We had the privilege of welcoming Bob Kauflin to Moore College this week, to give a lecture on pastoring through music.
Bob identified five biblical jobs of the pastor. The pastor of a congregation has the responsibility to ensure those things happen, but will usually delegate this responsibility to other people who serve in the church. Bob spoke to each of these points on how music can pastor people in these five ways.
1) Pastoring people through song involves feeding them.
Gordon Fee said 'show me a church's songs and I'll show you their theology'. To feed through music we need to ensure that there a balanced theological diet in our songs. How well do I know the theological content of our music? If my children only had our songs to learn about God, how well would they know him after 20 years?
2) Pastoring people through song involved leading them.
Our leadership happens through planning before, leading during, and teaching on the role of worship and music. We can plan carefully to ensure theological weight and balance, we need to balance expectantly because God wants to bless his people. Songs are not a filler - think expectantly, that God might actually want to show himself more clearly to someone as you sing a song. "Edwards says this, Piper says that, Bible says this." It is important that we expect God to move in people's hearts as we sing. We should do this humbly - it's not our musicianship, planning or preparation, it's God's Spirit which does an eternal work in people's hearts. We should do this purposefully - so people know what people should focus on. Otherwise it's like listening to your ipod on shuffle.
We lead during the meetings - why are we reading this song, this scripture, what should we be thinking about. It is so helpful to be given direction as we move on to something. How should we respond?
We can lead people to feel at liberty to respond to what we've just sung. There is overflow after songs - it is surprising that when we finish singing a song nobody wants to shout or clap or do anything. It can help when we give you permission to smile after a song, say 'wasn't that great, wasn't that true?'. The pastor or the delegated leader is responsible for what takes place in the meeting.
3) Pastoring people through song involves caring for people.
A pastor should have a good handle on where people live, what temptations and battles they face, and have an idea of how to connect where they're at to the Gospel of Christ. God can use songs as a means for helping people to see how God's work in Christ helps them with their problems. We need to communicate things in a way that helps them to realise that what they are singing is life changing. The devil could sing a song about God being one - but we serve our people best by helping them to mean it. Many of our problems come from our deficient in inaccurate understanding of what the gospel accomplishes. We cannot sing too much about teh gospel, about Christ, about the glory of Christ. We need to explain what it accomplishes - our reconciliation to God (Rom 5:10). Someone might not feel like they've been adopted, but that doesn't change where you stand with God - you've been adopted into the family of God.
Bob demonstrated what he meant - "aware that people are struggling with condemnation, I might lead them in this song". He then launched in 'Before the Throne', interspersed with questions and challenges to us: "what does Jesus do for you?". Our goal is not simply emotion for its own sake. It is not songs that change us, but they point us to the truths which do. He demonstrated how sometimes hymn lyrics are more poetic than helpful, and so he might change them to leave them with something they'll benefit from. "This could help someone change during their struggle with sin." If you don't write songs, at least pick good ones. He then spent some time thinking through the words of In Christ Alone - if we're just thinking 'that's a great old standard people know', that's all we'll get. He also demonstrated how you could lead people by speaking between verses - so before the final verse of In Christ Alone he said 'this is the effect of all that we've just sung'.
4) We protect people through the songs we sing.
We can protect people from the errors of the world by singing rich theological truth... but it's not enough just to sing them, we have to connect them. That's why people go to songs that are less deep but stir their emotions more, because they haven't connected with the deep truths. We can protect them from the vices of the world by reminding them of God's righteousness, holiness, and judgment. He mentioned Michael Morrow's song We Belong to the Day on this theme. Songs can protect people from the errors of the world - by doing all we can by presenting Christ as dazzlingly better than anything else the world has to offer.
5) We want to be a model to people when we sing.
Two things - are we engaged when we sing? As pastors are we glorifying God our father during the singing, or are we putting finishing touches on our sermon. And outside the meeting are we being Godly?
Meetings cannot provide everything our people need to follow God, but let's make sure we don't give people anything less than what they can provide. Let's pastor them through song.
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