Music in Church: Differing Tastes, or Differing Theology

A few Sundays ago during a discussion in Sunday school, an old debate surfaced about the style of acceptable music within a church’s worship service. I generally don’t contribute much in these discussions, and not because I don’t have an opinion. Let me preface my thoughts with a series of statements and observations:

• Acceptable music expresses truth in a fitting and pleasing manner.
• Music used in worship created the foundational theological understanding for most of us. When this music, as in many traditional hymns, teaches good theology, it is music worth singing.
• Praise and worship music, recently composed, is predominantly contemporary in style.
• Much of the contemporary music is weak in theology.
• Some of the praise and worship songs from the 90’s are not worth singing
• Some of the modern hymns of this decade are not worth singing
• Some of the songs in our pew hymn books written long ago are not worth singing

 A song I like, “Thank You,” expresses praise to God: 

For all that You’ve done I will praise You,

For all that You’re going to do.

For all that You’ve promised and all that You are,

Is all that has carried me through.

Jesus I thank You.

This song is not wrong, but you have to have a theological understanding of why God is worthy of praise to understand what you are singing about. As I sang this, I knew precisely what it meant; some may not have quite known what it was about. People exposed to only this music don’t have the opportunity I had growing up to have theological underpinnings in music. From my vantage point, this is not so good.

Some contemporary music from the 1990’s teaches sound theology. This is music worth singing. Rita Baloche from the Maranatha singers wrote one of my favorite songs of all time in 1997, “You are Worthy”.

My name is carved in the palm of Your hand;

It is written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Even though my soul was destined to be damned,

Lord, You ransomed me with your life…

This song was enough to have two lost Taiwanese students asking questions like “Who is the Lamb?” “What is the book of life?” “Why is my soul destined to damnation?” “What was the ransom?” It is enough truth to bring tears of gratefulness to my eyes as I rethink and realize all God and His Son Jesus went through to bring me salvation. The past 7 years has ushered in a new group of musicians who borrow from the contemporary style of the 1990’s, but issue the Theology of the ages. This is music worth singing.

So what kind of music is acceptable? Sadly, this question has soured in our mouths as the debate has become preferential and generational in nature. It should be neither a preferential nor a generational issue within the church. In other words, those under 35 years old should not be at odds with those over 55 years old and vice versa. And those in the 20 year span between should not be caught in between. The <35 camp doesn’t like the old hymns. The >55 camp doesn’t like contemporary style. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard, “I don’t like that music” spoken in the debate from both sides. Are our tastes the deciding factor in the value and propriety in music? No, they aren’t. In fact, we are distracted often by style and fail to realize the virtue or the vileness of a song. 

For you lovers of the contemporary music, haters of the old hymns, let me give you this thought from John Piper in reference to C.S. Lewis, “He has made me wary of chronological snobbery. That is, he showed me that newness is no virtue and oldness no vice. Truth and beauty and goodness are not determined by when they exist. Nothing is inferior for being old, and nothing is valuable for being modern. This has freed me from the tyranny of novelty and opened for me the wisdom of the ages.” (Don’t Waste Your Life, p.19)

The converse could be said to you lovers of the old style, haters of the new and contemporary. Old is not always good, valuable, or right, and new is not necessarily bad, inferior, or wrong. The fact is we aren’t singing the same hymns or songs or using the same music styles that our church fathers were singing in the 1700’s and even further back to David’s Psalms. Things have changed, even in the worship styles of you older folks.

We tend to look at things in a rather linear fashion, i.e. the far left, the far right, and somewhere in between. This may work with politics, but it does not work with doctrine. Doctrine is either sound, or it is wrong. There is no “truth continuum” where middle ground is to be found. To say otherwise would be to buy into the humanistic philosophy that plagues our world today. There is absolutely an absolute truth. All music, past and present and future is either right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable. This is something each of us should be able to determine as we hear words coming from music. Cull the bad music. Only certain music is worth singing. You may be saying right now, “Jeremy, this is the real world. Things don’t really work that way.” I’d say to you in response, God has a value system in which He uses words such as “fully”, “completely”, and “wholly”. We cannot afford to dwell in some non-existent middle ground in regards to theology. The middle ground is worse than the wrong because it leads men into sin while thinking they’re o.k.

