Worship. A wondrous practice that transcends mere singing, chanting, or whatever it is you do to magnify the God of all, Yahweh, Jehovah, Pappa, Daddy God, however you know Him. If you watch the television form of Christianity - for it is a form with its pretensions, superstars, dress sense [sic], modes, methods and systems – you could be convinced that God only accepts one form of musical worship. Yes, there are other forms! The music that God might seem to favour is that produced in Western societies with guitars, drums, wind instruments, microphones and, let us not forget, the choir, conducted by a preferably attractive young woman.
If you wander away from what is presented as mainstream and walk into the Cathedral world, you would be sure that God favoured any instrument that did not have to be plugged into the mains, except perhaps a pipe organ. Choirs are to be suitably attired for acceptance in the Middle Ages, and the only qualification for inclusion is a good singing voice. Doctrine or unbelief are not important.
Is God a Westerner? Is He besotted with medieval pomp and ceremony? Does He rock in the aisles with the guitarist with more metal in his face than Iron Man? Where, oh where, is the ethnic, the cultural sounds and rhythms of the outback, the African plain, the South American forests and mountains, the North American prairies - sorry, there is nothing ethnic left out there - in P.C. speak that would be native American reserves, i.e. ghettos? I am not speaking about the creations of the so-called Christian marketing geniuses who package the likes of South African township music. I am speaking about the real, earthy sounds, the forms of expression and words that rise from cultures that have believed in Christ and follow Him.
Why is culture invariably sacrificed on the altar of conversion to Christianity? The varied sounds of Africa that are intrinsic to the African heart and mind are replaced, for instance, by Australian hit songs that enrich the Australians financially and in terms of profile, while giving a foot-tapping experience to the uninitiated, but hopefully soon hooked, so that the next album will sell.
One can walk into Christian bookshops - they’re the ones that have the temerity to consider themselves ministries - and it would appear that what is acceptable to God is governed by what is marketable to man.
Do I have a problem with Western music? Absolutely not. What I do have a problem with is that we, the Westerners, are making the same deadly mistake as our missionary forebears. We want Africans to be European in both belief and culture. In those early years, African converts could be seen donning Western garb in order to enter Western-style church services. Ties and jackets in 30° Celsius heat – before the age of air-conditioning.
Christianity came to Africa and became, more often than not, the delivery system of Western culture and its form of civilization. For sure, many in Africa came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and that must be treasured and celebrated. But why should such converts be forced into Western sensitivities, practices, modes, dress, music and expression in general?
Surely, if the cultural practices of a people do not contradict the Word of God, they should be celebrated, not just tolerated at best or banished.
Over the years I have had the honour to teach the Word of God in churches of many races and cultures. My heart breaks when I enter churches in Central Africa and South Africa and find the leadership at pains to sound Western and sing Western songs that do not resonate with their culture, their land (what little they have left) and their history. Not everything in the history and culture of a people is necessarily evil. It was this misunderstanding that saw this great Continent referred to as Darkest Africa.
It is a tragedy to walk into rural villages where all social and spiritual interactions happen around a fire, or other focal point, in a communal place and yet when they receive the Gospel, a church building must be erected with everyone facing in the same direction, silently listening to the specialist on an elevated platform. Again, if some part of that original communal meeting ran contrary to Scripture, then it must be repented and omitted.
My prayer is that every African church, wherever it is situated, that honours the Word of God, should not feel the need to imitate that which is essentially alien to them. Why should already poor communities feel the need for expensive electrical equipment when God has created them with beautiful voices with which to worship, and rhythm and dance unique to the various cultures of this amazing Continent?
If ethnic churches wish to take on Western ways, then so be it. My argument is that in the pursuit of a relationship with Christ, why should such cultures feel the need to do so?
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For whose benefit do we worship – God’s or ours? Is it heart-breaking and a tragedy for God to see Western influences on African rural churches and their members singing ‘Hillsongs’ with electrical amplification? These are subjective of how WE feel about worship and thus the half-hour prelude of songs on a Sunday morning is about the blessing that it gives to us. Nonetheless, the New Testament says very little about this kind of worship, perhaps because Christian worship has more to do with “presenting our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice” (Romans 12:1) and worshipping God “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24); it says nothing at all about the use of musical instruments (giving rise to certain denominations, notably the Churches of Christ, being non-instrumental).
ReplyDeleteIn considering the influence on ethnic churches of Western civilisation, it should be remembered that a major element of black culture is the esteem in which whites, particularly missionaries, are held in most parts of ‘real Africa’. This can be illustrated by the difficulty a white visitor to an African church meeting might have in attempting to be unnoticed, even among a congregation of several thousand, and especially if he is accompanied by someone known to the church. He will very likely be ushered to the front to sit with the eldership, will be publicly introduced as “the man of God” and if not required to testify or preach on the first occasion, will almost certainly be asked to lead the church in prayer. This ‘recognition of whites’ and the ‘need to please’ usually extends to imitating Western worship and both are magnified exponentially if a missionary has pre-arranged to preach or lead a series of meetings when every effort will be made to ensure that he ‘feels at home’, meaning the inclusion of his style of worship, music, ethics and dress. Have the real, earthy sounds, rhythms and dance of African culture been sacrificed on the altar of conversion to Christianity? Try rocking up unheralded!
The change from meeting around a communal fire (which perhaps is an over-romanticised Western image of African village life) to the need for a church building is surely nothing more than practical as numbers increase and weather alters; silently facing a speaker may be less the influence of the West than an uncomplicated reading of Acts 2:14; 20:7, etc. It is a pity that Christian bookshops are criticized for sometimes referring to themselves as “ministries” especially as the New Testament lists far more than the favourite five of Ephesians 4. At least twenty-six ministries or giftings are identifiable in the New Testament of which “writing” is undoubtedly one (Luke 1:1-3; 1 Tim. 3:14,15, etc.). That we may not approve of every book and CD produced is a matter for discernment rather than condemnation.
Need we be overly-concerned about the effect on ethnic culture of Western civilization? At the end of the day, Africans will do what they have always done – listen politely to the pale-faced ‘mzungu’...and do their own thing!
Working in a predominantly black african community, I agree with Adrian and say it often myself - why does everything have to be Westernised to be credible!!God created each human being a unique person and I believe He longs for them to worship in a way that is true and unique to them.
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