We seem to have a pattern emerging…ridiculous fun in the morning, thought-provoking reading in the afternoon. Personally, that’s a combination I can appreciate.
One of the blogs I frequent, Looking Closer from Jeffrey Overstreet, deals well with faith and culture. This afternoon, he linked to another blog by Brett McCracken, The Search (which I will now also begin following). The post from Brett was on the Tragedy of (Most) Modern Worship Music. It’s a topic about which I’ve ranted before, so it’s nice to see someone put different words to it than I have previously. Please check it out and see if it doesn’t fit what you see in your own church and hear frequently on the radio.
As I mentioned in talking with you, this article is the perfect articulation of how I feel about the worship “genre.” I think it’s dead on.
This is very interesting. I remember back about 5 years or so when Skillet released a worship album. I think that was the point I stopped and thought, “Wait: Skillet is a Christian band, but I don’t equate them with ‘Worship’ music… What’s going on here?” All of a sudden, we start seeing worship albums popping up faster than a Spring bloom.
You can look at bands such as Delierious? who created tons of great worship songs and really helped spawn the current “Worship Rave”. Musicians such as these have incredible gifts and should be recognized as such. Some current bands have been able to make wonderful ballads that could easily be played as “worship songs”, but when the Newsboys crank out 3 worship albums in a row and you have other rock bands “going worship”, it just tends to look a little cliche after a while.
Interesting, but it really isn’t anything new. I have heard some of the same content for a couple decades, and only because my memory only goes back that far.
I am sure there were crummy songs centuries ago, and there are still crummy songs today. A lot of the artists he referenced write some amazing lyrics, but some of the most simple lyrics can also be the most “transcendent”. Even David got a bit repetitive with his words (Psalm 118).
And the similarity between our relationship with God, and a relationship between a couple, is one of the most beautiful “Real-Life-Metaphor’s” God has given us. We are the ones who cheapened that one.
I suspect a more accurate post title should have been “Modern Worship Music Just Doesn’t Do It For Me”.
In my opinion, if a Worship Song is poorly written, yet leads people to Christ, we can’t just throw it off as being “Tragic”. It is a shame that it couldn’t have been written better, but it is hardly “tragic”.
In its purist form, Worship music comes from a very personal place. Certainly not every song should not get radio air-play, or even be featured in a church sanctuary. But I have a hard time making any criticism of any one else’s act of worship.
I appreciate great writing, and good musical ability. I wish there was more of it, and that more people could appreciate it too.
I guess I am just getting a little frustrated with those who find a need to criticize music just because the words are not as deep as a Luther hymn. THAT, as I see it, is what has REALLY gotten cliche.
It is sad when I blog better on your site than my own …
I think I am bringing my own cynicism into my reading of the post.
I have just seen a lot of comments like this over the years and it usually comes off as being a bit condescending (“Look at met… I think much deeper than everyone else”).
That is probably not the case here… I just read it that way.
I am convinced that mankind will never seek the depth we truly want here on earth. God has given us a built in desire to go deeper that I believe only eternity can pacify.
We spend too much time focused on whether or not a worship song brings us (there’s the “first person” again) “closer to God”, and tend to forget there comes a point in our spiritual life when we need to take responsibility for getting ourselves closer to God, and not rely on others to meet that need for us. (Whoa… Hello Run-on-sentence)
The term “Industry” is a bit troubling. I do agree on that. I have seen the industry pass on some very dedicated writers of worship, and pick up some whose theology could be questionable. However, it has also helped push God’s people to a new standard of excellence and relevance.
Maybe I am blessed with a great worship community, but I have been struck at how much “vertical” music is out there now. Music that declares the greatness of God. I just haven’t seen the “me” focus as much. (Of course, now, I will be listening for it
).
Some of the best received songs in Christian Radio right now, are all about God and His Character. That really makes me excited!
Lots of random thoughts on an issue that I am glad means so much to so many people!
Very well said, Carl. In my opinion, though (or at least, “to me”), the thrust of what he’s getting at isn’t so much the fact that so much is poorly-written, but that the modern worship phenomenon has become, in many cases, a set of contrived emotional experiences and self-focused platitudes.
