Category: Missional Church

“Too many musicians, not enough theologians.”

This might be the epitaph of the Emerging Church ten years from now. This would be unfortunate, but it’s not too late to change the legacy of the Emerging Church. One place to start would be with church “worship leaders”. I seriously wonder how much theological reflection goes into writing some of our “great worship songs” of the past ten years. We’re in a famine of theologically rich, musically excellent music for the church. Maybe you feel the hunger pains?

But writing theologically correct songs isn’t all that it takes to change this potential legacy. Writing theologically rich worship songs is one thing, leading a church into engagement with that theology during music and through the week is quite another.

Theological Reflection on “Worship” Sets

While I’d like to reflect more on how the Emerging Church already needs reform, I also want to offer constructive solutions. One way to help is to consider “how to reflect on a music set.” What governs set selection? Pragmatics, Music, Liturgy? Here is the theological reflection that went into a recent worship set by one of our music leaders. Be sure to pay attention to the questions she asks, how she wrestles through theme, theology, and music (italicized) to help lead the church.

• “Waiting” is a song that our community knows well… it talks about the futility of serving the world and the choruses are new creation focused.

• Let me know your thoughts on “Community Song” vs. “Come Ye Sinners” …basically does the community angle or the repent angle fit better?

• “Carried To the Table“: Some of the original words implied that we are victims of the fall rather than culprits… so we changed a few words to reflect our doctrine (see attached)… I think that this one will fit well with your message… but let me know if it doesn’t!

• I thought that we could read Ps 34:1-8 here… it will take us from Fall, Redemption — to Praise! “Taste and see that the Lord is Good”

• “Sing Your Praise” this one is a song that we wrote for our community… it is a great praise song (see attached lyrics)

• Then I thought that we could reprise “Waiting” at the end on a New Creation theme. This could change depending on your message… sometimes as I listen to the message I realize that a different song would be better to close with.

Theologically Reflective Music Represented Here

The Human Engine Waits

ONE: Austin City Life Worship

Leeland

In a blog post on the Resurgence today, Mark Driscoll posted some sage advice on training leaders in the church. The main theme in his post is “train the called, don’t call the trained.”

Driscoll on Training the Called

Jesus called his leaders. He didn’t get a committee. They didn’t take a congregational vote. They didn’t do nominations. Jesus called them. Jesus still calls people into ministry. We believe that. Acts 20 says that the Holy Spirit chooses the leaders in the church, he appoints the overseers. So God still picks leaders. Jesus still picks leaders through the indwelling, empowering, calling of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus trained the called. We don’t make leaders, God does. We recognize them, and then train them….

But how do you know what you are called to? Driscoll continues…

Serve How You Want

When asked about how to serve, Driscoll responded: “Do whatever you want.” They’re like, “What? Do whatever I want?” “Yeah, because if you delight yourself in the Lord, he’ll give you the desires of your heart. He’ll put desires on your heart, so that God’s desires become your desires.” Augustine said it this way, “Love God and do whatever you please.” I said, “Well, what do you like?”

Except When You’re on Mission

One exception to this excellent advice is that we don’t always have the privilege of serving “how we want” in small missional churches. If leaders come from servants, and they do, then your desires for the mission will be greater than you desires for gifted service (serving where you are gifted). Very often we mistake “the desires of our heart” for “preferences fo the heart.” We mistake natural ability or spiritual gifting for license to not sacrifice or be on mission to the poor and the needy. Although God has created us with unique gifts, he has also called us to humble ourselves to serve out of “gifting of the gospel” to bless the peoples of this world.

It is critical that we make the distinction between “preferences of the heart” and “desires of the heart.” Preferences are entitlements. Desires, in Psalm 37, come from the Spirit of God. Remember that your spiritual gift is not your spiritual gift; it’s is the Spirit’s gift, given along with a host other gifts, talents, faculties, and abilities to push the mission of God forward.

For the sake of the Gospel, many people are called to lay down “the preferences of their hearts” in order to cultivate a heart that desires God’s greater mission. If we love God first, we may find ourselves doing what we want, not second or third, but fourth or fifth. In my church, we have well-educated entrepreneurs setting up chairs, husbands serving in Kids ministry, people helping with media who aren’t “media geeks”, people running PowerPoint who could be leading worship. We also have some people serving in their natural gifts and strengths.

Using Gifts for the Mission

In the missional church, there should always be seasons of sacrifice and re-alignment of our hearts desires through serving in areas that we are not “comfortable.” Gifting and calling doesn’t lead to comfort but it does lead to joy. As small churches and missional churches grow, people will be able to move into places where they have gifts. This will bless and strengthen the community and mission of the church. It will allow the diverse body to be unified in the mission of Christ, pushing the gospel into a harmonious community that brings the sound of the gospel into every domain of the city. However, if they move into these natural places without the heart of a servant, then they can end up sabotaging the mission through “burn out”, or hurting the church through a demanding heart.

Driscoll is right. Our service stands and falls in the heart, where the gospel must be applied daily so that we can love God first and then do what our heart desires. The challenges is to so truly love God first that, for a season, you may serve out of sacrifice and the “gift of the gospel” than out of your heart’s preferences. In fact, your gifting will inevitably taking into the heart of suffering. Was Jesus “gifted to be the messiah”? Absolutely. Did it remove discomfort, inconvenience, ans suffering? Quite the opposite. The further we move into God’s calling, through obedience and mission, we will discover there is a discomfort in discipleship that must be embraced, but that with it comes a profound, deep joy of serving in the strength that God supplies so that in all things Jesus Christ may be magnified (1 Peter 4:11).

Read the rest of Mark Driscoll’s helpful post on leadership in the church.