Too Bright...Too Loud...

I'm a pastor.  I get asked from time to time why.  That's a good question, one I have to ask myself periodically if only to keep me refreshed and on target.  It's easy to get out of balance if you don't ask yourself solid, fundamental questions regularly.  I'm a pastor for two primary reasons:
1) God called me to it.
I know, I know...that statement is so common, especially within a church, but it really is true.  I wasn't a natural born leader growing up.  I was a quiet, shy, average little kid who preferred to stay below the radar.  God has a tremendous sense of humor to put me in the role that I have now.  It's actually a really good thing--I know that it's not from me.  I couldn't have fabricated or forced this if I wanted to.
2) People
I met with two young people in their twenties today--a guy and a girl--who are both young professionals and relatively new in their faith.  They've been coming to TPCC for a few months and God is moving in their lives.  I get pumped every time I have those kinds of conversations.  Both of these individuals had something in common--they have stayed at TPCC because our church has "engaged" them on some level.

That is why I am in ministry...to engage the disengaged with the love of Christ.
I looked up the definition of the word "engage" this afternoon.  It means: "to connect and to hold".  I love that.  I want our church to "connect and to hold" the attention of people who need to know Jesus.  It defines our campus, our ministries, my preaching, and our worship.

That leads me to something I really need to say.  Our creative and worship teams work incredibly hard to create "engaging" environments that will connect and hold all people--regardless of where they are spiritually--to a relationship with Jesus.  I give them a reasonable amount of freedom to come up with creative ideas to do this.  God is a creative God and has gifted us with some pretty creative people. 

Last Sunday I thought the team knocked it out of the park.  It was creative, but it wasn't over the top.  However, I'm reminded often that worship is just about the most subjective area within the church.  Two people can have the same experience and offer two completely different evaluations of it.  I've received a very small handful of emails complaining or expressing concern over the worship.  The two primary complaints are: 1) Too loud 2) Too much like entertainment

I should first preface my response by saying that the majority of those I speak with or receive emails from about this are incredibly gracious and it is obvious that they are communicating with a spirit of unity.  I want my response to be matched with that same grace and unity.  There are one or two emails that have disappointed me, but hey, they are people and I've been guilty of this at some time or another in my life as well.  Let me give a few responses:

• Guitars and drums sound loud even if they aren't even being played--that sounds crazy, but it's true--especially red ones.
• Everyone hears sound differently.  Our team has instruments that help them read how loud the sound levels really get.  I'm fully convinced that we could put the sound at every imaginable level and someone wouldn't like it.  This isn't a cop-out to keep blaring it--it's just reality that what one person hears, someone else hears differently...we need to take that reality into consideration.  The team is working hard to get and keep the sound at an appropriate level.  If they mess up, don't shoot em--love em. 
• Psalm 150 is a worship service.  Listen to what it says: "Praise the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.  Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with the tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Maybe it's just me, but this description sounds loud.  How do you clash cymbals quietly?  However, I'm sure that someone will tell Gabriel to keep the trumpet down.   
• I think heaven will be filled with blinding lights--enough said.
• I've gone to a few Colts games and those people go nuts...I would love to see that kind of enthusiasm for God in a worship service.
• We shouldn't confuse "engaging" worship for "entertainment".  The verb form of "entertain" means, "to take into consideration".  Not such a bad thing in my mind when it comes to the gospel.  I think heaven will be way more engaging than any rock concert.  I can't think of one arrogant or showy personality on our worship team.
• Repeating the same words multiple times in worship isn't such a bad thing...it works in the Psalms.
• Worship isn't about me.  I dislike country music and gospel quartets, but I would still worship to it, because worship is primarily about bringing glory to God...not my comfort level.
• We are completely open to constructive critique...that's just a part of what it means to be the Body, but when offering a critique, let's be sure to tell the team often what they did do well.  They spend hours prepping during the week.  It would be kind of like me preparing a meal all week for some guests, only to have them complain about how much they disliked it all evening.  We can certainly have the freedom to express an opinion of dislike, but build them up by telling them often what you did enjoy. 
• Over the course of my life when it comes to the worship style debates I've heard some people make the comment that they will just skip worship and come later for the teaching...really?  WOW is all I have to say.  I think we need to read the Psalms and Revelation again. 
• Our team will work hard in the future to be sensitive to the feedback from people.  I tell them all the time to listen, respond with grace, and to never push complaints back in a disrespectful way.  Our goal is engagement...not distraction or disrespect.  In the future, some ideas will work and others will bomb.  But we'll keep trying.  I'm grateful for grace.  I might need it after you read this post... 

