Worship leader Bob Kauflin thinks Christians have reacted
too extremely to the contemporary praise and worship movement.
Instead of either wholeheartedly embracing praise and worship
music or completely rejecting it, Kauflin encourages a middle approach –
appreciate the benefits of contemporary praise and worship but recognize that
some concerns accompany those benefits.
Worship leader Bob Kauflin thinks Christians have reacted
too extremely to the contemporary praise and worship movement.
Instead of either wholeheartedly embracing praise and worship
music or completely rejecting it, Kauflin encourages a middle approach –
appreciate the benefits of contemporary praise and worship but recognize that
some concerns accompany those benefits.
Such an approach ultimately may allow worshipers to learn a
new vocabulary for declaring Gods glory, said Kauflin, director of worship
development for Sovereign Grace Ministries, an organization that seeks to establish
and nurture churches.
During an address as part of the Institute for Christian Worship
at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kauflin urged churches to consider
the benefits of contemporary praise and worship.
“Worship is not about whats comfortable for me,”
he reminded persons. “Worship is about learning new ways to express Gods
glory.”
While not advocating exclusive use of contemporary praise and
worship music, Kauflin cited several positives emerging from the contemporary
praise and worship movement. Among them:
Praise and worship music has renewed a God-focused
emphasis in the Christian music industry.
“Certainly, entertainment is still a big part of (contemporary
Christian music), but you hear more talk about people wanting to listen to music
to connect with God, to experience intimacy with God, to encounter God,”
he said.
One example of this trend is the overwhelming sales of recent
worship albums such as Third Days “Offerings” and Michael W.
Smiths “Worship,” he said.
Praise and worship music is helping to revitalize
worship services.
In many churches, praise and worship music has helped people
to gain “a new awareness of Gods presence, a new appreciation for
the words they are singing and a new experience of intimacy with God as a result
of just singing songs that allowed them to say these things,” Kauflin said.
More styles of music are being used to praise God,
reaching a new generation.
“Every generation will in some way reflect its own voice
in the worship of God,” Kauflin said. “Now, it shouldnt do that
alone. It shouldnt do that exclusively, but we should welcome new expressions.”
Despite these benefits, the contemporary praise and worship
movement has brought some negative features to the arena of Christian music,
Kauflin acknowledged. Negatives include:
Contemporary praise and worship may cause people
to think that worship is equivalent to music.
God certainly values musical expressions of worship, but true
worship is much broader than music, Kauflin said.
“God loves music,” he acknowledged. “He wants
us to praise his name with music, … but worship has to do with what rules
our hearts and desires, what takes up our time, what we think about when we
dont have to think about anything. Thats where we see worship.
“Its reflected not just in what we sing, but in
the way we speak, think and act,” Kauflin emphasized.
But because so many contemporary uses of the word “worship”
refer to music exclusively – such as worship CDs, the worship station and
worship bands – people may gain a warped perspective of the terms
true meaning, he said.
With the contemporary praise and worship movement,
there may be a temptation to think that worship is somehow new or has finally
become genuine.
Every generation of Christians tends to think that its music
has reached an unsurpassed level of genuineness, Kauflin said, describing such
a thought as simply inaccurate.
“What a slap in the face to the hundreds of thousands
of Christians who have worshiped God probably more sincerely than you ever did,
before you were ever born,” he said. “Theres that tendency to
think that because the style of music is new that the worship must be better,
and we just want to be careful here.”
Given the fact that worship songs are highly memorable,
musicians may tend to come to be regarded as primary theologians.
Many contemporary songs stick in peoples minds because
of their catchy tunes, Kauflin said. But some of these songs may not accurately
transmit the message of Scripture.
“Just because a song has a catchy chorus and is easy to
learn doesnt mean its good theology,” he said.
Ultimately, Christians should utilize contemporary worship
music but take care to ensure the biblical faithfulness of their worship, Kauflin
concluded.
“Look for songs that contain solid biblical truths, that inspire a passionate
response,” he said. (BP)