I understand the feeling behind that statement. I have been to some churches that have song services that are as dry as a turkey wishbone that has been sitting on the kitchen counter for a week. I am sure the person making this statement loves Jesus, and wants her worship to be anointed and fresh. The Scripture mentions that we are to "Sing to the Lord a new song." He delights in our praise, and loves the outpouring of our hearts to Him.
However, I also have another experience that I wish to share.
A woman of about 25 years of age grew up in a church. As a child, she learned lots of Scripture verses and sang lots of songs. This child also loved Jesus.
Fast forward through years of laughter, tears, hurt, betrayal, and depression. See a troubled teen, sleepwalking through her mornings, and tuning out the world in the afternoon. See a class clown, making those around her laugh, while inside she just wanted to cry.
See the guidance counselor call her into the office, where she is accused of drinking and taking drugs, because only that could explain her mood swings and many absences from class, right? These false accusations only left this girl cynical and more determined in her resolve to rebel, not with drugs and alcohol, but with withdrawal from those where were supposed to be there to "help."
See a young adult, drifting through life like a rudderless ship, going to work during the day, and taking long drives afterward, heading nowhere, but desperately wanting to get there.
See this woman invited to a party by a coworker who was intent on "setting her up" with a guy friend she knew. Do you see where I'm going?
Fast forward another couple of years to a 25 year old married woman, with a two-year old boy in tow, stepping into a church that she had not entered since she was a teen. The worship service has already started, so the woman takes a seat as close to the back of the sanctuary as possible, without being outside the door. She is ready to bolt at any moment.
The music plays, enthusiastically--unfamiliar music, which may be beautiful, anointed and fresh, ministering to others in attendance--but to this woman it is as foreign as if it is being played in Chinese. She begins to wonder, "Am I even in the right place? I grew up in church, but not a single song is familiar. Am I too out of touch? Have I gone too far away from my roots?" She starts to get up to leave, when the worship leader pauses, turns a couple knobs at the top of his guitar, and then begins to sing, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine..."
It isn't even the woman's favorite hymn, but it is something she KNOWS! Instantly, she connects to the song, and to a place in her heart that is being coaxed back into Jesus' arms. She stays. She even returns the next week, and the next, seeking, retreating, wrestling with something inside herself that tells her that she is unworthy of anyone's love, especially someone as holy as Jesus.
Was the hymn she heard "cliche?" Perhaps. Can Jesus use the cliche? Definitely.
Are we willing to accept the leading of the Holy Spirit, to seek out the fresh anointing, while at the same time, being open to the nudging to do, say, or even sing something "cliche" at times, if it means meeting one person where he or she is?
rjc
06/25/12
