Day 16: It's Just a Song

The Prompt: The worship team has a fight over a particular song.  Some want to sing it, while others think it's too secular.  What happens?

Matthew sighed and looked at his watch again.  It was five after 2:00.  "At this rate, I doubt anyone is going to show up."

Just then, he saw a red car drive up to the front of the youth worship center parking lot.  Two teenagers, one with long brown hair and one with a blonde bob, stepped out and walked towards him.

"Hi, Matthew," the taller brunette greeted.  There was a sense of awkwardness in her tone.

"Hello, Julie.  Hi, Molly," he greeted the blonde, to which she acknowledged with a small smile.

"We're sorry we're a little late," Julie began.  "Where's everyone else?"

"Robert said he would be here later because his shift didn't end until five minutes ago.  Javier should be here any minute.  I don't know where Donna is."

Molly bit her lower lip.  "Donna is the lead female singer.  If she doesn't show up, what's the point of this meeting?"

"She'll show up," Matthew stated firmly, more for himself than for Molly.

Javier drove up a minute later, and the four decided to wait inside for the rest of the worship team to show up.  They started a light conversation, ignoring the problem that had prompted them all to meet on a Tuesday afternoon instead of their usual practice days.  Robert came at 2:15, and just when they had almost given up all hope on her, Donna showed up.  She didn't offer an apology but looked vexed and anxious to settle their disagreement.

"Alright," Matthew said, resuming his role as their unofficial leader, "now that everyone is hear, we can begin our discussion.  We had a night to cool off, pray, and clear our heads.  How does everyone feel about the song?"  He asked the last question firmly, but inside he was nervous hearing what everyone thought.

Donna opened the discussion with her usual direct opinion.  "I still feel what I felt before.  The song is too secular, and I refuse to sing it."

Matthew's spirit dropped.  With that kind of close-minded attitude, their meeting was going to be a waste of time.

"I'm still in agreement with her," Julie added.  "I listened to the words again, and while the song might draw more kids to church, the message that the words say is not something I think a church should give."

Donna grinned and nodded her approval.  "Exactly what I think.  Is it worth it to have a bigger crowd of kids when they're just going to be non-believers?  The church won't be a safe haven for Christians anymore."

"A church isn't just for Christians," Matthew countered quickly.  "It's for everyone, and sometimes we need to appeal to the outside world to draw them to church."  He was starting to regret he'd ever suggested the idea in the first place.

"You're wrong!"

Javier joined in.  "The pastor has a great series of sermons lined up, and I think the children would benefit from hearing them.  The point of church is to save those which are lost.  I say, the more the merrier."

"But the point of a worship service," Donna argued, "is to draw everyone to worship God.  We would be hypocrites if the  lyrics contradicted what the pastor just preached about."

"The lyrics can be interpreted any way you want," Matthew countered.

"What if we have the pastor announce our interpretation of the song beforehand?" Molly piped up.

"The Bible says, 'do not be conformed to this world,' " Donna quoted in a know-it-all tone.

"But that doesn't mean we should shun anything that doesn't mention God," Matthew continued.

"If it gives people wrong thoughts, then it is bad," Donna stated simply.

"Maybe we should just not worry about the song and stick to our old routine," Molly tried again.

"No," Donna turned to her.  "We need to have this sorted out now.  If we don't deal with the problem now, the same situation is going to come up later."

There was silence for a few moments before Robert spoke.  "I prayed about this situation last night, and this is what I think.  I don't care for the song myself, but I am not letting that sway my decision.  The point is not whether or not the song is secular.  We sing 'Happy Birthday,' and that could be secular.  It is the sentiment behind the song.  Remember how last year our church sung that song 'He Lives in You' from the second Lion King movie?  The writers intended that to be about how the lion king's spirit lives in all the animals, but the words can be associated with God's spirit living in us.  It stirred us to want to worship Him.  We should be listening to the Holy Spirit when we choose our songs.  If the song can draw us closer to Him, I say, let's sing it.  If not, we should sing something else."

Everyone was quiet.

"I don't think of God very much when I hear the song," Javier admitted.

"Neither do I," Julie said.

"Same here," Molly agreed.

"I still feel the song is wrong, but now I don't want to sing it for different reasons," Donna said in an uncharacteristically subdued tone.

"I agree with you too," Matthew said guitily.  "I guess I was so concerned about getting new people to come to church, I didn't care how we did it.  I"m sorry, guys."

"And I'm sorry too."  Donna added, looking mainly at Matthew.  "I was acting self-righteous, and I said some pretty mean things to you.  Will you forgive me?"

"Of course," Matthew said with a smile.

"I'm glad we got that worked out," Molly exhaled.

"Me too," the rest of the team said in unison.

With the shroud of anger and bad feelings lifted, everyone felt jovial again, and they wasted no time in beginning to decide what songs they would be singing for the worship service on Sunday.