The Artist and Humility

A friend and I used to joke that when asked in job interviews what our strengths were, we would say ‘My main strength is that I am very humble.’

You can see the irony in this! To say you are very good at being humble seems to prove you are not humble.

But by not wanting to draw attention to humility (fearing that doing so would demonstrate a lack of humility), I wonder if we tend to reflect too little on how we are going at being humble. I wonder if we also miss wonderful opportunities to encourage others who are demonstrating humility.

Crucially, we may also downplay the need to work on being humble. I wonder if instead, we often hope that as we work on other aspects of Christian character – love, kindness, generosity, and so on – humility will just develop in the background.

For the Christian musician, there is considerable work to be done on the spiritual backdrop that sits behind our playing. In fact, this requires more work than the music. We must seek to ensure our hearts and minds are continuing to worship God, and that we are growing in our faith and godliness. Growth in the Christian life requires utter reliance on God but also discipline, focus, and careful attention from us. It’s hard work!

As church musicians – and leaders of our congregations – we are on display. Both our positioning in church services (often on the platform) as well as our task (singing or playing instruments with appropriate expression) can easily lead us to worship ourselves and not God, and to cause others to do the same. The task of pointing others to God through our music is by no means easy. Humility is required – both as a starting point, and as a constant.

We know a humble person when we meet one – but how do we pinpoint exactly what humility is? In his book ‘Humilitas’, John Dickson defines humility as “the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself.” (p 24).

We see the ultimate humility in our Lord Jesus, who despite his status, humbled himself to the point of death on a cross. By contrast, we are often self-focused and proud.

So how do we develop humility? Of course, for the Christian, we must dedicate ourselves to reading God’s Word and prayer for greater humility, and seek accountability and encouragement from trusted friends.

But in addition, Dickson suggests some profoundly simple and practical approaches to developing humility (pp 174-183):

1. Recognise the inherent beauty of humility – We are shaped by what we love. If we love humility, we will be shaped by it.
2. Reflect on the lives of the humble – Find humble people in your life and study them.
3. Conduct thought experiments – Imagine yourself in certain scenarios and consider humble courses of action you could take.
4. Act humbly – “develop the humility muscle by exercising it.” (p 178)
5. Invite criticism – Within a culture of thoughtful critique, humility will be fostered.
6. Forget about being humble – “The very first step in the pursuit of humility is to recognize that I am not humble.” (p 183) Humility requires recognising our pride first, and working to reduce that. Humility will be a by-product of that process.

What a wonderful thing it would be for us to encourage a brother or sister in their humility this week, and to prayerfully consider steps we can take to grow in humility ourselves. 

GC

Is Christian music too predictable?

I'm preparing for a talk on music and theology (not particularly on Christian music, mind you, but on music in general and its place in creation). This very interesting quote from theologian Jeremy Begbie came up:

Christian Contemporary Music (CCM) is an enormous industry, and some would argue that it has succumbed in an alarming way to the co-opting of religion into the commercial interests of consumption, capitalism, and materialism.... It is disappointing, for example, to find an intense musical conservatism in much of the contemporary worship scene. (Resounding Truth, 256)

He admits that simplicity and accessibility is part of the point of church music, but goes on to issue a challenge:

Is the church prepared to give its musicians room to experiment (and fail), to juxtapose different styles, to educate themselves in music history, to resist the tendency to rely on formulas that "work" with minimum effort and can quickly guarantee seats filled in church -- and all this in order that congregational worship can become more theologically responsible, more true to teh God who has given us such abundant potential for developing fresh musical sounds? (Resounding Truth, 256)

Are we too conservative in pushing the boundaries of musical creativity? Or are we simply doing the right thing of serving the church where they're at (not getting stuck up our own guitarsenal developing music which is so complicated and foreign that your average pew-sitter cannot understand what's happening let alone join in)?

From demo to mastered mix

On 9th November we are going to launch a new EP with four songs aimed at private devotion.

The tracks were produced and recorded by David Nicholas, and have just been mixed by Allen Salmon in Nashville and Mastered by Jim DeMain at Yesmaster.

We thought we'd give you a little sneak peak at the process these songs have gone through, by showing you the evolution of one of these tracks (code-named 'Time') from a rough iPhone demo through mixing and mastering. You can hear what each of these processes adds to the quality of the finished product.

Making church boring is emotional manipulation

Chris Green has been giving the Annual Moore College lectures this year. In his talk today on preaching he pointed out that there are two ways of being emotionally manipulative.

The first is to whip people up into a frenzy, which is not motivated by the gospel but by the sheer emotional experience of the event.