           

What about the modern music that isn’t wrong, but not so good. Am I on the fence? I don’t think I am. Once right or wrong has been determined, then appropriate or inappropriate needs to be determined. I wouldn’t advocate singing the camp song, “Father Abraham” in a Sunday morning service. There might be songs that we set aside for camp and home etc., which still are good, but we’re not going to sing them in a church service.

           

Pure, orderly expression of truth can be found in both old and new styles of worship music. The determinate is the truth of the message followed closely by appropriateness of the words and music. I challenge each of you to set aside generational disunity, any personal preferences or tastes, and focus on the right or wrong of songs. Truth doesn’t change. If we sift our music with both sieves of truth and propriety, some of both old and new will be graded out. And enough will be left of both old and new to use in our worship. Not one should be exclusive, and not one should be excluded.

Roaring Lions and Dew

I was recently reminded of a lesson I learned two years ago in the summer of 2010, and I thought I would edit and post something I wrote at that time. Honestly, I’m not so certain I have fully learned this lesson… 

During projects, the unforeseen occasionally happens, and I inevitably do not please a customer despite great effort. For the past 6 months I have been involved in what would seem to be a straightforward project, but it has been wrought with problem after problem. The project should have been completed 5 months ago. I've seen this type of project before, one that should be relatively simple and easy to finish, but ends up derailed by problems with various causes. Without attributing evil to God, somehow I think these problems are God’s tools for the shaping of my character, but I'll save that thought for another day.

To make a very long story as short as it should be, factors outside of my control made it impossible to renumber 374 lecture hall seats before students flood the room next Monday. I was very professionally grilled about not fulfilling the project requirements and told my temporary solution was not acceptable. I was very anxious about this and spent all of the night trying to fabricate a solution. But the grim reality is that no matter what I wish, say, or do; no matter what the customer wishes, says, or does, the renumbering of the seats is not going to happen by the customer's very legitimate project completion date.

Through prayer, I believe I was led to Proverbs 19:12, "The king's wrath is like the roaring of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass." I deeply wanted my customer to be able to say, "Great job." Of course that would have been said 5 months ago if at all, certainly not this late in the game. One application I believe God was trying to remind me of through that verse finally dawned on me. The praise of men doesn’t last very long at all. Like dew, it is gone by 9:30 AM, even sooner on the dry summer days. Why should I even crave it? That customer won't even think about this project next week. (He'll think about it the next time he is going to get chairs... good or bad) But isn't his roar and displeasure about the same? Yes. The roar is not pleasant, it scares me, and I don't like it. But it is gone soon after it is uttered.

Neither the roar of the lion nor the dew on the grass last very long. And neither should have any bearing on my outlook. In other words, I should not be anxious about this; I believe I have done my best. I need to realize my failures, faults, and mistakes, while at the same time try to accommodate others, correct problems, and please my customers. I cannot do a whole lot about the rest. After that lesson, I was able to peacefully approach my customer with God’s assurance that the roar of my customer wouldn't last too long, or be too awful, and He still loves me.

But the lingering question still haunts the people-pleaser in me, “What if the lion tears me to pieces...?” Well, I hope in the resurrection. Being torn to pieces might not be so bad after all.

So tell us what happened! That's not the point, nor should it matter to you.

Isaiah 2:22 "Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; for why should he be esteemed?"

Pastoral Paradigm: Shaping a Love for the Church and a Love for Shepherding

            I have been very blessed to have had parents and grandparents who genuinely sought after God, and modeled that for me in life. I was also very blessed to have been in churches which didn’t burn my love for the body of Christ. I didn’t always notice that, but no doubt even the parts I didn’t notice had a profound impact on me. We were involved in the life of our church and men and women within the church were involved in my life as well. The churches were small enough for me to spend personal time with both the pastor and the youth pastors. I experienced involved Sunday school teachers, youth workers, and other men and women who poured their lives into serving Christ and others. God used all of these people before I left home to instill in me a love for the church, and a desire and respect for shepherding, for all of them were involved in shepherding my heart.

