Branon asks some very hard-hitting questions. We live in a consumer-oriented culture. Customer demand and satisfaction becomes paramount in the motivation for producing products and services. I think that is the question under consideration. It's not about the heart condition of any individual artist. It's about the consumer-driven worship experience. Worship leaders have to "come up with" bigger and better in order to please the "customer" and as we say" to fascillitate worship " and make it" meaningful". And then I have to ask myself, Is God Himself not enough to engender worship in our hearts ?

I'm not sure we can turn a consumer into a participant. This is the thing we have been trying to do and the result is what Brian was addressing in his video: Producing a consumer-centered worship experience because we are trying to "get them into it" . True worship overflows out of the heart of a person who is in love with Jesus Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can produce that. I think that each person must take some responsibility during the week to prepare their heart for worship. Who knows, but that might be the answer to a vibrant , joyful, exciting and true worship experience? Worship is always the result of an encounter with God.

If only we could gather together as followers of Christ - regardless of the setting - and simply open the Bible, speak the name of Jesus - and watch the Holy Spirit move to draw people to, back to, or closer to God. Maybe it is that simple? As a worship pastor, I have often wondered if the expectation that the church must be culturally relevant clouds the purity of my own worship planning. I have also wondered just how impacted I have been by the unspoken expectation of church-goers to be 'moved by the worship' - as if the worship leader has control of the Holy Spirit! I have also wondered if my own authenticity has been impacted or re-shaped by the way we market church today - multi-venue, classic, boomer'ish contemporary, edgy, blended, casual, and the list goes on... Certainly I agree that marketing is what gets a product into the hands of a consumer, but I often wonder if the church has assumed the role of 'marketing' Jesus, instead of 'sharing' Jesus. We're not selling him - like we would the ingredients to a great cookie recipe, we're giving away the whole recipe! These questions often surface in my own mind when I am planning a worship service and a song like 'Glorify Thy Name' might pop into my head and I think 'ooh, that's too old' - and at other times when something "edgier" might be the right song for the moment, but I think to myself 'ooh, this is for the classic service.' If I am confessing something that NO other worship pastor or worship leader has experienced, then I am way too unique! My fear is that when our primary 'worship planning categories' are less and less God the Father, Christ the Son, and Holy Spirit - and more and more Hillsong United, edgy, Crowder, venue sensitive, Baloche, Tomlin, Desperation Band, and 'gotta have a hymn' - it is then I am concerned that the authenticity of what God is doing in and through us as worship leaders, empowered by his Spirit, is squelched. In the above referenced video, Brian McLaren said, "there is something about art that says, 'I'm telling the truth - as I see it'." He also said 'there is a beautiful honesty about art' - I agree wholeheartedly. Dishonest art is empty, hollow - it's plagerism, copy-cat - my six year old does this and we call it tracing. Having been wired by God as a musician, and then gifted by the Holy Spirit as a shepherd has led me to where I am as a worship pastor. It is the outward influences, some of which are mentioned in my entry, that have me at a place of questioning my calling to the local church. Sorry to be so long-winded - consider these some random thoughts from a follower of Jesus who longs to freely express the truest colors of his heart. Thanks to the team at Praise Charts for all you have done to enable me to serve my teams effectively and efficiently. I pray God blesses your latest efforts to enable worship pastors and worship leaders to continue shepherding their teams.

Wow !!! All of your responses to Brian are well searched in each of your hearts. It is so awesome to listen to people just being honest. I was immediately moved to tears by you Brian because I have felt what its like to be slightly embracing the edges of industry in the name of Jesus Christ and my spirit spoke from deep within me to protect me from trying to perform God's work. "True worship over flows out of the heart of a person who is in love with Jesus Christ"...wow, it couldn't be put any clearer than this Jeanette. There is not enough space or time here for a testimony, but, the Father gave me the gift of music when I was quite young and before I surrendered my life to Him. This perfect gift (not to be compared with The most perfect gift of His Son), was the heartstring that God used to reel my entire being into His heart when I was lost and blind and spiritually dead. I am nothing special but, I have experienced the power of song and what it is intended to be and who it is intended to be for. When I was completely strung out on heroin, liqour and every other vive in the world...playing music full time in the darkest places on earth, I still...the entire time could not deny the fact that the gift I had was not from within me but from God although I had not met His Son. It would disgust me to be complimented for something I had not done. It "felt" real good to play though, and making a living while having fun was real cool, but it gives me something to look back at. Now that I sing and play love songs to my King, I am concerned about seeing people experiencing "feelings" while they are worshiping. I believe this is not a feel good time, but a time we must come broken before our Father and love Him in spirit and truth. Authentic worship is that which occurs "by the Spirit of God" (Philippians 3:3). God is glorified in worship when the Holy Spirit reveals god's truth to us: "He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you" (John 16:14). We must remember who worship is about and not what it is about. God's Spirit moves and draws people into His presence through our lives of submission and surrender to Him. Do we really even need music? Sometimes i think He gave it to us so we could have some fun while loving him. We know that He created us to bring pleasure to Him, so while we're still here in the flesh I can see Him wanting out of love for us, to make it fun and enjoyable to love praising Him and completely surrendering our lives to Him. I do worry that we often try to make worship draw people under our own power at times. God does not need my help. When the time comes to enter into worship, leaders and congregation must allow the Spirit to control the service. The word says,"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the lord" (Zechariah 4:6). The Holy Spirit is the real worship leader. Worship is allowing God to take center stage in our lives- wherever we are. When we worship together, we surrender our experience to the will of the One who alone is worthy of worthship. I am just afraid that too much emphasis is being placed on creating feelings in people in order to draw them into the presence of God, this is what I believe is happening with worship becoming too much of an industry. I love when Brian said,"When you're honest about the ugliness of life, thats a beautiful thing. Its strange...its paradoxal, but when you try to make everything pretty- it ends up seeming really cheap. We experience God when we're reaching for the truth". I talk way too much...sorry