Keepin' it Real

My previous blog post was probably the first time I put into writing some of the frustrations I've had with contemporary Christian worship services.  Which is why I came out a little strong.  A few hours after writing the post, I found myself worshipping at a church which, though contemporary in style, was definitely musically proficient.  I also thought back to my previous church, where the worship leader was such a musically sensitive person and put care and thought into preparing for services and in training his team to improve.  And so the repenting began.

I knew that as soon as I came home and had dinner, I would need to make amends by writing another post.  My tendency to dichotomize things is really gonna get me in trouble one of these days.  It's incredibly not cool to associate musical professionalism with high church and amateur musical performance with contemporary worship.  So here goes my thought process, done in a spirit of penance:

What is true authenticity?

Is it replicating a musical style as closely to the original as one can, so as to respect tradition?

Is it bringing oneself to the table, with all one's performance flaws and quirks, so as to express oneself before God with no facade of perfection?

Is it practicing as professionally as possible, yet celebrating room for humanity to shine through with stray notes and occasionally un-synced beats?

Is it more "authentic" to sing in a head voice, knowing that "proper" singing techniques may prune away one's rawness in coming before the Lord in brokenness?

Or is is more "authentic" to master classical singing styles so as to increase one's range of dynamic and timbre, thus bringing emotions to the Divine in a musically sophisticated way that expresses complexity?

My aesthetic perceptions are so influenced (tainted?) by my upbringing and my highly individualized taste.  How I wish I would get out of my own way and just allow myself to appreciate worship for the intent and effort behind it!

Scripture shows that God honors commitment to excellence, but that He also accepts us just as we are when we approach His throne.  I suppose there will always be a (healthy!) tension between wanting to please God with our efforts and admitting that we will never measure up.  I hope that this tension will continue to drive me to the Source of true Good Taste (Ps. 34:8--"taste and see") and allow Christ to live through me, defeating both self-reliant pride and self-defeating perfectionism.