Against Music

Greg Gilbert at Church Matters offers thoughts on worship and music:

When I was a sophomore and junior in college, I went to a few of the Passion conferences when they were held in Texas. Those were formative and amazing experiences for me. John Piper “Reformed” me in one earth-shaking sermon from Romans 3, and that has—in one way or another—shaped the trajectory of my life ever since. And the music was excellent—truly wonderful in every way. We sang loud, hands in the air, eyes closed and full of tears sometimes, and I believe I worshipped God through it all.

But then I went back to New Haven, Connecticut. The praise bands were gone, I didn’t have a group of people who’d gone with me and shared that experience, and the churches had a piano and thirty people singing Isaac Watts hymns.  That forced me to learn how to stoke the fires of worship with truths and words, and not just with excellent music. I’ve learned how to be emotionally affected by the excellent words of hymns whether they’re played and sung “excellently” or not.

There’s a whole generation of young people out there now, though, who aren’t emotionally affected by words, whose fires are only stoked when those words are accompanied by great rhythms, skilled instrumentation, and a certain well-recognizable mood that typically accompanies Christian “praise-and-worship.” And the result is that you have young people church-hopping around town, and one of the main criteria of their shopping is “the worship,” by which more often than not they mean “the music.” You have young Christians feeling discouraged because—despite the fact that they sit under faithful preaching of the word Sunday after Sunday—they say they haven’t “felt close to God” in so long. Maybe there’s something important going on there. But there’s also a good chance, I’d argue, that they just haven’t had a good endorphin rush since the last conference they attended.

I am really afraid that we’ve managed to create a generation of anemic Christians who are spiritually dependent on excellent music. Their sense of spiritual well-being is based on feeling “close to God,” their feeling close to God is based on their “ability to worship,” and being able to worship depends on big crowds singing great music.

He also offers in a different post some questions that "will help you to be on guard against your spiritual life becoming unhealthily dependent on anything it should not be dependent on."

Comments

[David Guion]

Several months ago, I received a free issue of a popular Christian music magazine in the mail - even though I don't recall having requested a trial subscription to the publication. I took a few moments to read through the magazine and was both encouraged and discouraged by what I read. (To be fair, that's probably the case with almost any magazine that I read.)

On the encouraging side, I noticed that several of the articles written about (and by) specific Christian musicians unveiled some remarkable Biblical depth. As best I could tell, most of the artists were not just concerned about the "excellence" of their music or their industry but they were apparently more zealous for the cause of Christ.

But what I really noticed was the full-cover "sticker" that was attached to the front of the magazine requesting that I "subscribe today." Along with pictures of several "smiling" Christian musicians and "famous" Worship Leaders were these two phrases...

"Worship is the most popular genre of Christian music." And, "Keep up with what's new in Worship... & the rest of Christian music."

While I don't necessarily have anything against this specific publication, there is a serious danger, in my opinion, in this attempt (intentional or not) to reduce "worship" to a musical genre or style. I also believe that it is indeed true that there are some within this next generation (perhaps many) who have actually bought into the reduction of "worship." To them, "worship" can be defined primarily in a musical context.

I base this upon actual conversations that can occur after services when people say to me, "I really enjoyed the worship today!" or "Worship was great today!" (Interestingly, though they may actually think this way, not too many come up to me and say, "The worship wasn't very good today. What happened?" Perhaps I'm just as glad that they don't.)

Obviously, I understand that many of them mean that the "music" or the "mix" was good or that the song selection uniquely connected with them that day. Or perhaps they really do mean that they were able to drink deeply from the river of God and that He once again satisfied their thirsty soul as He promised. (John 7:37-39)

Bottom line: Greg Gilbert makes a valid point when he says, "I am really afraid that we’ve managed to create a generation of anemic Christians who are spiritually dependent on excellent music."

I'm a musician and I know several amazing Christian musicians and Worship Leaders who strive to make their music to be "excellent" art. I'm also convinced that there are numerous individuals who live and work in Nashville who see "worship" as a daily lifestyle and not just as "the most popular genre in Christian music."

That said, perhaps like many of you, I've attended worship services in countries other than America where the music was less than "excellent" and the sound system was less than even "adequate" - but the manifest presence and power of Jesus Christ was evident to everyone!

Absolute and acknowledged dependence upon Jesus and Jesus alone makes all the difference!

So, my question is not about whether Christian artists should or should not pursue excellence in their musicianship.

My question is this:

In our daily lifestyle of worship, is Jesus enough?

[Johnny Matthews]

3 things I want to say in repsone to this article.

First, there is something about music that touches us in a deep way. I believe God created it in this way. Music is mentioned a lot in the bible in connection with worhship. Saying that the music is some sort of worship crutch is insulting to those who spend their time trying to create an atmosphere where people can let down their guard and worship. The music is a sharp tool that can cut through their emotional shell that is built up through the week. The sharper that tool, the easier it is to pull us out. Church musicians should strive to be excellent. We should have the BEST musicians in the world, because we have the only One worth playing for! Too often church music is the exact opposite of excellent.

Secondly, I think that this generation is bombarded with words everyday and so we have built up a tolerance to being "emotionally affected by words". It's just the way this generation is, it is not some sort of generational flaw like the article want to assert. It is not a "kids these days..." sort of thing. It is reality.

Lastly, saying that a "generation of anemic Christians" was brought about by skilled musicians and their music sure takes a lot of weight off the people in the pulpit.