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Thursday, November 15, 2007

Chicken Khorma And The Art of Worship Leading:
I like to cook! OK ….. there I said it.

Makes me pretty happy to see friends bite into my low fat crab cakes and grin. Or go back for seconds on the Chicken Khorma or Thai salad. I’m a pretty good chef and have made some great meals just by winging it. But, more often than not, I’ve gone to a cookbook, followed a recipe and hit it out of the park.

Good chefs know great dining starts with a meal plan. Fresh ingredients, full of flavor and nutrition, exquisitely prepared and presented, are required to make the experience one to remember. Oh yeah, and it helps to know what the guests like to eat. Bacon wrapped shrimp for my Jewish friends…. uh, not so much.

It seems to me that leading worship is a similar experience. Stay with me on this.

When I lead worship, I have a responsibility to “serve up” an experience that helps the congregation find their own expression of worship that touches the heart of God. I do my best to know the folks in the congregation and get a bead on their tastes. Then, I work to balance out style and content to help make the worship experience meaningful and spiritual. After all, it’s about helping THEM enter into God’s presence, not scratching my creative itch.

In a media driven world, there is a lot of pressure on us to deliver fast food worship. That means creating convenient packaging; then offering bite size portions with little nutritional content and common flavor.

Too often, many of us spend our energies chasing the worship flavor of the day. Today that flavor is modern worship, but as much as I like U2 and the mandatory guitars with trailing delays, I’m kind of ready for the next course. I am not sure how this is going to “taste” or what it will sound like. I just know that I’m hungry for something different. (At least once in a while)

As I write this, I’m in the middle of an extended fast that my church does. Maybe that’s why I am thinking about food. I find it odd that while eating very little, I am acutely aware of the quality of what I eat. Fat, sugar and preservatives are out. Fresh, organic and high quality foods are in. I also know that when I come off a fast, my diet changes drastically.

I wonder what might happen if we fasted from modern worship. What would remain and what would we do differently when we got back in the saddle. We might rediscover the pure ingredients and important things that really help us express our love and admiration to the Lord of All.

I have a hunch those ingredients might be psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Those are tasting pretty good right about now, and I am pretty sure that some of the things we feel are important now might go away.

Liturgy in worship has always made sense to me. The word liturgy means “the work of the people”. It is a map that leads people through God’s Word, and causes them to acknowledge sin, thank God for all he has done and receive forgiveness. In that process, true worship occurs. The Word has historically had a key role in liturgical worship, but it seems that in the contemporary church, we have downplayed the Word of God and placed our focus on the presentation.

Recently, I had the great privilege of working with Todd Fields (worship leader at Northpoint Community Church and 7:22 in Alpharetta, GA.). As Dir of A&R at Integrity Music, I asked Todd to help us with a project (called Word of God Speak-The Worship Sessions) that was 100% pure scripture set to music. Music that is appropriate for today’s contemporary church.

In the making of this recording, a couple of things became clear. Things that should be the main ingredients for any great worship experience.

Here’s the recipe

1) Give people a great melody and they will sing with you
2) Play the heart of the song and you will move a person’s heart (doesn’t have to be stadium rock)
3) Use songs that are based on God’s Word. It is powerful and will NOT return void. It WILL accomplish what it was ordained to accomplish and people’s lives will be changed.
4) Be creative in content and style. It is OK to try something different. People are not afraid to try a new dish

Both during and after the recording process, I have heard numerous testimonies of how God spoke and ministered as the participants listened to and then sang God’s Word. Some have said that they were impacted by almost all the songs…not because of the vibe of the record, but purely through the power of scripture.

So, as you look to your next worship “menu”, I encourage you to look closely at the ingredients. Make sure the songs have significant content. And, what better content is there than the Word of God. If you can’t find songs you like, try writing your own scripture songs. Well actually, they will be a 50/50 co-write. Written with God.

I can not think of a better way to minister to your congregants than singing the power of His Word.

Blessing and Wisdom and Bon Appetite!
Steve Merkel

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