Guitar praise and worship vs. Guitar Rock

Jesus freak!! · 01-13-2004, 10:39 AM

I was playing with my guitar some christian rock for praise and worship at a meeting and a pastor came up and told me that "this music is to fast for praise and worship it needs to be more slow and peaceful."

And 95% of the people there love rock.

So that brings me to the question. Do you think you can have good praise and worship ,a close time with the lord, with the music being rock? I think so. For me at lest, mabey not if your a 40 year old guy or somthing but I have felt God through rock praise and worship. Tell me what you think

Sinker · 01-13-2004, 11:29 AM

Hey! Easy with the age stuff, JF. I'm 44 and prefer 'rock.' Of course our definitions might be a little different. I like Third Day, but I'm not much of a POD fan.

Regardless, it's just preference. If someone tells you they need a specific song or type of song to worship God, that's their problem, not yours. Or if they can't worship to hymns, or they can only worship to Toby Mac. Remember, the heart that loves God needs only itself and God to worship.

Too fast? Too loud? How about singing along with a big choir and a pipe organ to JS Bach's "Joyful, Joyful" It's fast. And it's loud.

pillar · 01-13-2004, 11:42 AM

I was playing with my guitar some christian rock for praise and worship at a meeting and a pastor came up and told me that "this music is to fast for praise and worship it needs to be more slow and peaceful."

And 95% of the people there love rock.

So that brings me to the question. Do you think you can have good praise and worship ,a close time with the lord, with the music being rock? I think so. For me at lest, mabey not if your a 40 year old guy or somthing but I have felt God through rock praise and worship. Tell me what you think

It really depends what you were playing. What song was it? I jam all the time in my quite time with God on guitar. Sonic Flood, Third Day, Pillar, AA. However, our church has a large congregation with many elderly and they wouldn't get into it nor would I expect them to.

My son, 17, has a Christian Rock Band and would agree. You simply play different styles of music depending on your audiance because you want to please the majority.

Oh yeah, I'm 40 and haven't traded in my amp for a walker quite yet.

Al Webber · 01-13-2004, 12:13 PM

I think you need both. There are times when a big upbeat rock anthem is right and there are other times when a quieter song is appropriate.

There's a song that I wrote that we sing at our church after I had been to a Bryan Adams gig where he did The Kids Wanna Rock as an encore and 10,000 people were singing along. I got home and thought to myself where are the big anthemic praise songs? I could think of very few, and the ones I could think of we had done over and over and over again so I wrote one. Other people in the music team liked it so we did in church and it went down well.

At other times thats not appropriate. You do need quieter, more intimate, reflective stuff as well. I wouldn't play rock in church all the time. You also need to be sensitive to the people in the congregation as well in terms of what you play and the volume you play it at. If you are playing in a youth service then what you play (and the volume you play at) is likely to be different than what you'd play for a group of older people.

By the way people who are 40 now would only have been about 6 or less when Hendrix was alive and 14 when Van Halens first album was released!

Charles Wesley got criticism when he was alive because he set his hymns to the popular secular tunes of the day. In the same way I think that we should be playing music now in a style that people can relate to.

Al

BluesJunkie · 01-13-2004, 12:24 PM

Personally, P&W music makes me want to puke! I prefer anything else. However, I also think it's more important to obey your pastor and to think about the weaker brothers than to rock out.

Xkcer Man · 01-13-2004, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinker

How about singing along with a big choir and a pipe organ to JS Bach's "Joyful, Joyful"?

I think you're referring to Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

BurntHombre · 01-13-2004, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluesJunkie

Personally, P&W music makes me want to puke! I prefer anything else.

You don't like praise & worship music? That's a pretty broad category, isn't it?

WorshipinWeirdo · 01-13-2004, 01:35 PM

It's not the style of music that matters, In England there's a movement going on where christian techno is being played and people worship to that. If people can worship to techno, can't they worship to rock, and also can't they worship to slow songs too? If they can't worship to a style of music they have problems. I personally hate southern Gospel music but will I play it if our worship leader selects a southern gospel song? Yeah I will, I'm not gonna go "I hate that southern gospel music, I can't worship to it and I hate it.". If your pastor is telling you not to play rock music, don't play rock music, because you need to respect the authority God has placed over you. Although I would sit down with him and talk to him about this.

ryanspeer · 01-13-2004, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BluesJunkie

Personally, P&W music makes me want to puke!

