Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately – Part XII
from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman
A new mindset to develop: Allow the Holy Spirit to be the orchestrating “conductor”.
This does not mean you don’t practice, etc. It means you acknowledge to whom you are listening during a worship experience.
Singing In the Spirit: For example, at the First Mennonite Conference on the Holy Spirit in 1974 on Memorial Day, I attended the evening service where I first experienced what is called “Singing in the Spirit”. Since the Mennonites did not use musical instruments, they sang their hymns in four-part harmony. When they sing, the harmony is rich in sound. I believe “Singing in the Spirit” is the way vocally that the body of Christ can enter corporately into the Presence of God. Individually, each believer, each priest, begins singing Sacrifices of Praise to their God and their Savior. They vocally sing back to the Lord who He is in their lives: my savior, my Lord, my deliverer, my fortress, my sustainer, my provider, my healer, my bright and morning star, and my Rose of Sharon. Their proclamations of sacrificial praise glorified the Father and His Son Jesus as each person entered His Presence. Giving back to the Lord and to Father God what He has given his priest, his believer was, what I believe, true worship by true worshipers. Individually each person was entering His Presence if he chose.
Then the supernatural corporate worship activated. Even though each Sacrifice of Praise was sung individually, it supernaturally harmonized with all the other believers who too individually sang their Sacrifices of Praise. There was an “angelic” quality to the tone, pitch, and harmony of the corporate singing. I feel very inadequate trying to put into words the riches of the experience. It was the most “heavenly” sound that I have ever heard. It was a glimpse of the “worship pictures” we get in the book of Revelation when the saints, the priesthood, join with the angels and winged creatures in harmonious Praise and Worship!
Singing in the Spirit cannot be naturally orchestrated. The greatest attempt to naturally duplicate Singing in the Spirit, though extremely feeble in its attempt, is Gregorian Chant Music. I personally believe that Gregorian Chant Music became the Church’s natural attempt to restore the sound that had so spiritually enriched them supernaturally in their early years. Orchestrating hundreds or thousands of individuals personally offering Sacrifices of Praise vocally by a worship leader to get that sound cannot naturally be done. It is too immense. Also during the singing the musical key changes to higher levels as the Praise reaches higher levels. Having a huge group of believers independently worshiping and knowing when and how to change keys would be naturally impossible. But in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, all things are possible, so the Holy Spirit can supernaturally orchestrate the unity of the worship, for again, one of His mission is to have all God’s children “draw near” and “come into” Jesus’ very Presence, so he can manifest the image of His Father to his believers.
As “professional” sounding with today’s sound technology and talented singers surrounded by talent musicians are in many huge contemporary church services today, they can never match nor duplicate the supernatural sound of Singing in the Spirit, an individually corporate musical experience.