Mission Through the Looking Glass 12/18/07
by Eric Herron

“Men are mirrors, or ‘carriers’ of Christ to other men [sic].” – C.S. Lewis

I love this word-picture for our human role in the kingdom of God (ladies, please forgive the mid-century, gender exclusive lingo). I love it because it depicts women and men as being capable of reflecting the character and hope of Jesus to those who are still groping in the dark.

As “mirrors” of Jesus, how might we reflect him to others? We do this in multifarious ways. We reflect him through our kind words. We portray his image through our benevolent actions. One method of reflecting Jesus and the kingdom in which I am particularly interested – an that in fact motivates Worship Renaissance – is the proliferation of artistic expressions. This is because, unlike mere rhetoric, art can impress the whole human being at once.

For instance, poems uses metaphorical word-images to communicate beyond rational speech.

Songs combine words with melody and harmony to speak to the human spirit in both reasonable and emotional terms, simultaneously.

Photographs reveal real-life experiences from the unique vantage-point of a single photographer. At the same time, they expose us to places and people in the world that we might never have the chance to engage in person.

Paintings and other graphic arts start with an artist’s vision of reality and are next blended with that individual’s past interactions – good or bad - with the subject. What results is a deeper, richer picture of reality that is intensified by one artist’s particular life experiences.
When poets, song-writers, photographers, and painters expose themselves the Light of the world, Jesus, they are then able to reflect that Light outward until it reaches the retinas, eardrums, minds, and hearts of those who before then had been blind, deaf, and dumb to the articles of the kingdom and the character of the king.

By investing in individual artists within (and without) the Church, Worship Renaissance is able to fulfill a significant role in the multiplication of kingdom “mirrors” for the glory of Christ.

Leading Lament 11/30/06
by Eric Herron

As worship leaders we usually see our main role as modeling and facilitating the praises of the people. The praise of God is certainly important and is modeled for us in the Psalms and throughout Scripture. But, there is another type of response to God also found in the Psalms that we leaders tend to avoid. I am speaking of lament.

A lament is a sorrowful outpouring of emotion for some kind of distress, whether physical, mental, or spiritual. Psalm 88 is a good – and particularly bleak - example. The psalmist starts with a very brief affirmation that God can save. Following this, the pray-er lays out his “troubles”, which include: being near-death (v.3), the loss of strength (v.4), and the loss of friends (v.8). Beyond all of this, God’s presence and actions are called into question. The writer claims to be “set apart with the dead,” and “cut off from [God’s] care” (v.5). In verse 8 and in verse 18, he says that God is the one who has taken away his closest friends. Though this oppressed one cries out to God for help, the LORD remains hidden and has rejected his cries (v.14).

Does anyone wonder why Psalm 88 is not often listed among peoples’ favorite Psalms! And yet, God has chosen to include this type of prayer in his Book. In addition to this psalm, scripture contains other psalms of complaint, as well as the often-neglected book of Lamentations, and the often-misunderstood book of Job. Why did God figure we need such expressions of sorrow and what does this have to do with leading worship?

Renowned Psalms scholar Walter Brueggemann claims that without lament our worship is reduced to “uncritical history-stifling praise.”1 He means that to neglect the acknowledgment of our painful situations before God leaves us only with shallow thanksgiving that denies an authentic relationship between worshipers and Yahweh. A failure to speak to God of our hurt is a failure to acknowledge that our world has gone bad. It is also a failure to present an opportunity for God to act on our behalf. In short, lacking lament, our relationship with God becomes similar to our shallow relationships with human acquaintances to whom we only expose our “brave face.” How can we as leaders of worship bring the vital practice of lament back into our faith communities? Below, I suggest three of many possibilities.

First, we can become students of the parts of Scripture that model lament. Study psalms like 88, 89, 109, and others to see how praise and lament interact. Psalm 89 is an interesting example since it is full of pure praise until verse 38 after which point God is suddenly accused of having “renounced the covenant with [his] servant” (v.39). It seems that the psalmist is calling God to live up to his past character and actions as listed in verses 1-37. Notice that in this particular case, the psalm does not end with resolution or even praise. Immersing ourselves in scriptural laments will help us better understand the way God invites us to authentically express our struggles to him. As we learn, we can help those we lead to understand.

Second, we can compose prayers of lament on behalf of those individuals in our midst that are in pain. Practice by writing a lament from your own experience.2

1) Start by acknowledging God’s past faithfulness.
2) Next, move to reflecting on a time when things were going fine and then collapsed.
3) Express in metaphorical language how you cried out to God and the way God answered you – or didn’t.
4) Finish with some words of thanksgiving for God’s provision, or instead, words of hope toward God’s not-yet-realized act of salvation.