Not sure exactly what you mean by that, but seeing as you'll be expected to a whole lot of it up there in heaven, I do suggest you get used to it...

ryanspeer · 01-13-2004, 02:28 PM

I've been reading a book on worship leading and I came across a quote that jumped off the page at me. Analogy's work incredibly well at getting a point across and I hope it'll make as much sense to you all as it did to me. It goes something like this (this is based on the Biblical principal of Christ being the "groom" and we, His church, being the "bride):

"The bride is the bridegroom's and His alone. Attracting attention to ourselves and away from Christ is as offensive as a best man flirting with his friend's bride as she comes up the aisle."

What's the application to this thread's original post? I'd say that if the music you're playing is atracting attention to yourselves vs. Christ, then you're in the wrong. IF, however, you're reflecting any attention to Christ, then it is THEN and ONLY then that it's true worship of Him.

Beyond that, and without knowing what you were playing, how you were playing it, everybody's stage presence, etc., only you and those present at that time (and Christ, obviously) can be the true judge of your motives and it's presentation.

Sinker · 01-13-2004, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xkcer Man

I think you're referring to Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

dohh!!!!! Well, of course I am!!

Shredcheddar · 01-13-2004, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesus freak!!

I was playing with my guitar some christian rock for praise and worship at a meeting and a pastor came up and told me that "this music is to fast for praise and worship it needs to be more slow and peaceful."

And 95% of the people there love rock.

So that brings me to the question. Do you think you can have good praise and worship ,a close time with the lord, with the music being rock? I think so. For me at lest, mabey not if your a 40 year old guy or somthing but I have felt God through rock praise and worship. Tell me what you think

Well, it really does not matter the particular style of music. Distortion can bring us no closer to God than an acoustic guitar, because worship simply is not about the music. Of course, distraction is to be avoided, as is the conception that worship is a concert-like "rocking out" feeling.. because worship is not an effect of our emotions. Because of these things, you can not "feel God" better through a rock song than a classic Praise and Worship song. It is all about what lyrics and music facilitate worship (through lyrics that are God-focused and sound doctrinally, as well as music that is not a distraction). These things are doubtlessly more important than the worshippers emotions, which mean little.

Also, I'm all for offering your best efforts musically and lyrically to God.. I'm not a fan of modern P&W, either. However, don't turn those efforts of creating music with God in mind to creating music with yourself in mind.

Saxophone · 01-13-2004, 03:27 PM

I love rock in todays christian music. It gets me excited and feeling good. I think the Pastor has a stereotype in his head about Christian rock. I think we can all worship to all kinds of music.

Shredcheddar · 01-13-2004, 04:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saxophone

I love rock in todays christian music. It gets me excited and feeling good. I think the Pastor has a stereotype in his head about Christian rock. I think we can all worship to all kinds of music.

I'm not saying this is a bad thing at all. However, my point in the above post was that worship is not neccessarily singing a song, and it certainly is not about, as you said, "getting excited and feeling good". Now, obviously, these side-effects of our emotions are not a terrible thing, but I would not encourage them in a worship setting, as the focus can be shifted off of God and to happiness, or glee, or otherwise good karma that can be mistaken as true worship.

Because worship is not about ourselves, the focus on me and what God has done for me and what I am currently doing ("I lift my voice and sing") really peeves me, considering that there are much more profound alternatives to a lot of shallow Praise and Worship.

Another peeve is the emotional response to emotionally moving music during worship (for the fallacies of emotionalism I've explained above). The problem is not so much that the musicians create moving music, but that the individual worshipper is distracted from worship by their own response. This is why excellence in music is encouraged, while emotionalism is discouraged.

PKfanSteph · 01-13-2004, 05:32 PM

I've been in similar positions and have learned that there are times to be quiet and reflective and times to be excited and triumphant in your music. That is why it is important for the worship team to know in advance the topic of the sermon. I wouldn't expect a somber hymn to preface or follow a sermon on the joy we have in Christ. And neither would I expect a rowdy praise song to follow a sermon on adultery. But you also need to be mindful of the audience. The church I went to in college had both a traditional and a contemporary service, which was perfect since a large portion of our atendees were college students who liked to "rock out" when appropriate.

Different people respond in different ways and there are always going to be "thrill seekers" who come to church for a quick spiritual buzz. These people will usually get bored and go someplace else for a new high (Rich Mullins speaks about this on the Here In America DVD, btw) You, as a musician, can't control that. As a player, you have a responsibility to do your best to use what you play to direct people to God. The key is to not play what's popular, but what's appropriate.

If this was just a meeting, then your pastor is making a mountain out of a mole-hill. But, whether you agree or not, you need to respect his authority.