church life

How Should We Handle the Worship Music Wars?

Lisa Spencer3 Comments

For some odd reason, the topic of worship music has been in my face today. I came across this quote from a Facebook friend.

“As a listener I can only speak for myself, but I find that more challenging music can better communicate the sense of wonder and awe appropriate to a religious setting. If I want to sing a bunch of stale, bland pop songs, I’ll have a campfire, not go to church. That probably puts me in the minority, but there must be others. And I worry about the cumulative impact of always choosing the lowest common denominator of music as a medium of worship. It drives people like me to get their kicks elsewhere, and it sets your average churchgoer into a pattern of expecting emotional feedback from worship, which isn’t the point.” Jordan Bloom

Admittedly, I am not familiar with Jordan Bloom but I appreciate what he has to say here, except for the “emotional feedback”. If reflection on the character and work of the triune God doesn’t make me emotional then something is wrong.  But surely there is much to be said for music that accurately reflects Christian truths in a robust way.   A rejection of hymns dismisses doctrinally rich music that can fuel the fabric of our faith. So I appreciated what Stephen Miller had to say in this blog post, Why New Churches Should Sing Old Songs. I for one appreciate the old hymns and what they convey. Continue reading →

In the Body of Christ, Extroverts and Introverts Need Each Other

Lisa Spencer3 Comments

I was expressing to a friend of mine the other day, how I don’t like sitting in large churches where I don’t know anyone.  The reason is quite simple. I am an introvert. Now I can be quite charming and sociable when I know people. But put me in a room full of strangers and I can get quite socially awkward. It is one reason I prefer smaller churches and/or places where fostering relationships are easier.

One common piece of advice that I get regarding my introvertedness is that my problem is I need to make the first move. In other words, the reason I often feel disconnected in a crowd or unable to make friends easily is because I’m not an extrovert. Basically, that is what this advice suggests. So the solution is to stop being an introvert but be an extrovert.

I am troubled by this advice, which I’ve heard so much. First, it tells me the problem is that how I am designed is deficient.  Second, it is telling me that I should be someone I am not.  And while I admire those who are able to overcome their introvertedness, I don’t know that is the best solution.

I recall many times when I’ve been in a situation where I was or had the propensity to be socially awkward and what broke me out of it was interacting with an extroverted person.  What this says to me is that the extrovert being who they are helped me with who I am.  That is where some really good connections were made.

Taking that a step further, I can’t help but see the application for body life in our Christian communities. Rather than telling the introvert or the extrovert to be someone they are not, they can help each other by being who they are. The extrovert can break an introvert out of their shell. On the contrary, since extroverts can be overbearing, the introvert can calm them and curb the propensity towards intrusiveness.

So I really think we need to evaluate how we advise people to overcome their introvertedness or even extrovertedness. Let them be who they are. They need each other.

More Conundrums: Homosexuality and the Church

Lisa Spencer2 Comments

Well, here’s a touchy subject and one that I think the church has not handled particularly well nor have individual Christians handled well in the public sphere. In fact, I’d say the treatment of this particular subject has been handled rather hypocritically. Yes, I said that. But when I started this blog, I made a commitment to address issues in a straight-foward manner and to express what I really thought about them.

First off,  homosexuality is a sin. It says so in the bible. (If you are a Christian and deny the authority of the bible, then that is another subject altogether). There’s been a lot of hermeneutical gymnastics to make it say otherwise. Leviticus 18 is not a good argument nor is saying that Jesus never addressed homosexuality. Of course he did in Matthew 19:4-9. If he says that marriage has from the beginning been between one man and one woman, there is no default position of what he really meant. It is what it is.

We also can’t look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and the list of transgressions and turn that into exceptions. Romans 1:21-32 also identifies that when God’s creation denies the truth that He reveals within them, creature worship can result in same sex attraction.

But here’s the thing. Homosexuality is not the only sin mentioned in the bible nor is it classified as an unpardonable sin. In fact, if you look at the passages mentioned in the last paragraph, this particular sin is included in a list of other sins. That means we can’t highlight one above the other as if it is deserving of some special treatment. Continue reading →