The above lament-writing exercise can be used for any particular life-situation in your community. Write a psalm of lament for someone who is hurting, share it with them, and then tell them how you are praying with them.

Thirdly, we can give our congregations creative opportunities to express their anguish to God. Perhaps the final fruit of our growing familiarity with laments in the Bible, and of our practice writing our own pleas to God will be new songs or litanies that can be used in the congregation. There are many times throughout the year that laments are appropriate for worship. During Lent, confessional laments can be tremendously powerful when spoken together in the midst of worship. When your local body experiences the sudden death of a member, the community can express its grief through songs or readings that portray feelings of sadness and mourning. This practice should replace the way we typically avoid sorrow in worship and head straight to hope and peace. During Holy Week, your team might create an interactive Good Friday experience that embraces the horror of Christ’s crucifixion, allowing for contemplative space before simply rushing to the joy of resurrection. During seasons of personal, church-wide, or national crisis, reading aloud portions of laments from Scripture can result in hope for the future and jubilant thanksgiving as God eventually brings resolution to these situations.

In our North American culture, we much prefer hidden despair to open lament. We use consumerism, addictions, escapism, and even violence as mechanisms to help us deny the pain we truly experience in life. These methods of denial sometimes work so well that we even fool ourselves into thinking our lives are pain-free.3 As worship leaders, we can combat this cultural failure by learning about, practicing, and encouraging honest lament.
Brueggeman claims “doxology and praise are best understood only in response to God’s salvific intervention which in turn is evoked by the lament.”4 If we believe this to be true, we would be better leaders to embrace lament as one of our key methods toward prompting the praises of the people.

END NOTES

1Walter Bruggeman, “The Costly Loss of Lament,” JSOT 36 (1986): 67.

2This exercise was inspired by the syllabus for Dr. John Goldingay’s OT504 “Writings” class at Fuller Seminary.

3Kathleen, O’Conner, Lamentations and the Tears of the World (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2003), 92.

4Brueggeman, “The Costly Loss of Lament”, 58

©2006 Eric Herron

top

The Amazing Invisible Worship Leader 06/28/06
by Eric Herron

A few years ago after leading a crowd of missionaries in musical worship, I received the best comment I could have received as a worship leader. It wasn’t, “I love your voice.” Nor was it, “Hey, great guitar licks, man!”

It was, “Today, you were INVISIBLE.”

At first, I wasn’t sure how to take this. Was it a compliment? Was it criticism? As I engaged in conversation with the person who offered this comment, I began to understand his meaning. He explained that obviously he could literally ‘see’ the entire worship team up front – the drummer, bassist, guitarists, and singers. But, for much of the twenty minutes of musical praise it was as if we were not there at all. Somehow our team had played, sung, and led is such a way as to ‘get out of the way’. We had become ‘invisible’.

In this era of ‘worship rock-stars’ we quickly slip into a mode of leading in which our presence too easily becomes the center of attention. With lights shining, microphones blaring, and stages set, perhaps a few inches too high, it can be a struggle to direct the focus where it should be – on Father, Son, and Spirit - not on us. I am not opposed to these aesthetic extras. It is just that all of these things must be employed in such a way that our gathered worship becomes less of a produced performance for humans and more of a humble presentation of our love for God.

So, how can we practically accomplish ‘invisibility’ as worship leaders? As I have reflected on those words from that complimentary missionary, I have recognized a few basic principles that guide my team in allowing worshipers to ‘see right through us’ to the Lord:

Don’t say too much. Have you ever felt like a musical worship leader has confused her role with that of a preacher? Occasionally, I find that I am tempted to share more words than necessary as I lead musical worship. I gently remind myself that ‘someone else is preaching today’ and settle into the idea that I have the special function of pointing people to God, not through my words, but through music. I try to ‘let the songs speak’ both in their lyrical content and melodic and harmonic content. This avoids unnecessary verbal clutter that distracts and blurs the attention of worshipers.

Create a flow. Choosing songs that are woven together musically – in tempo, time signature, key signature, and style – minimizes distraction and allows one song to lead directly into another, avoiding awkward and unintentional silence. Also, choosing songs that connect together lyrically will lead worshipers on a journey to the throne of God that makes logical sense. For instance, it can feel strange singing a song about God, then one to God, and then one about God again. Keep the address and theme of the lyrics moving in the same direction.

