MUSIC IS NOT AN EMOTIONAL ADDITION TO A CHURCH SERVICE.
Shocking. I know. Okay let me give you some background. I grew up with a very conservative, reformed background. I was only in one church for two years at a time because of the military. In every church, though, I was raised with a reformed idea of music and its place in worship. This is often a very big problem, because people are picky about music. I know that may not seem so big when you are surrounded by musicians every day who are open to listening to all kinds of music, but in the church, people have made music a huge issue.
Music's USE in the church service. It is to praise and worship GOD, to give HIM the glory. It isn't to complain about how much pain we're in, it is not to show Him how much we are doing for Him. It isn't to talk about US at all. Music should always reflect back to God in worship, it was given to us by Him after all. We try so hard these days to make music in worship reflect that of the world to bring in those of the world, to attract the world. No. That's wrong. We are not supposed to be attractive to the world, that means we're doing something wrong. We're supposed to stand out in the world. We are SUPPOSED to stick out like a sore thumb, we're different and that's a GOOD thing.
Contemporary Christian music is not a bad thing. I personally love Casting Crowns and Hillsong, both very popular Christian bands last year and the year before that, and Colton Dixon is one of my favorite singers. However, I feel that music of this genre should be enjoyed outside of the church service simply for the tone of the music. When you hear a hymn, you automatically think of church, God (or some sort of religious event), and maybe even reverence. How many contemporary Christian songs make you want to be in church worshipping God? Exactly. In a church service, there is a certain atmosphere that must be upheld. Generations have made this next to impossible to maintain because they bring up arguments such as "this music will bring in the younger generation", or "it's all praising God". But, as I mentioned earlier, praising God is not the primary purpose of music in worship, reflecting His glory is.
Does this make you feel like you just gave God glory?
Yet this is the kind of thing we try to imitate to "bring in the younger generation"....I don't think it's working.
Okay, if that made no sense and just made you mad, I hope this will fix whatever damage I did.
Music's purpose in worship is to give God glory, to reflect His absolute majesty and power, to show Him that we appreciate His grace and mercy, and to praise Him. It is to plea and to pray, and then to show our thanks. Music is the expression of the people from God, to God.
The aesthetics of music in worship. How is it pleasing? Well…it's music from God….people complain about the hymns because they're "old-fashioned" or "boring"…the hymns and Psalms are written from or about Scripture. We are singing God's own words to Him. What isn't beautiful about that? The music in the church, in worship, is focused on the lyrics, yes. The melodies just reflect those lyrics, and if they reflect them correctly then that is what creates aesthetically pleasing sound.
I hope I haven't made any enemies in this post, please forgive me if I offended you or your religion. Please understand these are the beliefs I have been taught since I was a child, and have come to truly believe in young adulthood. I do not wish to anger anyone, this is just a very delicate topic in my heart and in my mind because it has cost my family dearly in recent months.
Thank you, and goodnight.
This is all very interesting, Lydia. Clearly, we've found a topic you feel quite passionately about. I'll be curious to see what you make of our studies of the music of the Reformation this spring, as we'll be talking about essentially the birth of the modern hymn.
ReplyDeleteLydia, I think you did very well trying to give your side without offending anyone. I wonder however if when people hear these contemporary Christian songs, even if they have a rock feel, if they don't get the feeling of reverence that is brought up by hymns for some? As someone who went to a church where the contemporary music was the only worship music used, when I hear that music I feel like I could be in church and can have time with God. Just a thought.
ReplyDeleteLydia,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate you taking up the soapbox in such a respectful way. I agree that there is way too much emphais placed on the individual singer in contemporary Christian music. I also agree that the lyrical praise is the most important element but to me the musical aspect is also very important as it helps me to connect to the text more deeply.
- Michelle
I agree with what you are saying. I was raised Catholic but I did attend a Baptist church for awhile. In the Baptist church I experienced a lot of ways to praise that were very different from what I grew up with. I specifically remember a member of the church saying that he wanted to see more people with Mohawks and who wore black and had piercings. He said this because he wanted to let us know that everyone and anyone is able to worship God in any way that feels right to him/her as an individual. I do think though that if music is altered specifically to gain more members that is the wrong reason to change the music. But if the music is changed because it is going with the flow and the heart, praise, and belief is still there then there is nothing wrong with that.
ReplyDelete