All of my life the Church of God has been known for it's musical talent. Many of the great Southern Gospel singers of both yesterday and today have come from our churches. Some of the finest musicians and songwriters have also been recognized worldwide that grew up in the COG. Several of us were talking just the other day about how many groups are still recording Brother Charles Wycuff's song, "What A Lovely Name." Horace Mauldin, Tim Hill, and others have had songs that have charted and made our musical recognizable throughout the world of gospel music.
Along with our music, we have always been known for our worship. Shouting, dancing in the Spirit, clapping hands, lifting hands in praise, even foot-stompin' (as we call it in the South) was a regular part of our services. I can remember as a teen-ager wondering about how non-pentecostal folks visiting in churches my dad served would react when the Spirit moved. Sometimes it was funny to see the looks on their faces and even their reaction when the power of God fell on the congregation. We had a full band with drums, while many of the visitors came from churches that barely had a piano and organ. When the anointing would fall people would be blessed in a wonderful fashion.
One thing I can remember about growing up in this church was the balance that we had between music, worship, and the preaching of the Word. My dad believed in the moving of the Spirit, as do I, but he also believed the Word of God was what brought strength to people's lives when the shout was over. I served with two great men, Pastors Bobby Johnson and I. C. Morris, Jr., who taught me the same thing. Sing, worship, praise, but always make sure the people are founded and grounded on the Word.
When the Neo-Pentecostal movement began to make inroads into the traditional Pentecostal churches it basically changed our style of worship. More emphasis was put on praise rather than preaching or teaching because this is what seemed to attract the masses. Sometimes the music and praise goes on for the majority of the service today and little attention is given to the preaching of the Word. We, along with our other traditional Pentecostal denominations, saw the growth many of the entities were experiencing so we began to do some the same things they did. Instead of being trendsetters in music, worship, and preaching we changed our styles to be more acceptable to the Non-Pentecostals just the Neo's did. Instead of seeking God for the proper balance in our services, we tried to emulate what was working elsewhere. In some cases it prospered, but in other cases we are now beginning to see the shattered results of people only founded in a shout rather than on the Word.
Again, these are my opinions and they only matter for what they are worth, but in many situations these things have occurred:
-We have substituted praise for prayer when we need a combination of both. Praise for the most part is enjoyable (except to the people that get tired of standing! LOL!), but prayer is work. It takes a mighty strong effort today to get people to take time to prayer each day to have something to praise God about. However, many have been taught that praise is the key to heaven and not prayer. To me that is just wrong. Prayer is the key that gives you the ability to praise when the music's playing and when it's not. Prayer is the open door into the throne room of God that allows the avenues of praise to be opened unto Him. Without prayer, my praise is pretty much worthless.
-We have the most copied music style in the church world. There's an Independent Baptist church that uses our old songbooks an hymnals in my city. There are countless services that I have visited in non-Pentecostal churches where the music sounds the same (if not better) and the singers are prepared and really seem to be into the music as we were when I was a kid and even as a younger pastor in the COG. Many of these churches have progressed to almost a Pentecostal style of worship (without tongues) because that's what seems to attract the people aged 20-45 in America today. The Gen-Xers and Mills are looking for music that makes them feel good about themselves and for performance as well as presentation. We in the COG cared about the performance for sure. We didn't want it to be unto men, but we wanted it to be unto God. I'm to sure that's the case anymore because we have lost that distinction in so many ways.
-Lastly, many of our churches are out of balance. When shouting replaces the Word and becomes more important, it's easy to get out of balance. You see at age 58 I struggle inside when I pray about music for a service. Not because it is a burden, but because I seek balance. I could get up and sing a song for a certain length of time and wear people out, or I could find that song that people can really prepare themselves in worship for, sing it for a short time, and they be ready for the World. People do not know how hard it is for a person who have served in music as I have for most of my ministry.
I could sing a couple of songs I know for 30 minutes and keep the crowd excited, and if the Spirit is in it I would and will, and it would not affect the preaching of the Word in a negative fashion. However, if I'm trying to work up a shout and drawing attention to myself rather than lifting up praise to God, then I am doing more harm than good. Prayer should lead into praise and praise lead in to preaching. If I'm worn out from standing and singing for an hour, my flesh will no doubt attack my Spirit and keep me from hearing the Word as I should.
The Bible talks about the foolishness of preaching. It also talks about the act of spiritual discernment in the church today. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God. Worship ushers in the presence of God and even takes us face to face with Him. So every part of our service is special and needs prayer. but on should not override the others. We must have balance if the church is ever going to be the church again.
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