Worship Symposium 2009
“The cult of sentimentalism in the arts has to be arrested by constantly bringing the heart back to a God-centered worship. Much must be guarded against the hype and kick by including other aspects of worship, which are so missing today, like lament and repentance. As a musician, I am thankful for the consistency among lecturers who reminds us about the intrinsic power of music, and the synergizing of sound theology into songs.”
-My feedback regarding the Symposium in an evaluation form
I am indeed very fortunate to be part of this Worship Symposium organized by Methodist School of Music where a wide range of speakers were invited. Of which two speakers caught my attention.
Greg Scheer, Music Associate at the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship and one of the two plenary speakers was one main highlight in the conference. Coming from a reformed tradition, Greg highlighted two schools of thought when it comes to worship in churches.
The first is the aesthetical nature of the arts. By this, he means that the arts in and of itself contain intrinsic power that is able to work into the minds and souls of people. I am induced to say that this reminds me about the ideology of the Romantics in which “Art for Art’s sake” was being brought forth. I am convinced that Christians must take issue with this slogan because the true purpose of the arts is to glorify God. I quote Dr. Roland Chia in his workshop Sounding the Depths: Art and the Glory of God, “Like all other human enterprises, art does not seek to glorify itself”. The danger of holding the purely aesthetical view of the arts, in my opinion, is that the arts replace God, with the former becoming idolatrous.
The second school of thought of which I am more inclined towards is the Utilitarian view. The arts have a functional role that becomes a means to achieve an end. For example, Music is used as a tool to bring or draw people into worship, especially with the ones that appeal to the congregation. Therefore, it is mandatory that theology comes through music because the songs that we sing, speak much about what we believe as Christians. The arts thus become a partner with the words and it is also important that we make the right aesthetical decisions, lest we bring triviality to the message. For example “To God be the glory” or “Mighty fortress is our God” sung to a bossa-nova beat.
Greg interestingly points out a third point of view, which is often missed by most. He does not state his stand regarding this belief but merely throws it out to us “for free” in his words. It is this Metaphoric view about the arts where its role becomes even more important when human rationalism ends. He was quick to point out that he does not advocate the “effy effy flowery” type of feeling based idea. Rather, it is to bring out certain metaphors used for theological purposes for example; the Trinity, love, death, and image of a good shepherd. These are ideas that are not precise and actual words might not be as strong to describe as the arts can.
Colin Kirton, artistic director of foostool players, a Christian theatre company, was also another passionate speaker who is often engaged in teaching issues pertaining to the arts and Christianity. This gentleman is clearly one of those avid readers whose selection carpet across a span from Tolstoy to Michael Card. I will strongly encourage anyone reading this to visit this link below:
http://www.necf.org.my/newsmaster.cfm?&menuid=12&action=view&retrieveid=773
Where Colin engages with some questions pertaining to how Christianity and the arts.
One of the common threads that I have seen even before coming to the Symposium in our churches today is a lack of songs regarding the nature of lament. I am glad to see that also highlighted by other speakers including Colin, Pastor Rupert and Rev Dr. Niam Kai Huey.
I am not sure how to sum up this article, except to end off with two verses from the Bible:
“This people honor me with their lips,
But their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
Their teachings are but rules taught by men.” – Mark 7:6-7
The Lord have mercy on us.