But another group of people are guilty of manipulation in a different way. Chris recalls church experiences where a hugely powerful song has concluded and the service leader has failed to even note the emotional response which it has produced, saying "well done...and now the notices". This is deliberately quenching the emotional impact of the gospel, trying to make sure people don't respond as they would otherwise. It is manipulation.

I haven't thought about it this way before, but I think he's right.

I would go so far as to say that to deliberately try to pour cold water on people's whole-person-ed response to the power of God's word is manipulative.

Some examples of this kind of manipulation are
1. Choosing songs which are so bad that they take our attention away (if it were possible) from God's grace to us in Jesus Christ.

2. Planning services with no space for our response, so that no sooner have we surveyed the wondrous cross than some joker gets up and turns our attention to the location for the church picnic.

3. Being so casual that we are tempted to irreverence.

4. Being so focused on mutual edification that we conduct our entire service as if God were absent, and nobody thinks to actually do business with God.

5. Creating rules, or a culture, where common ways of responding to the emotional power of the gospel is discouraged (such as 'no raising hands in church').

Any others you can think of?

Simone on the psychology of song preferences

Our friend Simone Richardson (lyricist behind many great songs sung by churches around the world) has been doing some research on how our psychological profile affects the type of songs we like. Her first post is here. Worth a read. 

Only people who are skillful should serve

Here is a radical proposition for you: only people who are skilful should serve in music ministry.

I know it sounds a bit harsh. But I have a proof-text for it ... 1 Chronicles 15:22 has become my new memory verse:

Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it. (NIV)

Seems to make sense to me.

Now it's a little bit of a fudge, I know. For starters I don't believe in proof texting like this (we need to look at a theology of music and a theology of church and the gathering). And the NIV is rendering the Hebrew 'to understand' as 'Skilful at' which is fair enough in the context but other versions bring the point out slightly differently (The NRSV lowers the bar a little: "Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, was to direct the music, for he understood it." )

However I think we sometimes are too keen to include everybody in serving in the music team. Should someone who is tone deaf be 'allowed' to lead the singing? Well, no, not necessarily.

It might be a good idea to let them, for a range of political and pastoral reasons. Each church needs to work out what level of skill is required for the task at hand. My church may not need the same skilful musicians as a church of 20,000 people broadcast all over the world.

But I don't think we need to see a theological mandate for participation in the church music team by anyone and everyone who wants to 'use their gift'.

There IS a theological reason why everybody should SING together. But to think this means every singer should have a microphone is a confusion. It treats the band as the church, and puts a false wall between the band and the church (as if you are only participating if you are in the band). They are all participating as the one body of Christ (Gal 3:28) even if they don't have a microphone. We are all one, a body of believers without division, and yet we are also differentiated (1 Cor 12:29). 

So let those who are skilful at music (or at least 'understand' it!) lead the rest of us in singing joyfully to our God.

What does worship 'in Spirit and Truth' mean?

This semester at Moore Theological College in Sydney I have the privilege of sitting in on David Peterson's class on Worship. Dr Peterson is one of our best thinkers on the theology of worship. (I'm not alone in this opinion - Bob Kauflin lists his book "Engaging with God" above the Bible on his list of books to read on worshipmatters blog.)

Today we looked at worship in the New Testament, particularly in the gospel of Matthew and John. There were many highlights, but one thing which struck me was his exposition of the story of the Samaritan Woman and Jesus at the well.

John 4:19       “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.  20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,  but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
John 4:21       “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming  when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;  we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.  23 Yet a time is coming and has now come  when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit  and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit,  and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:25       The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)  “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
John 4:26       Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” 

People have all sorts of theories on what worship 'in Spirit and Truth' means. But in the context of John's gospel, the Spirit here probably refers to the Holy Spirit (hence the capital letter S in the 2011 NIV). And 'true' in John's gospel is normally used about things which are the ultimate fulfilment of something, as opposed to the provisional shadow of its Old Testament counterpart.

The Samaritan woman is asking Jesus to comment on the dispute between Judaism and the Samaritans over where the right location for worship is (Jerusalem as the Old Testament says, or on Mt Gerizim as the Samaritans decided in about 400BC). Jesus confirms the priority of the Scriptural teaching ('salvation is from the Jews'), but then blows apart the categories. Right worship in the Old Covenant involved a temple, priests, sacrifice... but all these things served only to point towards the True Worship of the New Covenant. Jesus is our priest, and his body is our temple. (This is why Christian Zionism is badly mistaken to look to an earthly Jerusalem for the fulfilment of Christian eschatological hopes ... we look instead to true worship by Jew and Gentile together: through Jesus, anticipating the heavenly Jerusalem).

