If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,  do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.  You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.”  Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble.
Romans 11:17-20

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“Lord, let me not step back in this church building again!” That was about twenty years ago. I was angered by a pastor’s decision to turn back the clock and reintroduce hymns into the worship service. He was responding to an elderly woman’s letter. He was moved by her plea to hear the hymns of her childhood. 

I objected. We had gone through too much emotional upheaval when we moved away from Sunday Service with robed choirs, pew hymnals, handbell ringers, and organists. In my opinion, there was no going back—I felt that there had been too much pain over the years of change. However, the pastor didn’t agree and decided we would be adding hymns to the worship service.

In my mind, traditional worship and praise worship were incompatible. And so, I left that congregation rather arrogantly, thinking that I was shaking the dust off my feet. Perhaps if I applied today’s verses, Romans 11:17-20, I would have been less opinionated. In his message to the church, Paul reminded the Gentile believers that they had been grafted into Israel. They and the  Jewish converts were both dependent on the same root. Gentile believers were not superior to their counterparts or more favored by God in any way.

But to my point, Paul gives sound advice to the gentile believers, “Do not be arrogant, but tremble.” That applied to me when I didn’t support changes within my church. When I  left the congregation, I was not trembling as Paul suggests. But I do now, in hindsight. I was grafted onto the same ancient root that had become the church. Music styles come and go, but the root lasts forever. Modern worship is not superior to the old hymns. What matters is the unity of God’s family.

Next Steps

Deep in your heart, you know if there are issues in your church life that bother you. Consider listing them and answering the question for each. In light of Romans 11:17-20, what is the Holy Spirit prompting you