            At this point in my life in 2012, that involvement in church, and the church’s involvement in my life comprise roughly one half of my life. Many might define this as a “sheltered” experience. In the latter half of my life, I’ve encountered broken and split churches, ruined pastorates, what seems like a surge of scandal within the church, and numerous people who’ve had such bad experiences with church that they have sworn it off, though they still desire a vibrant Christian experience. I’ve encountered many people my parent’s age and younger who are not in church because they’ve been so hurt by the people of the church.

            I believe my sheltered experience, which was also a time of self absorption at which time I knew nothing about real life problems, the people who shepherded my heart during that time, and the people whom I’ve encountered the last half of my life with real problems have all been used by God to shape within me a love for the church and a love for shepherding. Let me explain.

I was able to reap the benefit of being very sheltered by loving parents and at the same time reap the benefit of people who were involved in shepherding hurting people. I remember a scene from the movie “We Were Soldiers” in which Lt. Col. Hal Moore and news reporter Joe Galloway were kneeling over some dead soldiers. During their conversation in this scene, Lt. Col. Hal Moore asked Joe Galloway, “…Why are you here?” Joe Galloway responded, “’Cause I knew these dead boys would be here, sir.” I realize I was only a small reason for those Sunday school teachers, and youth workers, and youth pastors, and pastors to be involved in church. They were there because they knew the people who needed Christ would be there. They were there because they knew hurting people would be there. They were there to shepherd others. I didn’t get that then. I thought they were there just for me.

Later I was faced with the reality many people experience in church, or out of church I might say. My respect for those shepherds has ever increased. I’m not making this point to compare Christians nor to indicate that I think less of the hurting ones who’ve left church, or more of the shepherds. But I am making this point to say that God gives the church some shepherds for the others. And the shepherds may sometimes become the others. And this still doesn’t explain why some have been hurt by the shepherds or the church. But maybe this explains why I still believe God’s program involves a broken church, and I’m not ready to chunk it just yet when I’ve been hurt by it. I have a fondness for true shepherds in God’s flock. And I have a fondness for God’s flock, even when I’ve been hurt by it.

Hay and Harvesting

Since I have taken the pastorate at Martins Prairie, I have learned a little about hay. Most people would state “since I have …, I have learned A LOT about …” I cannot say this. My knowledge has only scratched the surface of the wonderful world of hay. But those who grew up in an agrarian environment probably know a whole lot about hay, including such things as spontaneous combustion of hay bales. Check this paper out: http://www.psla.umd.edu/extension/publications/haycombustionp1c.pdf. We become well versed in the details of our culture. Another way to say that is we are disciples of our culture. People who grew up around hay have learned about hay and know hay. And this is good, because in the case of hay, you don’t want to lose any hay to fire. They also know when to cut hay, how long to let it dry before baling, and a whole myriad of other useful information about this crop.


One challenge the church faces is to grow up and learn things about the kingdom of God. We are born into and trained in a culture hostile to that of Christ’s kingdom. Paul tells us to mature in another culture (Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3; and other passages). But this Christ culture is a little harder to grow up into, because it’s spiritual, and therefore not so tangible. This has been a challenge from the days of the disciples. Jesus rebuked the people of his time: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a hot day,’ and it turns out that way. You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time?” (Luke 12:54-56) Of course He was speaking of their inability to see Him for who He really was. Are we not the same? To the disciples the rebuke went like this, and it was a rebuke, “Do you not say, ‘there are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.” (John 4:35-36). So was Jesus’ harvest calendar off? Was the harvest literally rotting in the field? “A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” (1 Corinthians 2:14).


Jesus was speaking of a harvest of lives for the kingdom. John tells us in chapter 4 verse 30, “They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.” Jesus was looking toward a crowd of Samaritans coming his way. And they were ripe for the picking. Like the dull disciples, focused on food, many in the church have not become versed in the culture of Christ, and His Kingdom. Instead we focus on personal appetites and other distractions while Christ is trying to draw our attention to the fruit ready for harvest.

The crop is way too valuable to whomever owns the field to just let it go unharvested, or cut and bale it too soon. Likewise, the souls of people must be harvested precicely when the Holy Spirit has made them ready because they are valuable to Christ. Like the knowledgeable harvester of hay, we must spend time in the field, getting to know the crop, harvesting season after season, learning from our master, His disciples, and experience, so that we can be effective harvesters of the souls of people.