"When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. (Matt 6:5-7)He followed that with a "prayer structure" that we have come to call "The Lord's Prayer" (Matt 6:9-13). I'm wondering, then, about that phrase (in the NASB, here) "meaningless repetition." The King James calls it "vain repetitions." What did He mean by that? Various translations use various phrases. There is "the same words again and again" (BBE), "talk on and on" (CEV), "empty phrases" (ESV), "babbling vain words" (LITV), or "babble repetitiously" (NET), for instance. What was He talking about?
The concept of simple repetition is not in view here since Jesus Himself employed it (as in "Truly, truly, I say unto you ..."). The seraphim used it ("Holy, holy, holy"). The psalms use it (see, for instance, Psa 136). We use this method in our own lives when we want to emphasize something. That's clearly not what Jesus was saying. The biblical text uses one word -- βαττολογέω -- which is a combination of "to stutter" and "words". It suggests noise, babble, mindless repeating not for what it says, but just to repeat. Jesus said, "Don't." The irony, of course, is that we do this on a regular basis. We quote the Lord's Prayer so much that we're not even meaning the words. We sing Amazing Grace so much we don't think about what we're singing. We sit through Communion so often that we often aren't thinking about what it was intended to remind us about. We've heard, "I do" so often that we aren't even considering what is being vowed.
I don't know. Like I said, it's more of a musing. Is singing repetitively -- either the same song or the same phrase -- "meaningless repetition"? Is taking Communion mindlessly "vain repetition"? Are we guilty of doing what Jesus told us not to because of our worship songs or our worship practices? Obviously, if that is the "vain repetitions" that Jesus protested, they are so because we let it be so. We don't engage our brains. We let repetition become meaningless. Is that what we're doing?
10 comments:
I completely agree that all to many modern worship songs repeat things too much. When I have input, my default is always to limit repetition. I suspect that some of the repetition is driven by laziness or lack of creativity, some by wanting to focus on a specific thing.
As you note, not all repetition is a problem. So how do we know?
For example, there was a period where some churches would use repetition of a song or part of a song to move congregants into an altered mental state. It seems obvious that this is wrong. But is repeating a section of scripture (written or sung) always a problem?
This is a post that raises more questions than it answers, which is not a bad thing.
"This is a post that raises more questions than it answers, which is not a bad thing."
Welcome to my quandry.
Thanks.
Isn't one possible answer to simply embrace repetition, and to be mindful of what is being focused on and think about why? It seems like this could even be applied to the endless repetition of many worship songs.
It certainly concerns me when the entire song is the one verse and chorus 3 or 4 times. At some point it just feels performative. It also seems like it's meant to let the leader adjust the song on the fly. However, I happen to prefer structure, it helps to ground myself in what I'm saying, thinking, and feeling, without going out on flights of emotion. And as I pointed out I'm the clothing discussion, Nadab and Abihu might be a warning about emotional zeal without thought.
As I said, it isn't blanket "repetition" that concerns me. Jesus referred to "vain" or useless repetition. The Bee joked about Good, Good Father, saying the end of the song was sighted somewhere out at the edge of the known universe. I think, perhaps, there is a correlation between this question and dressing for church. What's in the heart? Is this repetition for a purpose, or is it laziness and/or tugging at mindless emotions? (Of course, identifying which might be difficult because I don't know what's in anyone else's heart.)
When I read Matt. 6:5-7, I see that Jesus specifically addresses prayer (both public and private) and highlights two practices to avoid: (1) attempting to influence God through excessive oration essentially done for “show”--“like the hypocrites”; and (2) offering prayers that contain vain or worthless speech--“as the Gentiles [pagans] do.” If one were to interpret this passage as applying to the singing of worship music (i.e. as a form of “praying”), then it would seem that similar warnings would apply; personally, if making that application, I would be careful that I do not go beyond Jesus’s specific warnings.
However, thinking along with you more generally about “vain repetitions” outside of one’s prayer life, I have been considering again the “idle speech” you highlighted on Jun. 11. To my mind, the “empty phrases” and “babbling vain words” you mention today would qualify as speech that is nonproductive and should therefore be avoided during prayer, worship, and everyday life. To me, that is the more important, bigger picture on which I should focus.
Lorna, in your view are "worship" and "prayer" distinct? I mean, is worship not prayer? I figured any communication with God would be classified as prayer. If not, how would you define prayer so as to exclude worship? (Not a debate. Just learning new perspectives.)
I am happy to share my personal perspective. First, I need to clarify that I use the term “worship” when I mean the general expression of adoration and devotion to God and the term “worship music” when I mean the specific activity of singing worshipful songs to God (I do not use the terms interchangeably, as many people do). Can I assume that by “worship” above you mean what I would term “worship music”? If so, then, to your question, “are worship [music] and prayer distinct?” I would answer, “yes, to a degree, in that they are not the same thing, but they can overlap, as they both can be worshipful communication with God.” And prayer and singing are certainly two important specific elements of worship in general.
I noted that Jesus’s warning against “vain repetition” was related specifically to prayer, which should be heartfelt and thoughtful on our part. I don’t think singing songs to God was in mind there; however, when they are offered to God as worship, I would assume that they should conform to all other aspects of proper worship, which should be in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). If one is singing songs to God as a form of prayer, then the various biblical parameters for effectual prayer would apply, including Jesus’s instructions in Matt. 6:5-7 (as I mentioned above).
I know you opened your post mentioning worship music, but I saw a natural movement in your “musings” from there to the overarching issue of “idle speech” (and the thoughtless mental activity that might accompany it). To me, that encompasses not only what Jesus was warning against in Matt. 6:5-7 but also what would contribute to the heart issues you mentioned at the close of your post. At least, that is what I gleaned from reading today.
Thanks. Just to be clear, I am not one who categorizes "worship" as "singing to God," especially as a definition. I cannot since Paul wrote we are to give our bodies as a living sacrifice as worship -- no singing involved. And I know it's hard to know from just this one entry, but I've a lot on the subject including this one from 2016 and this one from 2008. In fact, I've been regarded with disfavor by some who disagree with me that the preaching of the Word is part of worship. So, no, to me "worship" and "worship music" are not synonyms. The latter can be a subset, a component of worship, but not even close to the whole.
Just to clarify: I wasn’t saying you use those terms interchangeably; I just wanted to make clear how I use them before answering your query. Also, where I wrote “...should therefore be avoided during prayer, worship, and everyday life” in my original comment above, I did not mean to imply that those were necessarily three distinct items; I was just listing different aspects of the Christian walk. (Just a bit of sloppy writing on my part.)
Leading a book study of John MacArthur’s “Worship” long ago was helpful to me for learning the definition of true worship, of which music is only one component, as you say. I believe that preaching/teaching the Word is the backbone of worship; if we don’t know God, we can’t really properly worship Him.
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