On the State of Contemporary Music in the Church.(Original article published 07-31-2006 available at the Franklin Road Baptist Church Website )
Through time people have sought experiences through music. For better or for worse, music possesses metaphysical power to give meaning and mold values. The lyrics of Andrew Lloyd Webber's song The Music of the Night say this. Discussion about music is significant in the contexts of both culture and church. From Gregorian chants to praise songs, music continues to wield a powerful influence upon the human heart, and this is why the current state of church music concerns me.
How dare he question something that is so sacred? Let me respond by noting that there is nothing irreverent about questioning whether music in church is sacred or not. Because music is performed in the church by Christian artists in a certain style does not endow it with sanctity. To be considered sacred, music must honor God, His truth and His mighty works. If music does not do this, then it is not sacred. Labeling songs to be "worship and praise music" does not endow them to be so. Amos the prophet spoke of those, "Who improvise to the sound of the harp, And . . . have composed songs for themselves" (Amos 6:5). One aspect of God's indictment of the music composed and listened to by the self-indulgent Samaritans involved improvisation of sound. Decadent music emphasizes sound above content. One commentator notes that the improvisation Amos cited, "probably [describes] a hurried flow of unmeaning, unconsidered words, in which the rhythm of words and music was everything, [and] the sense, nothing."[1] Sounds to me (pun intended) it's as if E.B. Pusey (1800-1882), who wrote these words around the time of our Civil War, was describing the rock medium! Pusey then goes on to characterize the music of Amos' era as, "artificial, effeminate music . . . frittering the melody, and displacing the power and majesty of divine harmony by tricks of art, and giddy, thoughtless, heartless, soulless versifying . . .".[2] Decadent church music finds artists composing and audiences listening to music for and about themselves. About some contemporary music Professor Michael Hamilton notes, "One cannot sing praise songs without noticing how first person pronouns tend to eclipse every other subject."[3] But in the praise of heaven, the first person will not be the pronoun of choice (see Rev 4:8, 11; 5:9; 15:3-4). Persons in heaven do not and will not sing for or about themselves. Unlike the Samaritans of Amos' day and Christendom today, the heavenly multitude sings to God. Because of the selfish development in some of today's worship, the Lord might well say to the thousands who congregate at the grandest worship celebrations, "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies . . . Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps" (Amos 5:21, 23; NIV). Historian Mark Noll notes that, "The classic evangelical hymns are . . . compacted into the four words that best summarize their message: Jesus Christ Saves Sinners. These hymns . . . proclaim a particular redemption of substitutionary atonement through a particular act of God accomplished in the particularities of the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and kingly rule of Jesus Christ."[4] In short, many, but not all, traditional hymns highlight the Word of God's redeeming Work for sinners such as you and me. In contrast to the self-centered music of Isaiah's day and ours, classic evangelical hymns "pay attention to the deeds of the Lord" (Is 6:5). The lyrical redundancy of some praise choruses also violate Jesus' teaching about prayer. God's hearing is not dependent upon frenzied worshippers working themselves into a "spiritual consciousness" by the repetition of mantra like musical phrases (see Matt 6:7; 1 Kgs 18:26). Our praises should be understood to have the same accountability before God as our prayers (Matt 12:36-37). Why? Because praise is an aspect of prayer. "Debased music" wrote E. B. Pusey in 1860, "is a mark of a nation's decay, and promotes it."[5] And what was true for of those who lived in Zion yesterday can be true of those who live in the contemporary church today. Debased music marks the decadence of the church's worship, and promotes it. Pastor Larry DeBruyn ________________ [1] E.B. Pusey, The Minor Prophets, Vol. I (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,1975) 307-308. [2] Ibid. 308. [3] Michael S. Hamilton, "The Triumph of the Praise Songs," Christianity Today, July 12, 1999, 34. [4] Mark A. Noll, "We Are What We Sing," Christianity Today, July 12, 1999, 39. [5] Pusey, 308. |
