derek webb.feedback and mainstream “worship”…

the often miss-described and cast down derek webb is putting together a worship project.  i find myself very intrigued because it will be unlike any of the mainstream worship ideas that we now see.  derek seems more than willing to walk a line less mainstream and i like that!

you can read his own post about the project here.

over the last ten years we have seen many artists turn their pen and paper towards worship by compiling a cd’s worth of songs under a genre called “worship”.  it is then marketed and performed not unlike any other song or performance or genre.  full bands/artists labeled as worship bands/artists, travel around and perform worship.  this in turn has continued a practical description of worship that is only musical and is something you do for a specified amount of time.  in short, we have allowed the monster of consumerism to devour yet another one of our expressions to God, rendering it watered down and lacking.

if that sounds a bit cynical… well, it is.  i mean,  when did our response to the Creator, Savior, and Guide become so boxed in?  who are we to make a response to the Triune switchable – when the right song is on we flip the “on” switch of worship, and three and a half minutes later (if we are in the car) we flip it off… or 30 minutes later if we are at a churches gathering time.  God is and always has been bigger than that, deserving of more than our boxes, more than our emotive response to a hooky melody, and more focus than our comfortability.  we can and should do better.  romans 12:1-2 anyone….anyone??

david platt said it really well: “we have created a God that looks, thinks, and acts like us… so when we come to worship and raise our hands… it is possible that we are actually worshiping ourselves.”

i can remember in years past having idealistic conversations with close friends, most of which where musicians, about all instrumental, or mostly instrumental times of worship interspersed with long moments of prayer and silence.  time focused less on melodies that allows us to engage with, not escape from, the Spirit.   something that is less mainstream and comfortable and actually allows us to focus in on the immeasurable grace, mercy, love, power, etc. of our God.  a time less focused on ourselves and more focused on our God.  i say all of that because i find it easy to focus in on singing, or the band, or the presentation to a point that i am singing about a God i am not even engaged with.  a distraction form our intended focus!  awfully silly to sing about having an intense relationship with someone you never actually get intense with.

granted, you can make instrumental times just as problematic and self focused, but if we could find a balance of all of those things.  i believe in our cooperate gatherings as a time that allows us to join in unity of heart and melody exemplifying that which we are, a body composed of many parts, of which Christ is the head.  i am not saying that we shouldn’t sing, but i do think that we have a tendency to become mindless or numb, hypnotized even to our own glorification of a particular song or an emotion to a particular style.  we are humans and music is a beautiful thing but it is not the end, it is the means to the end.  a medium, and not the only one!  it is always the heart behind our mediums, and we must not find ourselves complacent or distracted from our target.  times of focus underscored by instruments alone are things we should embrace and when used as a check point, can be effective.

i am in no way saying that one way is better or suggesting that we should stop doing what we have been doing.  i merely suggest that the heart focused on God is the intent and pray that we do not lose sight of God in our times of worship.

anyway, feedback is a mostly instrumental album that follows the Lord’s prayer as a guide or outline.  i look forward to experiencing what i have desired for many years now.  and i celebrate with anticipation this release.

so, what are your thoughts?  on the mainstream worship?  is it worship or just “worship”?