From the Sublime to the Ridiculous, and Back

Church musician Jonathan Aigner wrote a piece at Patheos entitled “Why are you still going to a church that does bad worship?”

It seems that our Protestant brethren are picking up that Gottesdienst has been laying down for more than 25 years.

It’s a good essay, but nothing that you haven’t heard before. LCMS pastor the Rev. John Bennett’s commentary on this article and the topic is concise and to the point:

It's funny how it's "cutting edge" to pattern what happens in the "worship service" according to what is trending in secular society. Everything that can be defined as "contemporary worship" takes its stylistic origins from the world, while its advocates call liturgical worship - the Divine Service - archaic, boring, lacking emotion, etc.

Liturgical worship, on the other hand, comes from within the "culture" of the church; it isn't birthed from the trends of what is popular among the unbelieving masses, but is patterned after the sacred scriptures and the ancient traditions of Christendom.

So which would you rather have? A trendy, ever-changing service that, aside from the words, seems no different from an ordinary secular concert? Or would you desire to worship in the same way that Christians have worshiped for more than a thousand years? Though the language has changed throughout the centuries, the truths contained in the sacred liturgies and hymns of the church will always remain the solid foundation on which true worship, the Divine Service, is grounded.

Lastly, it's incredibly egotistical to take that which appeals to the fallen flesh and call it "worship." I often have to wonder if those who advocate for "contemporary worship" bother to ask themselves, "I wonder if Christ actually likes this saccharine-saturated nonsense that I'm singing." Any joy in worship ought to come from the proclamation of the Gospel and the realization that Christ died for me, a poor, miserable sinner, that I should have everlasting life with Him.

When it comes to “contemporary worship,” one has to wonder if there are pastors and congregations out there (some of them within the LCMS) who one day asked, “Why should the devil have all the bad music?”