Simple Worship vs. Complex Worship

True worship is not married to a simple worship service or a complex worship service. I have been thinking about this for some time now, but last week two things pushed this to the forefront of my mind.

First of all, we had the esteemed privilege of hosting Dr. Terry York in our Zoom Choir meeting. I asked Dr. York, “What is a current trend in church music that concerns you?” His answer was, “The performance mentality, that can happen in any style.” I also asked him, “What is a current trend in church music that you see as positive,” and he replied, “Many are returning to simplicity.”

Secondly, on Sunday, our power went out at FBC Farmersville. From 10:55 through about 11:25 AM, which is our bulk singing time, we were in the dark. Thankfully, our church sings a lot of hymns, I know hymns, and our pianist could see well enough and knows the hymns well enough that she could play! I also read scripture, and Pastor Bart prayed. It was a simple time of worship, but it was really beautiful, fun, and unique. Then the power came back on, and we scrambled to do one song and get things rolling for Bart’s sermon so we could at least livestream the message.

This event reinforced to me that our church must keep singing hymns. We must keep a working library of at least the classic core hymns. It also reinforced to me that I need to do a better job of simplifying things every now and again so that we all stop and remember that worship doesn’t need the full band, choir, sound system, slides, and motion graphic presentation! Corporate worship is our opportunity to corporately respond to who God is and what He has done in the gospel; to sing together, read scripture, pray, observe the ordinances, hear the Word preached, and respond by going out into the world on mission.

Honestly, we can do all the things I just listed without electricity and reinforced sound. We can do them with instruments or a cappella. The New Testament tells us to sing (Colossians 3:16), observe the ordinances (1 Cor. 10, Romans 6:4), and records that the early church was dedicated to fellowship, prayer, and the Word (Acts 2:42). Yet the New Testament does not mandate the complexity most of our modern worship services require. In fact, simplicity can engender stillness, which is something God calls us to do (Psalm 46:10). Simplicity in music often leads to participation, and worship is supposed to be leitourgia (liturgy), the “work of the people.” 

So why are our modern services so complex? Is it really bad and do we need to change? I don’t believe complex worship is bad in and of itself. In fact, Psalm 150 calls “everything that has breath” to “praise the Lord!” Romans and 1 Corinthians talk about the body and the church serving, and therefore utilizing a choir, musicians, and a tech team provides many people with a place to serve and use their talents for the glory of God. Psalm 33:3 says to “play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.” Complex music requires skill. Also, using technology in worship helps us reach people of our time with media. We can be all things to all people (1 Corinthians 9:22), and we can share the gospel with more people than ever before with livestreamed worship and online content.

Yet there are definitely downsides to complex worship. First of all, we can easily get into the performance mentality. If the musicians view worship as “putting on a good show,” or the church gets accustomed to letting the band do their thing while they just watch and listen, then our worship has just become another form of entertainment. In a world where every student at youth camp is dazzled by the lights show and awesome band, and where mega churches can recreate that atmosphere, we can be conditioned to equate that style and that level of complexity (and the large crowds) with true worship. Also, if we feel we must always be putting on this type of service, we may neglect some things we are commanded by Scripture to do, such as being still.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am NOT saying that contemporary worship is bad. I actually really enjoy modern worship music. I am saying that we must not condition ourselves to thinking worship must always be that complex. The opposite is also true. If one’s background is in a simple and traditional rural church, or an urban church that deliberately simplifies and strips down to be “acoustic” or “organic,” you need not be afraid of worship in a more complex setting. Be sure you don’t get stuck in a rut or just go through the motions of worship while your heart is far from God (Isaiah 29:13).

My goal as a worship leader to is to have a balance between simple and complex worship. I want to do a better job of switching things up and reminding our congregation that worship does not depend on certain instruments, visual media, or other accoutrements being present. I eagerly desire and hope that children and teenagers growing up in my church and launching out into the world recognize that worship can look different in different contexts and churches. I hope to encourage people to worship at home and in private too. It is so sweet to have a personal worship life (which is inherently simpler) that then joins joyfully with others for corporate worship. True worship occurs in many varying levels of simplicity and complexity.