“We’re sorry. We forgot to tell you to bring your earplugs.” This is what we were told by friends who had invited us to attend a Sunday AM worship service at their church. They actually were in the habit of carrying earplugs with them to church, and we would soon find out why.
I am in the process of writing another book on worship. I think I will title one of the chapters, “When Did God Go Deaf?” This is in no way meant to trivialize God, but rather to look at something that has been happening in many churches in recent years.
I expect we would all agree that worship is for God; that He is the object of our worship, that He is the audience. This being the case, why is it that sound systems must be turned up so high as to hurt the ears? It didn’t used to be that way. What has changed? Why is this happening? What are we to conclude? The only answer I can presently come up with is, either God is losing His hearing or, what we are doing is no longer primarily for Him but for the feeling/emotion it provides the participants who must be getting some kind of lift off of “loud.”
From this experience and a subsequent service we attended in another church, I’ll make the following observations.
1. In spite of my having a rather strong voice, I actually could barely hear myself sing due to the volume of the singers and instruments (praise band) who were on the platform leading the worship.
2. Not being able to hear myself, I certainly could not hear any other worshipers around me.
3. Because of this, I observed that the majority of the congregation were not singing at all, and those who were, with a few exceptions, were not doing it with any sense of earnestness. But how could they if they were not able to hear their own voices.
4. It was impossible to enter into any meaningful participation having been put into an “auditory defense mode.” We actually ended up defending ourselves with Kleenex; not for the nose or eyes, but for the ears.
5. While most of the congregation, the ones who had come to make their offering of worship were in this “defense mode,” the singers and instrumentalists, the “worship leaders” on the platform, were enjoying their own worship time, inspired by the loud sound of their own “praise” being piped back to them on monitors. And while they were entering into their personal worship time, I can’t imagine their being able to hear a sound from the congregation due to their own “amplified” worship.
Now for a few comments on the above. We’ll continue these thoughts in some future posts and welcome responses from you. We are all on a learning curve and I want to see where I may have blind spots.
Comment: Corporate worship, the worship service, whatever we may call it, is unique in that it is worship being offered by a group, a gathering of believers, individuals who have assembled to make their joint offering to God. Though we each are individuals, in corporate worship we become a part of a special kind of worship expression, not unlike the analogy of one instrument being played in a symphony orchestra. In such a setting we are not there to just do our own thing, we are part of a whole that is made up of individuals. We are there to sing together, to pray together, to read Scripture together, to make our offerings together, to listen to God’s Word proclaimed together, to interact with each other in fellowship, to share concerns and joys together. We are there to harmonize with each other in all the various expressions of worship. We are part of a household of faith.
In 1 Peter 2: 5 we read that we “like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” In light of this, how can we whole heartedly offer these spiritual sacrifices when we are being overwhelmed with sound? How can we focus on the holy, majestic God, when surrounded by a painful level of sound? How can we make an offering of praise when we are forced into an “auditory defensive mode? How can we function as a living stone in a spiritual house when we cannot hear the stones around us?
Hope to hear from you. Will continue to look at this in future posts…
I had some of these same thoughts last Sunday. Couldn’t hear myself, couldn’t hear anyone nearby singing. My desire to worship was hindered by the painful (and harsh, raspy, nasal tones are amplified with the good tones) loudness that invaded my sensibilities.
A personal item: Has your song, “Child of my Child” been published (with Chord names). I tried to email you at Ronowens3@aol.com, but your address was not recognized. (That address is on a pasted-in label in your song bood **Reurn to Me**
I agree. I have addressed the issue of individual vs corporate worship in my book, Return To Me, published by Broadman and Holman.
well, I understand by what I have heard people say, that they have incorporated “the world” in “the church”. So much with the LOUD music has come to be ‘intertainment’ rather than GOD being the focus.
I will refrain from further comment on that matter to spare being called “judgmental”; 🙂 but have heard, “before we can have revival~ there needs to be a funeral! A funeral of “self” “.
What seems like a long time ago in what seems like a far away place I was a young Batist minister who had numerous occasions to work with Ron and Patricia. The impact upon my life from those expierences has been a lasting one. Somewhere along the way the wheels came off of my life and after more than thirty years of ministry I left the church. I still find myself, more than thirty years later, drawn back to the cross by the word and by the memory of the great worship expierences with this couple. I will always be greatful that the father saw fit to bring you two into my life for what you did then but more importantly, what the memory of your music is still doing in my life.
Thank You.
How timely that I found this article this morning. My husband and I, both trained musicians, had this very experience last Sunday morning when visiting a church. The musicians were all talented, but the volume was deafening…I was in physical pain and even experienced nausea. I echo your five points; it feels as if you plucked them from my heart. Thanks so much for writing it.
I miss beautiful worship music…