exchanged living.

Worship Leaders and Theologians.

(for @howertonjosh)

Yesterday, my friend Josh posted this:

Historically, musicians and theologians have had a contentious relationship. Biblically, we need them to have a symbiotic relationship. 

To which I asked: 

Is that because musicians often don’t see themselves as theological? Or because they aren’t often considered so by theologians?

Josh thought that both were possible, but probably more 1 than 2. When asked for my thoughts, I retreated here to flesh them out a little more.

1. In worship design, we must realize that everything we say and do is inherently theological. Everything. This means that we must look not only at the theological content of our sermons, our prayers, and our songs, but the theological orientation of how and in what ways these elements are enacted as we gather, as Christ is revealed, as we respond, and as we are sent. 

2. Pastors, your theological concerns for your services must extend beyond the boundaries of your sermon.  And again, this isn’t simply about singing songs that are not theologically horrid; this is about participating in the larger movement of revelation and response as it occurs in your times of corporate gathering. Every aspect of the corporate gathering says something about God and what it means to be His people, not just the sermon. As shepherds, you are responsible; take it all seriously. 

3. Musicians, you are theologians whether you want to be or not. Your theological awareness must extend beyond your set list.  If you lead or help design worship in any way, you are a theologian. You shape the way people perceive, understand, and respond to Christ every time the church gathers. The Fathers used the phrase lex orandi, lex credendi to describe the relationship between worship and belief: “the law of prayer is the law of belief”, or how we pray is how we believe. This places the responsibility of shaping belief on those who design how we participate in corporate communing actions like prayer, worship, and proclamation. In this sense, the worship designers become the primary theologians of the church, and for this reason, we have to look beyond the songs that are most popular or accessible and towards what brings about the kind of belief we find in Scripture. 

4. Pastors and Musicians, you must see this as your joint task, and strive to see it unfold together. The biggest enemy to great worship design is seeing music and theology as a binary, or on two different ends of a spectrum. Tearing down this way of thinking will require humility (especially among those who have had more opportunities for theological training), openness, time, and a growing love for Christ and his church. This may mean having conversations that have never been had before, by either group, and could mean that your Sundays look radically different than they ever have before (and not for the sake of new-ness, either). Josh is right in saying that this relationship must be symbiotic: the tensions between these two groups are a testimony against the unity Christ’s death has brought us, and we should strive to see this kind of thinking eradicated from our churches by coming together as sister and brother, for the sake of the church and the world.