‘We have already made great strides in this direction as regards the Earth.’ …*

*Quote (including the title) from C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, as written by the demon Screwtape.

One of my biggest pet peeves about churches today is the ever-increasing trend to hold their worship services at ludicrously high volume levels. I’ve been going to church all my life, and my faith in God is a very integral part of my life. However, while I love to worship the Lord in song and believe in the necessity of meeting regularly with other believers, I cannot believe that there is anything remotely spiritual about destroying my hearing for the sake of worship when I can worship in song just as (actually, more) easily at a much quieter level.

This frustration has come much closer to home recently, due to changes that have been made at my church. It used to be that one of the things this church had going for it was the fact that their services were pretty contemporary but not too loud. Not so anymore. Their biggest changes have been the addition of an amped bass guitar the switching of electric drums for acoustic drums. The results are unbearably loud. It has now become my habit to spend the music portion of each service walking the halls, where I can still hear everything perfectly. Though sometimes even out there it seems too loud! Often they keep it so loud that, if I sit in the sanctuary, not only are my ears in physical pain, but also I can just barely hear the leaders singing-if at all, and I can never hear the piano or the congregation singing (unless they have us sing acapella). Folks, this is absolutely ridiculous.

I don’t normally make a habit of voicing negative opinions about my church or any other, but this is something that concerns me for more than one reason.

I have often lamented that we cannot close our ears with as much ease as we can our eyes. ~Richard Steele

The first reason has already been mentioned and is the most obvious one. God made our ears and gave us the ability to hear. I do not believe that he would ever ask us to throw away our hearing to worship Him, since we do not need to reach such a destructive level for it to be legitimate worship.

Also, as Christians in the church, I do not believe it is good for us to force outsiders who visit to endure such damaging noise just so they can be exposed to the gospel. Blasting their ears out is not the best way to present God’s eternally significant truth to them. I mean, who would want to listen to someone who communicated by screaming in your face? No one ever puts up with that, yet many churches ask their members and visitors to put up with that same sort of thing every Sunday in deafening services.

You can hear the footsteps of God when silence reigns in the mind. ~Sri Sathya Sai Baba

The second reason this issue concerns me: it’s a major distraction from the real reason we’re in church in the first place. The Bible says God speaks in a still, small voice. How are we supposed to hear Him with all the noise going on around us? I can say from experience that it does make a difference! It has become nearly impossible for me to get into a worshipful mindset and really focus on God during the music part of the service (which in turn, affects my worshipful attitude during the sermon). My family members have said the same thing.

The sole purpose of going to church is to worship God. What matters is what comes from our hearts, not what comes from our instruments (or how many we have). So why do we place so much importance on that? I don’t go to church to hear the musicians play—I go to hear God, and yet I cannot concentrate on Him when what is being played pounds so intensely in my ears. Instead, I’m forced to be more focused on my surroundings and my aching ears. What is worshipful about listening to musicians who play loudly? And again, how does that affect people from the outside in regards to how well they are able to worship and sense God’s presence? Having a large amount of energy, enthusiasm, and noise in a service is not what makes it Spirit-filled.

“A “scream” is always just that-a noise and not music.” ~ Carl Gustav Jung

One big thing that really stands out for me in modern worship services is that in regard to music, the musicality has significantly lessened and it has become more just pure noise. It is one thing to turn down the volume, and it’s quite another thing to produce music versus noise. I say this because even though leaving the sanctuary reduces the volume level, what I hear still sounds more like a chaotic frenzy than music. I don’t bring this up to complain of anyone’s playing ability or preference. What bothers me is that when so much of that ‘chaotic frenzy’ is present, it detracts from the reverence with which we should approach God in our worship. Sometimes I feel like we worship as if we’re afraid He can’t/won’t hear us. Therefore, the louder and wilder we make it the greater our chances are of getting His attention and response. Our worship experience becomes more being part of a group performance when instead it should be a deeply intimate meeting before the throne of God. I think we need to really consider the manner in which we approach God in our worship. Are we more worried about how well we perform to Him, or about how much we honor Him in our attitude? Are we focused on humbly giving Him all the glory and adoration from our hearts? Are we reverent? These are the things that are important.

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence…. We need silence to be able to touch souls. ~Mother Teresa

Note: I write this meaning no disrespect toward any church, including my own. It is not my intention to attack or accuse, so please don’t view what I’ve said in that light. What I have written is simply the result of much thought and prayerful questioning (as well as family discussion) in regards to how I personally can best honor Him in worship through music.