When it comes to worship . . . 18-30 Year Olds are definitely misunderestimated

Easter was an amazing night at The Well.

It was also a surprising night. The service was essentially one big communion service. Our worship leader at The Well, Matt Estrin, put together a set of songs that was meaningful and powerful.

We worshipped in the round and the energy was tangible. The young adults were singing passionately. It was such a blessing to hear them proclaiming their love for God and praising his name.

What was surprising was that the set included 3 hymns. And it was surprising, not because we have a mandate against hymns--which we definitely don't--but, it was surprising to me because the worship set is planned completely by our 25-year-old worship leader and his team. The worship set we sang included Jesus Paid it All, I Stand Amazed in the Presence, and It is Well With My Soul. The singing during these songs was overwhelming as the young adults belted out these "traditional" songs with passion. What?!? Don't young people hate hymns?

No! They don't. In my opinion what they dislike is passion-less and pointless singing. What they dislike is a song service that seems perfunctory. What they dislike is when the music which accompanies hymns is played like a funeral dirge and not like it matters. What they dislike is being in a roomful of "worshippers" who seem more concerned about comfort, appearances, and getting to the steakhouse before the Baptists than they do about praising God and thanking him--sufficiently--for all he's done and is doing.

I think we're making a huge mistake when we throw out traditional hymns with the bath water in an attempt to make our worship services more "relevant" to young adults. To do this misunderestimates (btw--If the President uses it then it counts as a word!) the power of meaningful lyrics and the character of a generation.