Ok, so as a disclaimer, if you look up the word “stipulational” to see if it’s actually a word, you won’t find it. I just wanted to throw that out there so you know I realize it is a made up word and that I’m not actually that stupid to think it’s not. Anyways, I ended up making up this title a while back without knowing that I would end up blogging about it someday, but it’s been heavy on my heart and so I think now is the time to let er’ rip! So to start, I’m going to define the root word, “stipulation”, then I’m going to explain the title and unpack this issue. So without further ado…
Stipulation: A condition, demand or promise in an agreement or contract.
If you haven’t put two and two together by now, then you may as well just stop reading…just kidding! If I step on your toes a little bit, please forgive me, I’m simply writing about what’s been on my heart lately through different experiences and conversations that I’ve had. Here’s the issue…I think that most people (myself included from time to time) have created conditions to their worship life. Let me be clear from the start that when I use the word worship, I’m not just talking about music, although I will dive into that issue specifically in this blog. When I say worship I mean lifestyle…it’s how we act, what we say, what we do, who we associate ourselves with, what we watch, listen to, and even what we think. This is outlined for us in Romans 12:1, which says:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship.
Back on point…these conditions and demands that we create can ultimately drive our hearts further from God’s own. If in our hearts we decide to only worship if our preferences are met, our ears are tickled and somewhere along the way, our lives are made easier and more comfortable, then I would actually venture to say that we’ve missed the boat altogether on what worship is all about. Now, please don’t hear me say that it’s wrong to have preferences. Many people connect easier with different styles and I get that, there’s nothing wrong with that, but what I’ve seen is that people have confused preferences with stipulations or conditions.
As a worship pastor, I want to dedicate the remainder of this blog on stipulational worship specifically related to music within the church. It is my position that we’ve become way too caught up in conditional worship across the board. I’ve heard people say that hymns just aren’t relevant to our culture anymore. Well if that’s true, then the Bible just isn’t relevant anymore, since most of our hymns are taken straight from scripture. I’ve also heard the opposite that modern worship has become shallow and self-centered and we should only do hymns.
Tom Burggraf says:
Nothing wrong with the hymns. I love many of them. They were contemporary in their time, and many were vehemented rejected by the “church” in favor of older, more familiar songs. We do the same thing. Much recently composed praise and worship music is inspired and anointed by the same Holy Spirit. He still moves…
It’s cool in some circles to be a Hymn-basher, or in others to be a modern-music-hater. Good thing we’re not called to be cool. Make sure your hymns or choruses don’t become idols.
I think he nailed it on the head…when will we wake up and realize that it’s not at all about us, but bringing glory to God! The final thing I’d like to talk about is the different types/styles of praise and worship songs, I’m not talking about hymns vs modern worship here, I’m talking about song content. I was recently on a discussion board about worship songs and asked this question based off a post I read: “what makes a worship song seem self-centered? What examples can you share with us”? I must say I was surprised at a response I got which basically attacked two particular worship songs that I have really enjoyed singing in the past. It went on to basically say that songs with a lot of me’s and I’s are self-centered (you’ll find a lot of that if you read through Psalms) and that God doesn’t want to hear what I’m doing for Him (suggesting that God just wants to hear us sing about his character only). Here’s my issue with that…we’ve got to realize that God does not need us to worship Him, rather, we need to worship God!! There are many different types of worship songs. Praise songs typically are faster in tempo and are more geared toward thanksgiving and proclamation. Worship songs typically are slower in tempo and are geared toward awe and reverence, often focusing on Gods character. Neither of these are wrong, right or better, they are simply different. Certain songs are not made invalid because we don’t connect with them, if anything is self-centered, it’s that thought process. Again, different people connect in different ways with different songs, and it is not our job to judge based on preference, so when a song comes on that isn’t your favorite, then pray! You are not required to sing every note of every song, especially if your heart isn’t in it…but please do not discount that God may be very active in the people around you, so pray and thank him for that and for being a God who was and is and is to come!!
