Perhaps you've noticed that churches all around our nation are splitting over the issue of music in worship. This is a simple explanation, but it's basically the classic hymn lovers vs. those who enjoy more modern praise and worship songs. I'm a hymn man myself, but I've watched the people in our church sing modern songs, and they truly love them. And they are truly led to worship God by singing them. The problem isn't that we have different opinions. The problem is our willingness to fight over what kind of music is better, more "worshipful," or more theologically correct. A pastor friend of mine likened this to children fighting over whose Father's Day card is better. "What do you suppose the father would say," he asks. So what should we do? Blake Coffee, otherwise known as The Church Whisperer, suggests that the answer comes in putting your brother or sister in Christ's needs above your own.

Gathered worship is about approaching the throne of grace together. That’s what makes it a very different experience from personal worship. In gathered worship, the Spirit of the very God I come to worship lives in my co-worshiper. That makes relationships critical to gathered worship. When I look across the congregation and see my dear friend profoundly expressing his love for the Lord, it doesn’t matter so much whether I’m loving the music, because my dear friend clearly is. I worship because he is worshiping. All that matters at that point in time is how I feel about God and how I feel about my friend. That is enough.... Read More.