Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

As a worship leader in my home church I highly value the content of this new book Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God by Bob Kauflin (Crossway, 2008). Bob Kauflin is the director of worship development for Sovereign Grace Ministries. Previously, Bob may be most known for being a part of the Christian group GLAD as a songwriter and arranger. I can tell you for sure that my parents and all there friends know who GLAD is even though you may not.

This book is written thoughtfully for worship leaders, but many of the truths expressed here are vital to be understood by church leaders, church attenders, and those that like to complain about music in the church. Bob communicates a high view of the Gospel and theology when thinking about music and music's place within the church.

Bob calls us to proclaim the Gospel....as "Proclamation - is declaring what's true about God." Bob says that proclamation is "often underrated. Why proclaim scriptural truths we've previously heard and already know? Because we forget. We lose track of who God is and what he's done."

Bob challenges churches to sing God's Word, to skillfully combine God's Word through music. The text suggests that "too often we can be tempted to choose songs because of the music rather than the theological content. We need to realize that when words are combined with music we can be deceived.....we should be dwelling richly in the Word of Christ, not musical experiences...the bottom line is: Sing God's Word. Lyrics matter more than music. Truth transcends tunes."

Bob explains an unfortunate dichotomy that exists in churches as we have separated singing and preaching and this is why: "Most people understand it like this: Worship is when we sing and experience God's nearness, express our love for him , and allow his Spirit to move in our midst. All right-brain activities. Hearing the Word.....appeals to the left brain. It's mind food. It's for intellects, designed to make us think, not feel........But singing and preaching aren't incompatible or opposed to each other in any way. Both are meant to exalt the glory of Christ in our hearts, minds, and wills...." I agree that sometimes people can tune out one or the other and fail to recognize that both singing and preaching are really about the same thing. I believe it may happen that someone would go to one church for the musical experience and another church for the teaching that they want. I think the church has arrived at this place because with the rise of contemporary/modern/cutting edge/whatever you want to call it worship we have put God's Word on the back burner. Bob suggests that "our churches can't be Spirit-led unless they're Word-fed."

Bob gives a great measuring stick for the long-term planning of a church when picking out songs to sing for worship. He calls it the "Twenty Year Rule". The Twenty Year Rule basically says that if someone is born in your local church and grew up singing the songs in your church over the course of 20 years, how well would they know God? A couple of questions that Bob writes related to the Twenty Year Rule

• Would these songs give them a biblical and comprehensive view of God? or would they be exposed only to certain aspects of his nature and works?
• Would they learn that God is holy, wise, omnipotent, and sovereign? Would they know God as Creator and Sustainer? Would they understand the glory and centrality of the gospel? Or would they think worship is about music, and not much more?
  

This text starts with much theology of understanding what worship is and moves toward worship training for leaders in the later chapters. Through the whole text Bob communicates God's greatness and why Worship Matters. I highly recommend this book and will continue to use it as a resource in serving the Lord through leading songs that proclaim His greatness.

Here are some promo videos for the book on The Leader, The Task, Healthy Tensions, and Right Relationships