Practice hard – to play well. It is a simple thing to spend adequate time practicing a particular music set with your team. Yet, we often fail to prepare enough. I have heard the excuse that ‘we want to be spontaneous.’ To this, I reply, “Those who are most thoroughly prepared are also those who are most able to be successfully spontaneous.” And, nothing distracts like a ‘train-wreck’ of chords and notes in the middle of a sweet song to Jesus. Of course, he can redeem all of our mistakes, but why not avoid them if possible!

Place and perform solos carefully. Often, instrumental solos can add beauty to a set of musical worship. However, sometimes guitar solos appear to be offered more to the “crowd” than to God. Avoiding this is a little tricky. I recall one time when my guitar player friend had a big sweater on and just before his solo, he reached his arm up into the air to push his plentiful sweater sleeve farther up on his arm and out of his way. His attitude was humble and his action was pure in heart, but it looked like he was John Travolta on the dance floor! It is best to avoid ‘rock star’ poses as much as possible. Try to present your body in a way that is natural, humble, and unobtrusive.

Cultivate an attitude of humility. Taking an attitude of humility in imitation of Jesus (Philippians 2) can go a long toward making us ‘invisible’ leaders before a group of worshipers. Practicing daily spiritual disciplines such as ‘submission’ and ‘silence’ can allow the Spirit to build humility into our character. Pride is offensive to God and obvious to people. Approaching your worship leading with a proper perspective on your own place before God will contribute to your invisibility before others.

Truly, it is not the lights and stage that make us performance oriented. I have seen plenty of leaders ‘steal the show’ with only a single acoustic guitar. Of more importance is our attitude, preparation, and sensitivity in this act of servanthood called “worship leading.”

Today, I strive for INVISIBILITY as one who is often placed before large groups. My prayer has become, “Lord, when people see me, instrument in hand and voice raised in song, may they see ‘right through me’, to You. Amen.”

©2006 Eric Herron

top

Worship is the habit of ritual and social action with which we experientially and thankfully acknowledge God’s supremacy and simultaneously train our souls to embrace him more deeply.1

Blaise Pascal, writing in the mid-seventeenth century, spoke of worship’s value to form us in faith:

We must resort to habit once the mind has seen where the truth lies, in order to steep and stain ourselves in that belief which constantly eludes us, for it is too much trouble to have the proofs always present before us. We must acquire an easier belief, which is that of habit.2

Pascal knows that reason itself is necessary to a point, however it is a weak teacher in “training our souls to believe in Him more deeply.” According to Pascal, dogmatic proofs and reason work “slowly” since the mind must always keep these before itself in order to believe. “Habit provides the strongest truths,” and in fact it is habit that, “convinces us and makes so many Christians.”3 Here, then, fits the idea that our habitual rituals of worship spiritually form us in faith. Our prayer practice enables us to “embrace him more deeply” than mere reason does.

Using the language of food, Witvliet echoes these sentiments as he speaks particularly of music in worship. He claims that our “Liturgical-Musical Diets” are important, and that “just as the physical substances in our food become building blocks for our physical bodies, so too the textual and musical substances in our singing become the building blocks for our life of faith."4 Those worshipers more oriented toward dogmatic approaches need not worry that this thinking eliminates the creedal formulations of theology. Avery Dulles provides us with a balanced view:

Whether the law of prayer governs the law of believing, or vice versa, it appears from all the cases here surveyed that the two finally coalesce and support one another. As the Church prays, so it believes; as it believes, so too it prays.5

-----------------
1 New Worship Definition, by Eric Herron ©2006
2 Blaise Pascal, Pensees, (London: Penguin Books, 1966), 274. My italics.
3 Ibid.
4 John D. Witvliet, Worship Seeking Understanding, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003), 234-237.
5 Avery Dulles, Theology and Worship: The Reciprocity of Faith and Belief, 6.

©2006 Eric Herron

top

No. 20, 1949 painting by Mark Rothko

Many, myself included, have been known to joke when viewing so-called "modern art." Usually, the joke goes something like, "I saw a crayon drawing by my 2 year-old niece that looks just like that painting!"

But painters labeled "Abstract Expressionists" consider themselves to be heroic in their joining of "sensory experience...to metaphysical truth."1 This is accomplished as "Light...the earthly channel to truth" is used by painters "to direct men to the world beyond what we see."2 These artists try to "give human beings direct contact with eternal verities through reduction of those verities to the realm of sensuality, which is the basic language for the human experience of all things."3

Can the depths of spiritual reality be revealed through colors and simple geometry? Do pink rectangles and translucent black squares communicate something of the great mysteries of life? Experts disagree. Roger Kimball who wrote The Rape of the Masters claims that "when he looks at a Rothko he sees painted rectangles of a certain size and a certain color, and that is all he sees." He believes that "to discern a metaphysical subject in the work is to see what is not there."4

Others like the poet John Ashbery have commented when looking at Rothko's work in particular that, "The effect of these pictures is truly majestic and awe-inspiring...one can feel...the religious experience that was color manifesting itself to the painter."5
What do you see when you examine the above painting? Perhaps it is unfair to judge based on a 200 x 300 pixel jpg when Rothko's paintings were much larger. Nevertheless, do you see spiritual mysteries or simply colors and shapes?

