Worship

Taking the ego out of worship

Taking the ego out of worship

Years ago, I worked as a composer on a film project. After many hours of work, I produced what I believed was the perfect soundtrack—it hit all the correct emotional moments, the mixing was skilful, the musicians performed their parts beautifully. Pleased with myself, I hit ‘Send File’, confident that the director would love it.

To my shock, the reply was the opposite: Thanks. It’s nice, but not what this project requires.

Every professional artist is familiar with this scenario and must be careful not to let their perfectionism run away with them. The client’s vision always comes first, even before their own artistic instincts. Why then would art produced to glorify the Lord be any different? After all, he is the ultimate director, the one who can see the big picture of our life’s story.

Since that project, I have learned a lot as a musician and composer, and was eventually called to serve at the Methodist School of Music. With a platform like this, it is more important than ever to remember to take my ego out of the equation. It is not about me. Now, whenever I sit down to produce music, I ask myself these questions: How can I best convey message that is being proclaimed? What skills in my toolbox can I use to achieve this? Will this inspire the people listening to it? Will this glorify and uplift God’s name?

One inspiration I draw on comes from church music history itself. In the formative years of church music, the style of music employed was plainsong. This type of music had no accompanying instruments, no harmony, not even a time signature. The focus was always on the natural rhythm of the liturgical text instead of the music itself.

Although this feature of music has become less mainstream over time, I try to keep it in mind whenever working with text intended to be set to music. I ask: How can the music be used to enhance the listener’s understanding of the text? Which words can be given more prominence? Which chord progression will highlight the message?

A quote from Matt Redman’s song “Heart of Worship”—”I’ll bring You more than a song, for a song in itself is not what You have required”—is a useful reminder.

Being blessed with the gift of music is a huge privilege. I believe that the best use of it is in praise to the one who gave it to us.

Kathryn Cheng is the Assistant Programmes Executive at the Methodist School of Music and a member of Foochow Methodist Church.

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