Writing in Christianity Today magazine, J. D. Walt weighed in a couple of years ago on the subject of worship, in response to an article Brian McLaren posted on the state of contemporary worship. An excerpt:
I had the privilege of co-writing (with Chris Tomlin and others) a short chorus called "The Wonderful Cross." It's a small part attached to the big Isaac Watts hymn "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." The words to the chorus are:
Oh, the wonderful Cross. Oh, the wonderful cross,
bids me come and die and find that I may truly live.
Oh, the wonderful cross, Oh, the wonderful cross,
all who gather here by grace draw near and bless your name.From time to time we get e-mail about the song. One such e-mail came from Dan, who excoriated us for celebrating the cross and a gospel that would "bid us come and die," as Dietrich Bonhoeffer so aptly put it. Dan closes his letter with this:
"Don't get me wrong, when that song is being played, I do sing, but I change the lyrics around a little. Instead of what it says, I change the chorus to:
'You are Wonderful Christ,
You are Wonderful Christ,
You did come and die, Now I (when I sing that part, I kind of stretch the I out), I-I-I can truly live.'"Dan's complaint captures the essence of Brian McLaren's assessment of much worship out there on the "contemporary" scene: stretching the "I" out.
Too often we don't construct worship "for God" but for individuated consumers who come for an experience of God. This is how we manage to endlessly fight over worship. For those coming to be fed, taste is a neverending battle. But this is the wrong conversation altogether. The real issue in worship isn't so much about songs and style but the larger issue of Story: the story of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The big question we wrestle with at the seminary is this one: What does worship "for God" look like?
John David (J.D.) Walt is the Dean of Chapel and Vice President of Community Life at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. Read the rest of the article at Christianity Today
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