Occasionally people ask my opinion on various personal or church issues. I recently received the following question which I have reprinted below, followed by my response.

QUESTION

Bob,  

This is the first time in my life I don’t feel good about my church, nor all the changes that have taken place since our new young preacher has arrived. I am not a person who is adverse to change. But I literally feel like a Zombie just going through the motions, when I attend worship services.

I just don’t know what to do. When Sunday morning rolls around I find myself dreading to go to church. It no longer feels like “home” – not like the place I so loved and invited new people in the community to, gave of my time to volunteer with various ministries throughout the past 18 years. It’s no longer a place I feel proud to be a member of. I would very much appreciate your spiritual guidance on this matter.

MY ANSWER

The worship style changes you describe are not unique to your church. During the past decade I’ve visited over 200 churches and very few sing old hymns accompanied by a piano and organ anymore. I find many older church members continue to feel disenfranchised by the contemporary worship while most young people embrace the changes with enthusiasm.

I doubt there’s ever been an era when the worship music that appeals to the under 50 crowd was so uninspiring and distasteful to the older people.

While the stark differences in musical taste sometimes transcend age, generally speaking, the preferences can be categorized as generational.

Some church analysts have labeled this ongoing controversy, “The Worship Wars,” because it has been a serious point of contention for over two decades…sometimes even splitting congregations. Back in the 1990’s I was convinced that contemporary worship would soon be accepted by all and would no longer be divisive. But it’s still a critical issue for many churchgoers.

Since I’m over seventy I can easily sympathize with your feelings. I like some of the contemporary songs and I don’t want to go back to the era when we sang only hymns. But I sometimes get restless during the lengthy, repetitive praise songs and resent the fact that my heritage has been uprooted and my preferences totally disregarded. The rock sound, the dimmed lighting, the mobile spotlights, the fog machines and the worship team gyrations, often seem too showy to me.

Gordon McDonald wrote a book titled, Who Stole My Church? that may help you understand the rationale behind the changes and the proper response on the part of those of us who grew up in a different era. The primary reason for the changes is that millennials are rejecting the church in droves. To counter that trend, young church leaders are doing everything they can to find a way to attract their peers. They realize if the current pattern doesn’t change America will soon resemble Europe where fewer than 10% attend church monthly and Christianity is considered irrelevant to most. So concerned ministers in America have been making dramatic changes in church music, programming and terminology in an attempt to relate to people under thirty-five.

Sometimes our leaders have made changes too fast without adequately explaining the reasons. Sometimes they have cavalierly dismissed older believers’ preferences saying, “The church isn’t for you, it’s for the unsaved so get with the program or leave. Quit being so selfish.”

But that’s a mistake, in my opinion. The church should be a place of both evangelism and discipleship. A shepherd needs to feed and protect all the sheep not just the lambs. It’s my observation that the healthiest churches are multigenerational churches where people of all ages are ministered to.

But let’s be honest, sometimes we older people have a consumer mentality and selfishly resist any change. Louisville Slugger’s Jack Hillerich once told me, “Two things you can be sure of: First, people resist change, not wanting to get out of their comfort zone. Secondly, people don’t like the way things are!” That puts evangelistic church leaders in an impossible bind. While the gospel remains the same, changes in methodology are essential to continue to be relevant. But if too many resist change it creates disharmony and negates evangelism, the primary purpose of the church.

I often counsel those planning worship not to focus on just one age group. Use a variety of music styles. Be patient and make changes slowly. Communicate clearly why ineffective methods need to change and why Biblical principles don’t. Be understanding of older members and frequently include their preferences. Challenge young worshippers to respect and embrace some tradition. However, most leaders ignore that counsel, convinced that it’s impossible to appeal to both ends of the generational biases.

I would encourage you to stay faithful to your church and be as positive and supportive of your leaders as possible. A sixty-five-year-old church elder was standing in the back of the auditorium during the early part of a worship service when a disgruntled senior saint asked, “Do you like that loud, wild music?” The wise elder responded, ‘No, I don’t much care for it. But do you see those kids up front who are really into the worship? I care more about them than my personal musical tastes. So I’m good with it.”

That story convicts me. If changing methods can reach my grandchildren and their friends for Christ then I’ve decided to listen to my favorite style of music on radio during the week and tolerate the parts I don’t like in worship on Sunday. And let’s be truthful…a lot of the new music is very good. “A Thousand Reasons” inspires me a whole lot more than “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder.” So hold on. Someday when we get to heaven, the angelic choir will inspire us all.

“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification” Romans 14:19.

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