There
are two perpetual temptations in worship. The first is to believe that older is
automatically better. The group clings to the past like it is a magic charm. To
them it is a window to better days when the church was “more pure.” There is no
maturing in the church for this group. For this group, worship music is largely
culturally defined, but the culture is an older one. The second is to assume
that newer is automatically better. The culture has moved on from “Holy, Holy,
Holy” and if the church is to reach the culture she must move on as well. There
is very little to learn from the early church for this group. For this group, worship
music is to a large degree culturally defined, but the culture is only the
newest one. Let’s be clear, while the first error does exist, it is the second
error which is the great temptation of our age. We must move on. We must be
relevant. The great sin of our age is to look old.
At
Christ Church we would like to avoid both these errors. As we pursue reformation in church music here
are some things to remember. They are not in any particular order.
- We
should be grateful for what we have. We live in an age of complainers. We
whine about everything, including church music. Yes, there is always room
for improvement. Yes, we all cringe
at certain songs. Yes, it would be nice if we had the Psalms that were not
paraphrased set to music. Yes, it would be nice if we had better contemporary
music. But God has been good to us. We have a great musical heritage from
Ambrose to Luther to Wesley. We have more and more Psalms being set to
music every year. Growth comes from
gratitude not from grumbling.
- Any
reformation in church music must be built on the foundations of love for
Christ and love for his people. If we seek reformation because we want to be “traditional” or because
we want to be “relevant” we are going to make fundamental mistakes. Love for Christ and love for the Church
form the center.
- Singing
in worship revolves around two primary things: faithfulness to God’s Word
and the voice of the people. Everything else is important, but secondary
to these two things. This is why our fathers chanted. They could chant the
Word of God exactly as it is. And chanting highlighted the voice of the
people.
- Musical
growth is dictated by God’s Word not by our current culture. That means
our primary means of evaluating our singing will be the Bible.
- We
should want to thoroughly ingest
the older songs and the older ways of singing. These men are our fathers
in the faith. We should sit at their feet before we seek to stand on their
shoulders. This does not mean we will like all their songs or methods. But
it does mean that each church should seek to live within the stream of
Christian tradition. No church should sing only new hymns and choruses and
completely reject the older tradition. This only shows arrogance.
- We
should seek out new, theologically sound music to introduce to the
congregation. No church should only sing older stuff. I do think a lot of
newer stuff is weak, if not heretical, but not all of it is. There are
God-honoring songs being written. We
should not be afraid of incorporating these into our local church music.
- We
should be cautious in accepting worship music advice or songs from
theologically inept musicians, whether they are on a church staff or in
the pew. Here is why a lot of contemporary worship music is weak: worship
music in the modern church has ceased to be overseen by the elders of the
local church. I am not saying they
must do it all. But they must oversee it all. Music is a
teaching ministry. If the church is to have theologically robust songs they
must have theologically robust men writing them and evaluating them. The
elders are the guardians of God’s Word. Yet for some reason they leave one
of the most potent parts of worship up to other men or women who are not
fit. Here is what Titus 1:9 says an elder must do. “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as
taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and
also to rebuke those who contradict it.” Too many worship leaders and those who write
church music do not fit this description.
- Each
church can and should have its own local sound that uses local talents and
resources, but still functions within the tradition of the broader,
historic church. If you have a
piano player, then don’t grumble because you don’t have drums or guitar.
If you have a guitar player, use him. If you have no instruments, learn to
sing without them. Two churches separated by thousands of miles should sing
songs that have similar content and doctrine. This comes from faithfulness
to God’s Word. But these same two churches may sound very different.
- This
does not mean sound is irrelevant. Some sounds are inappropriate for
worship. They drown out the voice
of the people. Or they are designed to create false emotional responses.
Or they are designed to highlight the musician instead of the people. Or
they are associated too closely with worldliness. The musical sounds in
our churches will vary, but that does not mean any sound is acceptable.
3 comments:
Thanks Peter! Nicely articulated, as we say on Lawng Guyland. ;-)
A very well- balanced article.
Brian and Simon thanks for the comments. With Grace, Peter Jones
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