How can worship leaders help navigate oceans of justice within congregational gatherings? First, in the music and expressions of worship we embrace; and second, by facilitating worship as lifestyle, not just musical ritual.
Marvin Gaye's opus reminds us that music ennobles ideas, emotes passion, and defines eras. Because we feel it, music penetrates hearts and stimulates a response. Combine inspired notes with well-crafted lyrics and the results can be liberating. Or lethal.
In Call and Response, a 2008 documentary about sex trafficking, Dr. Cornel West describes music's power to accentuate and ultimately eradicate injustice:
"Music is about helping folk ... by getting them to dance. Getting them to move. Getting them to think. Getting them to reflect. Getting them to be themselves, to somehow break out of the conventional self that they are."
As musicians use that power to draw attention to injustices, people cannot help but get involved, West contends, because "justice is what love looks like in public."
Historically, some denominational traditions have embraced justice-oriented hymns and music (e.g., Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance and "O Healing River"), and Native Peoples have more than most (e.g., "Every Part of this Earth," words by Chief Seattle). CCM pioneer Keith Green was an anomaly among evangelicals through the '70s and early '80s with songs like "Asleep in the Light," which challenged: "Open up, and give yourself away / You've seen the need, you hear the cry, so how can you delay." But increasingly music ministers across traditions are giving voice to justice within worship services (e.g., Jason Upton's "Poverty," Brian McLaren's "A Revolution of Hope," and Aaron Niequist's "Love Can Change the World").
Jesus' mission -- Good News for the poor, sight for the blind, and liberty for the oppressed -- requires the courage to break free from convention, perceive the new things God is doing in our midst, and zealously pursue them.
How We Get There
1. Refocus. Reductionist Western worship is possible because we have lost a sense of awe and reverence for Who God is, fashioning instead a God in our own image. Mark Labberton in his book, The Dangerous Act of Worship, writes:
The God we seek is the God we want, not the God who is. We fashion a god who blesses without obligation, who lets us feel his presence without living his life, who stands with us and never against us, who gives us what we want, when we want it.
Rather than appealing to God on account of his character -- a holy, righteous, just, and mighty God -- we have become gods unto ourselves, presupposing long before we encounter His presence what He needs to do on our behalf and prejudging what matters most. Let's refocus on Who really matters.
2. Repent. The failure to incorporate laments for justice into corporate worship underscores a much deeper problem. Fundamentally we misunderstand what worship really is. Worship is neither the rhythmic pursuit of a euphoric high nor the somber embrace of silent reflection. Such either/or myopia forgets that Jesus describes true worshipers as those who worship "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23).
Paul elaborates that "our spiritual act of worship" requires offering our very selves as "living sacrifices" (Romans 12:1-2). First century Romans familiar with ritual sacrifices understood that phrase to be a contradiction. One did not sacrifice living bulls, for example. The peril of potential impaling demanded that sacrifices be dead first. Yet God invites worshipers to voluntarily self-sacrifice. Paul continues: "Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world" -- white picket fences, trendy fashions, and such -- "but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will." Where our will conforms to the world's patterns and trumps God's will, let's repent for rejecting true worship.
3. Remember. The holy God we revere is also our righteous king who exacts justice on behalf of his people. Moses and Miriam remembered in Exodus 15 when they praised Yahweh for demonstrating justice in his dealings with Pharaoh and liberating his people. Hannah remembered when she thanked God for his justice on her behalf (1 Samuel 2). King David remembered when he declared, "The Lord reigns!" and embraced a heavenly King who ruled above him and all other powers, whose eternal justice and righteousness are irrevocable. Let's also remember that our "Lord loves justice" (Isaiah 61:8).
4. Reconnect. No longer should worship gatherings embrace the first part of the Great Commandment, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength," at the expense of the second part, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Let's reconnect His love in a coherent whole.
5. Realign. Justice and worship at their core both deal with power and the abuses of power. By emphasizing God's kingship, his rule over all creation, and his impeccable character, we intentionally create space for the Most High to address the fallen powers in our churches, states, nation, and world. Let's realign our congregations under God's power as work within us rather than the abusive power structures dominating the world.
6. Rediscover. As we identify and proclaim the laments of the marginalized with a deep understanding that their cries are our cries, we will begin to see our perspectives shift and the power of God move in ways that we never would have imagined.
Let's rediscover the unleashed, all-powerful God, not our tempered and tame God in a box. Like Aslan of Narnia, God may not be safe, but, "he is good."
Jeremy Del Rio, Esq. consults churches and community groups on youth development, social justice, and cultural engagement. He is a co-founder and lead strategist for 20/20 Vision for Schools, a campaign to transform public education within a single generation of students. Previously, he co-founded and directed Community Solutions, Inc., which provides after-school programs and summer camps through Generation Xcel and hosts service learning trips nationally through Chain Reaction; and was the founding bi-vocational youth pastor at Abounding Grace Ministries. He also worked as a corporate attorney in New York. He blogs at Away with Words.
Pastor Louis A. Carlo is the worship minister at Abounding Grace, a former site director at Generation Xcel, and the worship leader at YW8 (Why Wait?) Youth Ministries. He's also an accomplished photographer and occasional filmmaker.
This article appears courtesy of a partnership with UrbanFaith.com.
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