{"id":400,"date":"2010-06-26T07:42:09","date_gmt":"2010-06-26T13:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/?p=400"},"modified":"2010-06-26T07:45:52","modified_gmt":"2010-06-26T13:45:52","slug":"worship-leader-or-worship-pastor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamanoffering.com\/blog\/worship-leader-or-worship-pastor\/","title":{"rendered":"Worship Leader or Worship Pastor?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shannon Lewis posted a great question yesterday<\/a> that I thought would be worth weighing in on. \u00a0You can check out the full extent of the question at his blog, but here’s a quick summary:<\/p>\n

My question is this: is there a Biblical balance, and if so, where is it to be found?\u00a0 Is worship ever to be “seeker friendly”?\u00a0 Even if not “seeker friendly”, is there ever a proper time to use songs\u00a0because<\/em> they are\u00a0comfortable<\/em> or familiar?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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I think there’s definite Biblical support for both sides, which would lead me to believe that “pastoring” includes using both new and familiar songs.<\/div>\n
For instance, looking at Deuteronomy 6 where the people are commanded<\/a> to “teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise…you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” \u00a0– speaking of the law that God gave to the people through Moses. \u00a0These things they were supposed to remember would be familiar to them, even to the point of them dangerously becoming too familiar as we see through how the Israelites acted (and how we act!), but they were still commanded to dwell on and remember those things.<\/div>\n
Contrast that with the multiple times in the Psalms where the writers urge us to “sing a new song.”\u00a0I also think of how Paul exhorts us to both “think on these things,” speaking of whatever is good, excellent, noble, etc.<\/a>, AND move from milk to solid food<\/a>.<\/div>\n
In the case of music I think all of the above can, and should, be applied. Familiar songs remind us of truth in an easy-to-remember way. \u00a0They also make it easy for us to meditate upon those truths. \u00a0New songs, as long as they truly are filled with truths that stretch us, move us from milk to meat.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n