When I was younger my family was part of a small town Southern Baptist church in the Midwest. It was a typical Baptist church of the 80s already flirting with liberalism and not very strong on apologetics. But it did have a great music minister. Mr. Rankin. Every time I stand up to sing during Sunday worship service I thank God for this man and his service. This man wasn’t flashy. In fact he wore weird polyester suits. But he loved singing to our Lord and helping all of us in the congregation to sing too. He frequently took the time to actually teach the congregation a new worship song. And by teach I don’t mean stand up on stage with the other trained singers performing a perfectly practiced new song and expecting everyone else to follow along. He would literally take us measure by measure in the hymn book with the pianist plinking out the notes on the piano. This was usually done on a Wednesday or Sunday night, but Mr. Rankin wasn’t afraid to stop the singing on a Sunday morning to back the whole congregation up and learn how to sing together united in praise. I didn’t realize how beautiful this was until recently. The past several years I have been lamenting the state of congregational singing. My difficulty is NOT in hymns versus contemporary, piano versus band or anything superficial like that. I miss the dedication of the music minister who DISCIPLED his church so that the whole congregation, many of us who are NOT musically gifted, could lift up our weak and warbling voices TOGETHER in praise. The beauty came, not from the talent, but from the unity.
This really hit home one Sunday as the worship team, all of whom had to try out for their position, was energetically rocking another popular praise song. Suddenly this loud wailing and keening came from behind. Completely off key and not in harmony with the band on the stage. This gal was belting out her solo from the peanut gallery. I have heard some people complaining about this woman and how she is disrupting the service. I have heard others commend her for her spirit and her boldness to “make a joyful noise” for the Lord. I cannot make any comment about her intentions or her heart. It was a little distracting, but I chose to ignore it because, quite frankly, I didn’t think it worth my attention. The truth is, who can really blame her. She was doing what has been modeled for her.
I pray that The Church take corporate worship seriously and that the music minister in every local congregation recognizes his duty in discipling the church with sound doctrine through music.
Gloriously Broken 