For me, it’s not that modern worship has become “cliche,” but it has become trite and it is rarely as God-focused as it ought to be. How many songs do we sing on Sunday mornings that talk about what *I* can do for God or how much *I* am happy to be a Christian, that sort of thing (“me worship”)?
The focus of all this is not how well-written a worship song is, though that enters into it. I think it’s more about WHO we’re worshipping rather than singing about what WE can offer in the worship. The focus on the Psalms isn’t so much for a creative writing lesson — repetition can be very reinforcing of truth — but on the focus of the text.
When we’ve got “worship” down to such an art that we know we’re supposed to raise our hands on the key changes, I feel it has frequently become a contrived, learned response rather than a genuine response to a God bigger, greater, and mightier, more unimaginable than we can comprehend so we fall at His feet in total surrender and create artistic response that is not only personal, but real.
I certainly am not one to stand in the way of anyone’s worship experience; if what is being done on Sunday mornings and on the gazillions of “worship” albums out there is truly leading people to respond to the Lord in genuine worship, then that is wonderful. But I can’t help but share the author’s skepticism and wariness of a “worship industry,” and hope that at some point people expand their perception of worship as “those songs we sing on Sunday.” I can’t help but think of the New Testament exhortations to move beyond the milk of the Word and into meatier stuff (1 Corinthians 3, Hebrews 5, and 1 Peter 2), and it seems that so many people in their worship are satisfied with the most basic there is.
So, yes, what Brett is saying has been around before and isn’t new; nor do I agree with everything he says. However, I think a lot of it has merit; it’s good to call the church to higher things and encourage excellence in all areas — as that is worshipful, too.
Once again, well said. And in this case, I agree with most of it — the most crucial pieces being yes, things are getting better, and yes, that is due probably to the disparate elements of “good” worship songs and “not-so-good” worship songs. I agree with the what you said about the songs on the radio. That is definitely exciting and encouraging, and that is one case where the “latest worship fad” (or however McCracken put it) filtering down into Sunday worship across the country can be a good thing!
Once again, I am afraid I am playing the eternal optimist.
(Wait… did I just get pessimistic about being optimistic? Funny…)
I read this on Jeffery’s site before I saw it here, and I tend to agree.
To me, there isn’t a problem with “modern worship” per se — there’s plenty of good music that is not about how God makes me feel. Much of the Delirious, Sonicflood, and City on a Hill is great. It’s not my favorite style but that really, really doesn’t matter. I love Fernando Ortega, but I can’t tell if he’s “modern” or not
My two main concerns are this:
1) Worship music as something disposable. I won’t pretend that our hymnals are filled with songs that have survived for centuries and have all enriched the church. Checking hymals from 100 years ago reveals many songs that were deservedly put out to pasture. However, it does give me pause that most of the songs we sing in church (in my experience, at least) were written in the last 10 years. The ones that are much older than that have had their lyrics amended in the last 7 years. Is cycling our church’s music like a Top 40 station healthy? Yes, some turnover is expected, but this much makes me think maybe we’re focusing too much on the crowd.
2) Worship as an industry. Jars of Clay was heavily pressured to make a worship album back when Kutless, Third Day, and the Newsboys were. The label wanted a hit, and they didn’t want to do a worship album for that reason — which is one of the reasons they did a hymn-type album. Knowing that labels are pressuring bands to do a worship album because of a fad just seems wrong. To me, it’s also strange that the large controversy of Third Day getting corporate sponsorship and charging to do a worship concert is somewhat normal now.
2a) Worship as a industry that is largely owned by people who are not Christians. In the last 10-15 years, Word, Forefront, Sparrow, and Essential have all been bought and sold to huge music companies more interested in stock prices than ministry. That’s not to say the people directly involved are, but it still should be on our minds the next time we’re singing the latest hit in church.
I’m not as opposed to modern worship music as the author is. However, with such a drastic change in the church and the radio over the last 20 years, I think it’s safe to take a serious look and raise important questions about what we’re singing and playing and it’s role in the church and the believer.
I really appreciate that comment… a bit more balanced than the author of the article was, and more “to the point” about what’s ACTUALLY wrong (potentially) with the modern worship movement than a general disillusionment with the style or whatever.