Worship Matters -- by... Augustine?
Spencer Wood
I was quite surprised reading that the early Church also had complaints about music and worship. It just seemed ironic and a little funny even.
As the brother of a worship leadership major, I've read worship matters by Bob Kauflin. In his book, he goes into great explanations about what worship is and how we as Christians can 'properly' lead others.
Bob talks about what worship means by stating that it is used to magnify God. He says "David shows the appropriate starting point for worship. It involves thinking about, magnifying, and responding to the glory and splendor of God. Many of those we lead on Sunday morning are eager to join us and have been magnifying God's unsearchable greatness all week. Others are distracted. It could be anything from the superficial to the serious -- deadlines, unpaid bills, a friend's unkind comment, a lab test for cancer, the thump-thump noise the car is making, a rebellious child, some besetting sin. Or a million other details of life. What size does God appear to be when our mind is preoccupied with all the cares, worries, and concerns of life? very small."
Augustine takes a similar approach. "... when the sacred words are chanted well, our souls are moved and are more religious[ly] and with warmer devotion kindled with piety than if they are not so sung. ...I am moved not by the chant but by the words being sung...then again I recognize the great utility of music in worship."
but even Augustine got distracted "yet when it happens that the music moves me more than the subject of the song, I confess myself to commit a sin deserving punishment."
What we can take away is that worship is important and how we worship in more so seven-fold.
cody and sydney
I was quite surprised reading that the early Church also had complaints about music and worship. It just seemed ironic and a little funny even.
As the brother of a worship leadership major, I've read worship matters by Bob Kauflin. In his book, he goes into great explanations about what worship is and how we as Christians can 'properly' lead others.
Bob talks about what worship means by stating that it is used to magnify God. He says "David shows the appropriate starting point for worship. It involves thinking about, magnifying, and responding to the glory and splendor of God. Many of those we lead on Sunday morning are eager to join us and have been magnifying God's unsearchable greatness all week. Others are distracted. It could be anything from the superficial to the serious -- deadlines, unpaid bills, a friend's unkind comment, a lab test for cancer, the thump-thump noise the car is making, a rebellious child, some besetting sin. Or a million other details of life. What size does God appear to be when our mind is preoccupied with all the cares, worries, and concerns of life? very small."
Augustine takes a similar approach. "... when the sacred words are chanted well, our souls are moved and are more religious[ly] and with warmer devotion kindled with piety than if they are not so sung. ...I am moved not by the chant but by the words being sung...then again I recognize the great utility of music in worship."
but even Augustine got distracted "yet when it happens that the music moves me more than the subject of the song, I confess myself to commit a sin deserving punishment."
What we can take away is that worship is important and how we worship in more so seven-fold.
cody and sydney
I have read a lot of Worship Matters, and I am in love with the way Kauflin talks of Worship. I think you're right, we need to focus not on ourselves when we worship, but on God. We cast our cares away because we know that he is the only one who can truly remove them from us. When we drop the worries of the world, and clear our minds to be used solely for the purpose of worshipping him, the experience is incredible! ( I have done this before and experienced it first hand, it works.)
ReplyDeleteZane Duke
I’ve been asking myself lately what true worship is and it means to worship God “The right way”. It’s nice to receive some insight from a man of history and ones whole studied the Bible much more than me. The fact that this problem still presents itself today and did present itself long ago, shows me just how we as humans will never br able to solve our human condition and must rely on God.
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