(the entry above was originally posted on Eric's blog Slaughter of the Innersense)

1 Algis Valiunas, "Spirit in the Abstract," First Things no. 159 Jan (2006): 29.
2 Ibid.
3 Mark Rothko, The Artist's Reality: Philosophies of Art, (c.1940).
4 Valiunas, 29.
5 Ibid.

©2006 Eric Herron

top

In his book, Visual Faith, William Dyrness says, "Scripture...reveals...that the world is laden with symbolic potential that reflects God's purposes and his presence." If this is true, how does this 'symbolic potential' affect our worship? How SHOULD it? What effects can art have on the Mission of God in the local church? How can symbols, whether musical, visual, or otherwise communicate God's presence in our midst? What will they say about His purposes?

These are all questions I would ask if I was a pastor and if I was an ethnoaestheticologist.

But I'm not even sure if that's a real word.

::::::::

Perhaps it would help your ministry to reflect with your team on the connections between the functions of worship, art, and mission? Perhaps you might consider how such connections are positively (or negatively) affecting your church. Download a free diagram like the one below here. Use it to help facilitate a discussion the these issues.

1. Worship
a. How is Worship connected with Creativity?
b. How is Worship connected with Communication

2. Mission
a. How is Mission connected with Community?
b. How is Mission connected with Creativity?

3. Art
a. How is Art connected with Communication?
b. How is Art connected with Community?

Now what will you and your team do about it?!

©2006 Eric Herron

top

What is a Missional Worship Artist?

To be Missional means to have undertaken the missio Dei (Mission of God).*

A Worship Artist is not just a worship leader, but one who makes things that compel others to worship God, particularly things that in their substance imitate the Kingdom of God.

Jesus said, "...no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." (John 3:3). Only those who believe can glimpse the Kingdom.

A Missional Worship Artist, then, is a skilled maker (of pictures, music, literature, whatever) who recognizes her "sentness" into the world. While glorfying God in heaven with her art, she also portrays God's kingdom on earth.

The goal of a Missional Worship Artist is two-fold:

1) to remind believers Who their God is so they may worship Him well.
2) to reveal the invisible Kingdom to those who don't yet believe.

Do you have thoughts on this? Send them to Eric Herron

*"Mission [is] understood as being derived from the very nature of God. It [is] thus put in the context of the doctrine of the Trinity, not of ecclesiology (the Church) or soteriology (salvation). The classical doctrine of the missio Dei as God the Father sending the Son, and God the Father and the Son sending the Spirit [is] expanded to include yet another "movement": Father, Son, and Holy Spirit sending the church into the world."

David Bosch, Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission, (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1991), 390.

©2006 Eric Herron

top

"Artists use lies to tell the truth."
- from V for Vendetta

Are you an MWA?


click the pic above to find out!

book reviews
Tim Berroth on
Wired for Worship by Louie Giglio

previous articles

Leading Lament

The Amazing Invisible Worship Leader

Defining Worship...Again

Light...the Earthly Channel to Truth?

free RESOURCES

Worship Resources Website
This website hosted by Ron Man of Greater Europe Mission (GEM) has monthly "Worship Notes" in PDF format for your edification and learning.

Spiritual Gifts Sorter
This link will take you to an original spiritual gifts test that is unique in its inclusion of Artistic leanings. Take it on-line and compare the results with others on your worship team. Print out the PDF file for further discussion!

Theology of Worship and Worship Leadership
This short paper is a culmination of 12 years of worship leadership in the local church and recent classroom study done through the Brehm Center at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Creativity Grid
Use this grid as a guide to brainstorming your next creative worship service or event.

Worship Chord Charts
Look here for musical chord charts for most popular contemporary worship songs, many modern hymn arrangements, and for the whole unkept records collection of worship music that can't be found anywhere else but @ worshipartist dot net!

Art and Worship Bibliography
Download this free list of books on everything worship.

click the icon below to download
a free PDF reader

Essays and Articles
We are now accepting original essays and articles on art, faith, and worship leadership for future posting. Submit YOURS for review >> here <<