Responses to "Cheerleader" Tuesday Column

Thanks for your continued writing. The key to today's changes in "song service" style really revolve around worship. There are a few church worship leaders that clearly understand what it means to lead the church to worship. They will use a mix of choruses and hymns, the goal being to find songs that allow us to sing directly to God our commitment, adoration and praise. I have found this change to be incredibly refreshing. I must tell you that the Sunday morning songs I grew up on in the typical holiness church did not lead to a credible worship experience. "I'll Fly Away" and other similar songs seem to posses a shallowness that I am glad to be free from. THE REAL PROBLEM, as I see it, is that most churches and song leaders are trying to imitate something that they do not understand. They use overheads, they've thrown out the hymnbooks, they've gone to all choruses, they have praise teams. If you were to ask them why, they would most likely say that the way other churches are doing it. I think the small handful of worship leaders who really understand worship are making it work and people are responding. For the majority of us we have to endure the ridiculous and awkward attempts at trying to keep up with the other churches that most of our churches our engaging in. I preach in over 30 different churches a year and I can assure you that in most of them worship is not a verb or a noun, it is depressing.

Good observation. Sometimes worship leaders border on being exhibitionists. I really get a kick out of a "worship song" that we sing - "The Heart of Worship" or some similar title - which is basically an appeal to the congregation AND worship leaders that the center of worship is not the songs (nor the leaders) but on God! How obvious! Thanks buddy for allowing me to say my penny's worth!

Music has the ability to brush up against human emotions in a way that nothing else can, and as such it gives wings to one's innermost personal thoughts and feelings. When we use music in worship we actually feel we are "saying" things to God we desperately want to say, and need to say, but can't seem to find any other way to say it. It is a unique human experience.

The job of yesteryear's "song leader" was a simple one. To give the congregation the push it needed to begin saying the things to God they wanted to say. It was not unusual during such a personal conversation with God for someone to erupt in an emotional outburst of joy. It seems to me that it was easier to concentrate on the words and music because there wasn't anything else demanding one's attention.

Today the emphasis has shifted no doubt, even if the purpose has remained somewhat the same. We have the full advantage of a wonderful new technology to enliven the whole process; the musicians really are better for the most part; and the "minister of music" frankly is more talented then most of the "song leaders" of years gone by. Today's younger generation seems to be quit at home with all this new innovation and I have to admit I have participated in some really enthusiastic worship services in today's setting. My problem with all this is, take away all the technology, and talented people, and today's congregation believes that worship cannot happen. It may be ever so subtle but the emphasis has shifted. Form is more important then substance. It's an old problem in a new robe. --J. W. Watkins Vancouver, WA

Dare I say "OUCH". I have often felt the same about the praise bands, song leaders, and the like. My thought is this, is the idea behind the music worship and praise changing? Are the leaders doing it to entertain or are they leading to glorify God. I dare question some. I see churches incorporating contemporary worship just to bring in people. I even have the audacity to say that the Pastors are more concerned with the growth of their church in numbers rather than in spiritual strength. However this is not true of all. Scripture tells us to be in the world not of the world. We need to keep the world separated from our church services. You can interpret this anyway you want, but the truth is the truth. We should keep God as the first priority and the rest second. Use praise and worship as it is intended to prepare for the ministers service, not as a way to entertain the audience.

Wow! What an excellent word picture! I know this feeling and share the challenge. There are usually people ready to cheer for their favorite team with or without cheerleaders. And then there are some who refuse to choose a favorite team even though they go to the game faithfully every week. Maybe having designated seats for those ready to cheer would help encourage others. Or maybe it would make the rift wider; push'em back-push'em back-way back:) Thanks for the article. Sincerely, Tammy Forsman forsfam@allegan.net

The view from 5,000 feet would be quite simple. If a cheerleading team leads the audience by example, then it would follow that a praise team would do the same. Simple concept and simple analogy.

* Cheerleader teams lead the cheer and everyone follows by example.

* Praise teams worship God and everyone follows. No problem???

It is obvious to anyone watching that the cheerleader team is cheering along with the audience, as the cheers of the team are audible. Is it obvious that the worship team is worshiping along with the congregation?

Worship can be defined as an attitude toward God. Worship is also a reflection of a personal relationship with God. Without either of these conditions worship becomes sound, be it music, drama, spoken word, or anything else but not worship.

The bottom line is: To be a cheerleader you must know the material and be willing to lead the cheers. To be a worship leader you must be worshiper first and then a leader. That means you must have a right attitude and an active personal relationship with God as well as be actively worshiping God before you lead. You can’t lead cheers if you can’t cheer and you can’t lead worship if you aren’t worshiping. The bible says, "God inhabits the praises of His people." I suspect that God also listens to the cheers of his people. Personally, I would much prefer to be in His presence! --Richard Haynes

Our society has become an "Entertain me" society. This is reflected in many areas of society. Instead of encouraging the crowd to get behind the team. Cheerleading opts for entertainment to the crowd instead of leading them to help the team.

It also happens in the church. It becomes self-serving when we change our focus off of Jesus and on to our performance. I might add this can happen in the pulpit. Our job is to get those in the church to get involved the mission of the church, not to be entertained for an hour.

I remember a song that the Paines sang years ago called "I'm a Jesus Fan". At that time I was getting ready to go into pastoring. That song really bothered me, because I was getting ready to "go out onto the field" for my Savior. I was no longer a fan, but a participant in the "game".

You said, "Cheerleading is increasingly something to watch." Not only watch, but also the public likes to score performances like judges.

If you watched a full hour of exhibition cheerleading, I think you've got too much time on your hands.

To help others think through this issue email your contributions to tuesday@indwes.edu