True worship, and Spiritual worship, is the worship which Jesus alone makes possible. He is the truth (John 14:6). And the Spirit makes this worship possible by showing us who Jesus is, and enabling us to recognise and respond to him as he really is. That it what it means to worship in Spirit, and in truth.

As Dr Peterson observed during class, all the issues that consume our attention when thinking about worship (Having the right liturgy, the right music, the right location and all that stuff) looks so weird and irrelevant next to John's definition of proper worship - worship of Jesus, in Spirit and Truth.

Music brings us closer to God?

There is a fascinating piece in the July edition of Eternity Magazine (an Australian church paper). The question is: 'Can music bring us closer to God'. Two songwriters who I respect immensely, Rob Smith and Ben Fielding answer differently.

On the side of "No and Yes" is the typically measured and balanced Rob Smith, a lecturer at Sydney Missionary and Bible College.  He points out that only Jesus can bring us closer to God: 'if as a resul tof the Holy Spirit's work in us we have come to put our faith in Christ, then we have already come to God and cannot come any closer in this age'. He draws our attention to Rom 5:1-2, 1Pet 3:18, Heb 12:22-24, Eph 2:13 and Eph 3:11-12. The once for all sacrifice made by Jesus when he sacrificed his own body for us is not to be repeated. On the other hand, once we have experienced this incredible grace, we are freed to continually 'draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Heb 10:21-22). To the extent that our singing involves the word of Christ dwelling in us richly (Col 3:16), we find a means of being filled by the Spirit with the fullness of God. He uses the analogy of a married couple having dinner together - it doesn't make them married, but does bring them closer.

Ben Fielding is a songwriter and worship pastor at Hillsong Church in Sydney. In the past I have had the benefit of Ben's generosity in sharing his insights on songwriting with a group of church music directors, and I was hugely impressed by his concern for good teaching through music. He takes a different angle to Rob. While Rob starts with the atonement and works backwards, Ben starts with creation and works forward through redemption to show how God uses creation, and music in particular, to draw people to himself in repentance and faith: 'God does use music to draw people unto Himself, to tell His story and beckon repentance.' He is talking, first, about music in general not just church music. It's a rich place to begin a theology of music. Yet he is working towards the same point as Rob - the two meet in the middle, at the Cross of Jesus:

Though music can be a wonderful, spiritual and powerful expression of God-given creativity, its importance must be held in the perspective of Jesus. It is Jesus who overcomes sin and makes a way to the Father. Nothing takes the place of Jesus - not the apostles, not the prophets, and not music. However, they are not in competition. Through Jesus we can boldly enter God's presence with worship and singing.

Music, then, can be a means by which the 'character of our faithful God' is declared. 'We should concern ourselves with presenting biblical truth that necessarily points towards Jesus.' The emotional expreiene of music should not, according to Fielding, be confused with the presence of God. It is the work of the Spirit that brings about repentance and change. 'Music enables us to turn to the Lord in agreement with one another as we sing the same words and melodies, powerfully depicting the unity that is taking place.' Music is used 'by God to draw us closer' - closer, he means, in the sense of drawing our gaze to the cross of Christ.

What a fascinating study in two able songwriters from different traditions arriving at the Cross together. 

Small churches: alternatives to drums

At the small church plant I attend we used to have a full drum kit each week. But for smaller weeks when there are only a few people, the echo-y school hall really makes for an overpowering sound.

But no more! Our minister bought one of our youth group drummers (who happens to be the minister's son!) a Cajón - a small box shaped instrument originating from Peru.

It's pronounced car (as in what you drive) + HON (to rhyme with on).

It is played by slapping different parts of its side to produce a cut down drum sound - there is a big bassy sound at the bottom, and a snare like sound at the top.

A seriously portable solution to an age old problem - and it suits acoustic style music perfectly by giving some rhythm without overpowering the space.

Plans for new album

We've just finished a couple of days at the Grove Studios, a beautiful recording studio on the Central Coast. Our friend and longtime producer David Nicholas whipped us into shape, with Ben Whincop assistant engineering, and Andrew Hood keeping everything under control as studio manager. (We were also very grateful for Lisa Massey and Steph Judd's cooking to keep us going through some long days!)

We recorded live to tape as we have the last few albums - this is largely David's philosophy, as he is all about capturing a band performance. This time we allowed time for a few overdubs as well - the nice acoustic grand piano, some extra vocal takes, harmonies, taurus bass synth and piano accordion.

We managed to get four songs recorded, and these will be sent off shortly to be mixed in Nashville.

We will be releasing these tracks, God willing, as a special EP which will only be available directly from our website in high quality download, or at gigs in a special limited edition CD.

Stay tuned!