So I feel the need to pontificate a bit here. I (virtually) attended a Good Friday service last night. The message was fine, but I was put off a bit by some of the music choices. All of the worship leader’s choices sung of victory, triumph, exultation, etc. I ended up... 1/

... muting the stream and listening to “Were You There?” and “O Sacred Head Now Wounded” on YouTube until the message started. Most of my adult life has been spent attending churches with contemporary worship. Most of the time it’s fine. Sometimes it can be powerful. 2/

But sometimes it just falls short, and for me that was the case last night. Yes, Christ paid the penalty. My sins are forgiven. I should ABSOLUTELY sing of that and rejoice in it. But I think there should also be times for somber reflection, time to lament our pain. 3/

We know that Good Friday ends in Resurrection Sunday. But Christ’s disciples didn’t know that. At the end of that day their whole world was turned upside down. They were cowering in their homes in fear for their lives with no clue how their ordeal would end.

Sound familiar? 4/

I think one of the problems with the modern church is the pressure to put on a happy face. We sing song after song of victory and redemption with maybe a couple of moments of prayer at the end for people who are struggling. I wonder how that feels to someone who just... 5/

... lost their job, or has a friend or family member dying of COVID-19, or is struggling just to keep it all together during this pandemic. We should absolutely rejoice in our salvation but I think there should also be more time to sing of our pain. 6/

Look at the Bible: I’ve read that nearly 70% of the Psalms (which were to be sung, remember) were songs of lament. Job, that supposedly patient saint, spends his whole book protesting his innocence and demanding answers from God. There’s even an entire book of the Bible... 7/

... called “Lamentations” (which I suspect doesn’t show up in many devotional readings.) But that book made it into the Bible. Those Psalms made it into the Bible. God dressed down Job for making judgements about things he could not understand but then praised his faith. 8/

Because that’s the key: despite his anguish, his pain, and his anger, Job still believed. He didn’t “curse God and die” like his wife urged him to. He didn’t assume that bad things were happening to him because he’d sinned like his friends assumed was the case. He raged... 9/

... he questioned, he lamented, but he took those feelings to God. I don’t think we’re called to live some stoic life of quiet acceptance or to put on a happy face: I think we’re called to be honest. I think God can handle any emotion we throw at Him as long as we give it... 10/

... to Him. And we’re all going to have times of despair: the same guy who wrote “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want” also wrote “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?” after all. It seems to me that this Good Friday, more than any other in recent memory... 11/

... was the perfect time for churches to tell the faithful: “God’s in control, but it’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to be afraid, or angry, or worry about what’s going to happen as long as you tell him about those feelings. That’s not a lack of faith, that’s your humanity. 12/

“That’s why Jesus died for you in the first place! Bring it all to Him; He wants you to! That’s how you overcome the fear in a time when you’re stuck at home with your world turned upside down and you have no idea how this will end.” And it seems to me that one way to... 13/

... do this would’ve been to save some of the happier worship music for Easter morning and take more time on Good Friday to acknowledge the darkness before the dawn.

In any event, that’s just my opinion and I don’t want to criticize my church. But I’m guessing that... 14/

... I’m not the only one who sometimes struggles with contemporary worship that sometimes seems a little too sunshine and rainbows for a world that seeks to grind us into the dust. There is a time for simple, childlike faith that believes without question. But... 15/

... there’s also a time for hanging on for dear life by your fingernails faith when the whole world is crashing down around you. If all you can do is hold yourself together, but still believe, just know that God sees your faith, too. You’re not going to get everything... 16/

... right. Neither did Job. But as long as you still believe, still have that mustard seed of faith, you’re doing enough.

Hoping you all have a blessed Easter weekend, and praying that the nightmare of this pandemic will soon be over. 17/17