Comments

[Marie]

Aaron,

I'm so glad you brought this up. Personally, I haven't noticed the sound level, so enough said about that!

By "last Sunday," I'm not sure which Sunday you're referring to. I probably should begin by sharing that we usually sit in the third row from the front, in the center section.

On Sunday, August 24, there was a revolving red light in the center of the set that was incredibly hard to face everytime it revolved. I and my seatmates found ourselves covering our eyes with our bulletin everytime it flashed. I did stop at the booth afterwards and share this with them-kindly, mind you!

On Sunday, August 31, it was much improved; some stationary blue lights, I believe. I did seem to be sitting directly in front of one of them, which may have made it seem as if that one was brighter than all the rest. Than again, maybe I have sensitive eyes and I should move back a few rows. Hope this helps some.

Marie Booth

[Linda Brockett]

Aaron, I hope you don't mind your mom posting. I am so incredibly proud of you - and, yes, you were indeed very quiet and shy when you were young (still are in my opinion, to a certain extent). Love you son. mom

[Tricia Fortin]

Aaron, THANK YOU so much for sharing. I really appreciated and was encouraged and reassured by your thoughtful comments. I also second your comment on the heart of those who serve with the worship ministry. I have been very blessed and honored to get to work with them and can attest to the humble attitude and desire to please God above anyone. I also know how hard they work to give their best to God and our congregation. Y'all are consistently in my prayers.

[Tim Leininger]

Aaron,

Thanks for your posts. I must say that there have been some great use of the the lights recently. Most notably, the use of lights to create a bold, bright, white cross on the backdrop. That was AWESOME! I appreciate the creative ideas that everyone is trying.

Tim

[Jayne Price]

I am so grateful for TPCC. Actually, "grateful" does NOT fully express my "gratitude", if that makes sense? My using grateful as an adjective in no way communicates or expresses the blessings I have received from becoming a part of TPCC. It's so much bigger than being "grateful". My gratitude and thanks extends to everyone at TPCC that has touched my life over the past few months, since moving to the area [and that is a lot of people!]. Every week I feel that Aaron is speaking directly to my heart. I'm not sure I could ask for more than that, BUT I do get more! I get to receive God's message through all of the wonderful and talented people who make each Sunday an awesome day of worship for me and my family. I'm constantly amazed at the dedication, talent and determination of the Worship Ministry team. Their creativity in getting God's message out to our diverse group of worshipers is something I'm not sure everyone can, truly, fathom. As I'm sitting in my seat Sunday morning in the worship center, before the program begins and during our morning greetings, I look around and see people representing every one of our ministires, i.e. adult; children's; men's; women's; senior; student; young adults and I think to myself what a beautiful day it is [and] I am so thankful that our Worship Ministry is instrumental in bringing us all together and meeting each one of our individual needs. That is powerful! There I finally found an adjective I'm happy with!

[Rene Martin]

I thought the music was awesome and it moved me. Any thoughts on having one contemporary and one traditional service? I know an awesome guitar player!

[Sarah L]

I love the worship part of the service, it gets me so pumped up and in love with the Lord. I want to express my thanks and gratitude to the worship team and the hardwork they put into it each week.

[Bruce A.]

I don't go to TPCC but I do hope that Heaven is like a Colt's game!!! I hope we (I'm including myself) are loud and celebrating! We can't be too loud praising God. Oh...and I am over 60 years old, too.

[Matt Ferguson]

Aaron,
Thanks for the reminder a few weeks ago, that worship is not about me. Now, I remind myself that every Sunday before worship. It's been amazing how much I have enjoyed the worship time since.