Back on the church scene and wondering… Are all worship songs appropriate for worship?
It’s been eight Sundays–no misses–which has us back in the pew, learning the new songs that have been published in the two years we did our home church. We sing hymns, too, but I am talking about modern Christian worship. It’s the new stuff that has me curious. Because the songs are so foreign to me, I’ve taken to turning on Christian radio to fish for them–are they radio songs? Who sings them? What is the vibe?
Instead of the 7/11 choruses of the late 90s and early aughts (Seven words, eleven times= Yes, Lord, Yes Lord, Yes, Yes Lord. Yes, Lord, Yes, Lord, Yes, Yes, Lord! Yes, Lord, Yes, Lord, Yes, Yes, Lord, AMEN! <–which happens to be two words, ten times) and the 2010s’ renditions of reinvented hymns that evolve into chorus (Amazing Grace->My Chains are Gone, Because He Lives->Amen), this generation has evolved worship music into its own new recipe.
And I’m not saying it’s totally wrong, but I’m not certain it’s at all right. It has come hand in hand with stage worship, inspired, no doubt by the likes of stage masters Hillsong, Elevation, and other big church names that pay their own songwriters for new, original content.
But is it even original?
And is it something that glorifies God or something else?
Should it be a worship leader’s job to “guide” a worshipper into a certain feeling or space? Or is it manipulating true worship into an emotional state that can only be accessed in modern church where talented musicians and beautiful instrumentation evoke such feelings? (Honestly, I’ve never had more heightened emotions that when I had a cellist in the house–I am that sucker for strings)
And in this case, isn’t it setting believers up for disappointment when the expectation isn’t met?
Should we not be equally satisfied with less of an experience?
If the recipe isn’t followed–will the church lose congregants?
Are we too afraid to find out?
Afraid to lose the magnetism and hypnotic pull that is over the folks who equate spiritualism with emotionalism?
I wonder if I’m old-fashioned and nit-picky. But my concerns are for the dumbing down of believers–tethering our Hope to feelings instead of a Solid Rock.
I went to a concert just last night. The music was amazing; I enjoyed myself! I stood, clapped, chatted with friends, had a beer. I know where to go to catch a show. I know what to do to get a spike of serotonin.
But when I go to church, I want to enjoy God–and I feel a sense of urgency to make it more about Him. Less coffee for me. Less attention on what I’m wearing. Less fancy, less pride, less. I want my offering to be secret, not paraded in front. I want my communion to be holy, thoughtful, private. More study, more reverence. Praying quietly with my family. Soberness. No gimmicks, no light shows, no smoke. He must increase, I must decrease.
Where words are many, sin is not absent.
I‘m reminded that Jesus told his disciples not to blather on when they pray, like the heathen, but to offer simple prayers, because your Father in heaven already knows what you need before you ask it.
And this reminds me that I often need to bemaking sure I’m not getting caught up with the crowd, because the crowd tends to want to fit in with what the spirit of the world is doing. Call it heathen, proud, or knees that won‘t bend in reverence–this attitude is parroted when we make worship that mimics a rock concert or is more concerned with goosebumps than God’s holiness.
Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:18-20
