We all know the worship wars exist, but outside of some random notions about forms of music do we really know what drives the conflicts? In his book Christ Centered Worship: Letting the Gospel Shape Our Practice, Bryan Chapell offers an exhaustive list of reasons for the church splitting tension.
“…every North American church I know has some level of tension regarding its worship style. The reasons for theses tensions are numerous: transience of church populations, the demise of denominations, family breakdown, fewer people worshiping in the churches of their youth, aging church populations, concern to stem the exodus of a younger generation, the influence of pop culture, four decades of contemporary worship music, the charismatic influences, a longing for authenticity, the erosion of traditional values, reactive fear in much of the church, neoconservatism, fresh challenges to contribute cultual transformation, a longing for anchors amid rapid cultural changes, rising interest in the global church, ancient-future church movements, and neo-Catholic movements.”
The problem is so much bigger then contemporary vs. traditional or young vs. old. The reasons that drive the conflict are dynamic and therefore they demand a dynamic answer. What is that answer? That’s for the next post…
