No shortcuts

The worship team at church has started reading Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin together.  Before delving into technique and style, this book starts out with the core issues of worship - what we love, what we believe, the purpose of our skills, and the lives we model.

I appreciate that Kauflin devotes a chapter to the importance of doctrine and theology in our worship.  Biblical worship is impossible without these ingredients.  As we know God more accurately through his Word, our worship will be more genuine.  Conversely, without a right understanding of God, it could veer into idolatry.

He gives several common misconceptions among worship leaders and musicians. Here is the first:

Misconception #1: Studying This Stuff Shouldn't Be So Hard

Studying doctrine and theology is hard.  Becoming a good theologian is harder than learning a new riff, and initially not as fun.

Getting to know God is time-consuming.  We live in the age of instant everything.  We want a life-changing devotional in fifteen minutes max.  And why shouldn't God fit into the slot we've allotted him?  After all, he's God, he knows how packed our schedule is!  We open our Bibles and get bored if nothing grips us after two paragraphs. We want everything abridged, dumbed down, and in today's lingo, so we don't have to think too much or examine our lives too closely.

Those attitudes are unacceptable if we want to display the glories of God through song each Sunday.  Given our small minds, our absolute dependence on revealed truth, and the immensity of God, how can we think there's an easy path to knowing the God we worship?

There are no shortcuts.  Only a grace-motivated, steadfast, lifelong pursuit of the God who created and redeemed us for his glory.

From Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin, Crossways, 2008, pgs. 29-30.