation if preaching to believers. Rather, we preach to those who are forgiven, those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. WE preach to those who get to join in with the Shepherd, the woman and the Father in Luke 15 at the point when the sheep and coin are found and the son comes home. We are at homecoming and there should be a sense of celebration and joy in our singing, prayers and preaching.
Secondly, there will be times when such preaching comes up. This will be driven by the text. Those choosing worship songs can be alert to that, if not the preacher by talking to the preacher, getting advanced sight of the sermon and of course reading the passage for themselves.
Thirdly, yes it is true that you can stand up to preach feeling like the congregation are badly prepared for what is coming and it feels like a painful gearshift is coming. In my experience this can be just as true when I am ready to preach joy and it feels like I’m coming in towards the end of a funeral. However, sometimes, the contrast between the tone of what we sung with the tone of what we are going to preach is just as helpful. In fact, if I were preaching a sermon similar to Edwards, I might appreciate the contrasting tone before hand to ensure that the message is sharp and pierces the heart rather than the service turning into one of those situations where everyone feels like they’ve been hit repeatedly with a blunt instrument.
Incidentally, once again this is the kind of complaint targeted at contemporary and charismatic churches which misses the point. There has always been a strand/tradition within evangelicalism of formal and mournful hymn singing but there have also been plenty of churches who have enjoyed a tradition of lively hymn singing. Perhaps some people would benefit from experiencing a good old fashioned Brethren Gospel service!
Faithroots 