I was recently having a discussion with someone about why I think it is so important for worship/christian songs to be as theologically correct as they can be.
I used the hymns as an example. Hymns have several verses of truth repeated to the same music.
Hymns were greatly used in a time when many people were illiterate and could not read scripture for themselves, so they would learn songs to learn scripture. This is what oral tradition cultures do.
This person may have missed my point and started defending modern worship songs.
I have no problem with modern worship songs, because as he said "many of them are based on verses from the bible". Too true. And I enjoy many of those songs.
The problem comes in, when I hear songs that reinforce a bad mindset from the beginning.
For example, one song that really irks me is Michael W. Smith's Above All. This is a song that I have heard in many, many churches in my short 11-year walk with Christ. There is probably nothing inherently wrong with this song...but I do think it espouses incorrect thinking about the purpose of Christ's death. Here is the chorus:
Crucified Laid behind a stone You lived to die Rejected and alone Like a rose Trampled on the ground You took the fall And thought of me Above all
Ok...so in some ways this is technically correct. Jesus died for me. But I think many of our songs over emphasize him going to the cross for me!
I have heard many songs and many preachers say Jesus would have gone to the cross even if I was the only one who accepted him. OK, true....
But to be more accurate Jesus would have gone to the cross if NO ONE accepted him, because the Father told him to. He lived to Glorify his Father. He lived a life Obedient to his Father. At one point Jesus didn't do something that was good, because the Father said it wasn't time yet.
Jesus accomplished many things with his death on the cross, but the nitty gritty reason he chose to die on the cross was because the Father willed him to. Just so we're clear.
But many of our modern songs, act like Jesus had fluffy feelings about us and he was comforted on the cross by the thought that he was dying for me.
This also just reinforces our individualistic views of our relationships with God. Yes, it is a personal choice, and yes we do get to commune with God one-to-one. BUT we were meant to live in community. We were meant to interpret scripture as a body and not as an individual. and even down to the core of our songs reinforces a "Lone-Ranger Christianity".
Do you see what I am getting at here? Many people in our culture are still illiterate, maybe not in the literal sense, but they are Biblically illiterate. Old Hymns were used to teach people doctrine and truth. New songs are often used to do the same, but people are not as careful to make sure their songs are full of truth, as much as making sure their songs stir the emotions to sell more records. Yeah, I said it.
I am not saying one is better than the other (in the hymns/modern songs debate)...please hear me out. I am just trying to say that we need to be discerning about what songs we choose to teach our congregations, don't ya think?
But the reason I got into that whole discussion in the first place is that two songs have really been reminding me of truth and bringing me comfort lately.
There are a few things that I have been praying about recently that if God doesn't come through, one person may die physically and the other spiritually and my heart has been heavily burdened as I pray specifically and intentionally, but also surrender to His will.
I can pray very specifically that God intervene in a situation and he might do exactly what I asked him to. But he also has the big picture. He also knows exactly what is truly Best in the scheme of His Kingdom.
As I have been praying over the last couple of weeks, I often will end my time by listening the song Graditude by Nichole Nordeman. It's about asking God for something that seems like such an obvious need to you, but recognizing that however God answers, we should be grateful because he is doing what is best, and maybe that doesn't look like we think it should:
Send some rain, would You send some rain? 'Cause the earth is dry and needs to drink again And the sun is high and we are sinking in the shade Would You send a cloud, thunder long and loud? Let the sky grow black and send some mercy down Surely You can see that we are thirsty and afraid But maybe not, not today Maybe You'll provide in other ways And if that's the case . . .
(Chorus)
We'll give thanks to You With gratitude For lessons learned in how to thirst for You How to bless the very sun that warms our face If You never send us rain
Daily bread, give us daily bread Bless our bodies, keep our children fed Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight Wrap us up and warm us through Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time Or maybe not, not today Maybe You'll provide in other ways And if that's the case . . .
(Chorus)
We'll give thanks to You With gratitude A lesson learned to hunger after You That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead And if we never taste that bread
Oh, the differences that often are between What we want and what we really need
So grant us peace, Jesus, grant us peace Move our hearts to hear a single beat Between alibis and enemies tonight Or maybe not, not today Peace might be another world away And if that's the case . . .
(Chorus)
We'll give thanks to You With gratitude For lessons learned in how to trust in You That we are blessed beyond what we could ever dream In abundance or in need And if You never grant us peace
But Jesus, would You please . . .
At the end though, you still see that hope that Jesus will provide what you're asking for. I don't think Jesus is ever disappointed or angry with us, if we are sad for a time when things don't work the way we want them to.
He knows we don't have the full picture and he knows that what we prayed for so earnestly was important to us and we have to mourn the loss of it.
But at the end of the day he wants us to looks back on it and say. I know you are good, I know you know what's best and you are my strength. Please encourage my heart.
That is where I am right now. God doesn't seem to be answering the way I would like him to right now, but he is encouraging me to hold on and see what he is up to. The things that are happening right now make me soul weary, for my dear friends going through them, but things like what's happening in Gaza and Darfur also just make me long to be home with Jesus, so that I don't feel this heaviness anymore.
I take great comfort in the song His Eye is on the Sparrow (I like the Lauryn Hill Version, but any version works for the lyrics):
Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart feel lonely? And long for heaven and home
When Jesus is my portion A constant friend is He His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches over me His eye is on the sparrow and I know He over watches me His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me
I sing because I'm happy I sing because I'm free His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me (He watches me) His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches (I know He watches) I know He watches me
(I) I sing because I'm happy I sing because I'm free His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me (He watches me) His eye is on the sparrow And I know, He watches me He watches me He watches me I know He watches me.
I will be with Jesus soon enough, until then, He knows best! What songs encourage you?
Comments (1)
GOOD!