I’ve Been Thinking About The Story In Which I Live
Essentials Blue 09
“For: The Institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt”
The theme of justice has grabbed my heart in the last few months. In the text for my essentials*blue Course, Simply Christian, N.T. Wright outlines the idea of “the echo of a voice.” 1 This idea relates to different themes that are important for Christians, themes that we are often reminded of through various aspects of life. The echo is a hint of God’s deeper reality, one that maybe shaded by society or even worldview. These echoes include the celebration of creation, the longing for justice, the magnetism of relationships and the hunger for spiritual reality.
Wright phrases the echo of justice as the idea of ‘putting the world to rights.’ 2 This echo has been running around in my head and genuinely challenging me. Where does one start to seek for justice? How does one live a life with justice as a central theme? In this global neighbourhood how do I respond to the weight of statistics out there related to child death in poverty? Wright states that, “we all know there is something called justice, but we can’t quite get to it.” 3 It seems like the presence of such overwhelming information almost freezes me like an animal caught in a car’s headlights, unable to move or make a decision about the next step and how to respond!
Wright claims that, “a passion for justice, or at least a sense that things ought to be sorted out, is part of being human and living in the world.” 4 The current state of our world can often lead to big questions related to God’s place in the middle of such injustices. Wright goes on to give weight to the hope for Christians when talking about a passion for justice by stating that, “in Jesus God himself has shared this passion and put it into effect, so that in the end all tears may be dried and the world may be filled with justice and joy.” 5 This should be a great source of strength and motivation for all.
This thread of justice and theological thought relates directly to the process of leadership in worship. Are Christians singing songs about justice in their gatherings? I have already mentioned compassionArt in a recent blogpost and recently finished reading a book called The Art Of Compassion (definitely worth a read if you are passionate about justice) released at the same time as the CD. In this book, worship artist Tim Hughes writes:
“The simple truth is that we have a tendency to become blind to the truth. We somehow miss the fact that issues of poverty, justice and money are all over the Bible. We forget that while idolatry is the most common theme in the Old Testament, poverty is the second. We look blankly at the fact that one out of every sixteen verses in the New Testament tackles the subject. In the first three Gospels poverty crops up every ten verses, while in the book of Luke it’s there every seven. We read the Bible and somehow all this just passes us by.” 6
Sorry for the long quote but those figures are astounding!!! If we are intent on leading our church theologically as a worship artisan (a great new term used by Dan Wilt for worship leaders) then surely this can’t be ignored when looking at our song choice. This has definitely been my personal challenge in the last 6 months. Does my life reflect one that could lead such songs. Honestly….I feel no!!! But this is exactly why we need to introduce such songs into our churches and question where we sit (or stand) in response to this ‘echo’. Let’s allow God to use us as we seek to put the world to rights.
As a worldwide church I feel we have a great repertoire of songs that reflect God as Creator and the beauty of His nature and works. We also have a number of songs that reflect different ‘echoes’, although some themes have a surprisingly thin repertoire. The catch I think is this question:
How comfortable are we to choose to lead songs in church that paint a full picture of the echoes mentioned above?
In some communal gatherings it is difficult to choose songs of lament or maybe even songs that hunger for spiritual reality. This could be because church leadership in some cases aren’t keen on their church singing this type of song, preferring happy or uplifting songs. The challenge is to incorporate songs that reflect the many characteristics of God (I guess the varied ‘echoes’ that Wright talks about) so that those we are leading aren’t just singing about a one-dimensional God. He is so much greater!
(1) N. T. Wright, Simply Christian (London: SPCK, 2006), p. 3
(2) ibid, p. 3
(3) ibid, p. 3
(4) ibid, p. 9
(5) ibid, p. 11
(6) Craig Borlase (Ed.), The Art of Compassion – Stories Of Music & Justice (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2008), p. 94
Thought provoking post, Phil!