"Sunday Services is not the Place for your Musical Showcase"

Interesting conversation going on down on a post I did a few weeks ago called "Rock and Roll Church".  An anonymous commenter had this to say about the music at Grace:

"How offended our grandparents would be. Reducing church from formal worship to this form of self-indulgence is an insult to God himself. signed by Sunday Services is not the place for your musical showcase"

My initial reaction was to completely ignore a commenter like this since they anonymously claimed the music and worship at Grace is "self indulgent and is an insult to God".  But I didn't ignore it, because there are some interesting thoughts behind this comment.

1. Grandparents - The thought of creating the experience and services on Sunday in order to help people connect with the Lord based on what someone's grandparents would think is an intriguing way to worship God.  I've never considered doing that.  If I did seriously consider it, who's grandparents should I look to?  I mean, my grandma actually likes the music (of course she's a little biased) and I know several grandparents at Grace that enjoy it as well.  If anyone has any thoughts on this I'd be interested to hear them.
2. Formal Worship - What is that?  Who gets to define what "formal worship" is?  Would "formal worship" be the same in a church that is having to meet quietly for fear of being beheaded such as many within the 10/40 Window?  I'm assuming the comment is based on the "formal worship" found in America.  Even then that could be anything.  Is that the Amish?  Is that the Mennonite?  Is that the Southern Baptist?  Is that the Charismatic/Pentecostal?   Point being that it's all subjective as to what is "formal" or "informal.  Ask some of our youth here at Grace and I'll bet they'd tell you our worship is too formal for their tastes.  Any help or thoughts here would be appreciated as I ponder this comment.
3. Form of self-indulgence - Maybe in my Rock and Roll Church post the commenter interpreted my note "is it wrong that I smiled?" as a self indulgence remark.  A little clarification might be in order.  I smiled because I enjoyed the fact that people have come to know our church in the community as one that stands out and might even bring someone through the doors because they heard about that "Rock and Roll Church".  I love hearing that we might have an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who might not otherwise set foot inside a church.  I think that's cool.  Is it maybe a wrong assumption to make on the part of the commenter that our worship is "self-indulgent"?  But wait...maybe not...look at the next one...
4. An insult to God himself - I guess if you're that close to God knowing all His preferences...I better take note. Just kidding.  Not much to respond to here.

I'm not misled enough to think that the style of worship at Grace is the style the Bible says everyone should use.  God gave us the liberty and freedom to express our worship to Him in the way that best connects us to Him.  The issue for some is that they confuse what is culture vs. what is doctrine.  Organs did not exist for most of the history of Christianity.  Suits and ties did not exist for much of Christianity.  You cannot put God into your cultural box and expect the rest of the world to follow suit.  It's not going to happen.

I don't know if I have ever met this commenter.  For all I know it could be someone who attended Grace at one time and left because they didn't like the musical style...or maybe they have never visited. But I hope that "Sunday Services is not..." finds joy in their relationship with the Lord and if they're on the hunt for the "perfect church" I hope they find it quickly. 

Any thoughts?

-Babu