Now, all of those things I think we would agree are worshipful towards God. Preaching & offering especially. We feel like ALL of our efforts are worship to God. So, why should music be elevated any higher than the preaching? Is it more pure worship than giving? It just seems that some of the arguments here are elevating music above other methods.

I believe in singing songs that help CONNECT seekers & TEACH them. If we’re singing a song that’s a little “churchier” than other…we will explain it and give some direction in singing it. Also, if it’s a song written from a passage in the bible, we’ll read it and help teach the bible. If it’s a song that says “Raise Your Hands”, we’ll explain the significance of that instead of leaving unchurched people scratching their heads & wondering why everyone (except for them) is raising their hands.

Just my thought. Again, great post.

1. We have been having this conversation for over a year at Reform worship. (www.reformworship.com).

2. There is a sentimentality to most praise and worship songs out there today that makes Jesus out to be some sort of wimpy, feminine man from way back when, who we want to touch us.

3. The Gospel is a rated “X” message that will offend non-believers if it is preached rightly. Our songs should be filled with the Gospel and should help worshipers receive and respond to it.

4. The Church should be creating culture instead of following the trends of secular culture.

The list goes on, but I have to go lead some cutting edge, relevant, rated “X” worship right now.

Thanks for this post.

Ryan Flanigan
http://www.reformworship.com

Godspeed!

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,…(Ephesians 5:11)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

Every opinion above is valid. The problem is that people have become very vocal and demanding about having their idea of relevancy met. I love that story about the lady told by Doug: “She made the paraphrased comment and said that she didn’t really like the music, and that most of the time it was too loud, but that people were finding Christ and giving their lives over to him, and she wanted to be a part of that.” This is the Christian culture that the un-churched could understanding: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)

I am glad that when I started going to church, worship music was not made “relevant” according to my understand and culture, or I would have come to know a watered-down version of god.

There will always be un-church people in the midst of maturing Christians. If one of the function of Christian music is to encourage and teach, watered-down songs would never be inducive of “growth” and “maturity”.

Unfortunately, believers are the ones demanding “relevance”. Some worshipers have a difficult time worshipping unless they “feel” a certain way.

Can Christian music sound like the Top 40s? I doubt it. Music alone doesn’t make a song “popular”. Popular music is about promotion and packaging. Most songs aren’t selling music per se but the attitude and feeling that the performers convey–bad, sex, etc.

I honestly disagree with very little that I’ve read here, and I’ve read it all prior to my post. Things that I strongly agree with…..

Worship is for God alone. Idol worship generally met with poor results in the bible, so as believers, staying away from idol worship would be a good thing.

Worship must be presented authentically, which quite frankly is an issue between the worshipper and God. God knows the heart of the worshipper, and will deal accordingly with that “issue”. It can be pretty icky when we try to judge authenticity. Tread lightly.

Other thoughts….

I believe that the Church needs to be outwardly focused (Seek and save the lost). I’m a member of a church where a little old lady and long time member went through a transition from traditional to contemporary (for lack of a better term). She made the paraphrased comment and said that she didn’t really like the music, and that most of the time it was too loud, but that people were finding Christ and giving their lives over to him, and she wanted to be a part of that. The “style” didn’t work for her, but the redemptive power of Christ seemed to fill that void.

I had a similar comment from a bass player at a past church. He was a huge classical music buff, and didn’t at all like the 3 chord worship stuff (his words). But when he would play, and see the congregation standing as one, worshipping in spirit and in truth it nudged him towards the throne along with them. He loved seeing people engage and be affected by his “offering”. Great attitudes by believers that were focused outwardly.

I also believe that we need to give the Holy Spirit a little more credit in this conversation. I believe that God can use whatever style of music to point us to himself. It doesn’t matter if it’s Crowder, U2, Phil Collins, Nickelback, George Strait, Miles Davis, or Beethoven. Obviously the lyrics must be appropriate.

We must also give those that we are targeting more credit. They are there for a reason, most probably looking for something. Let’s face it, if they have a bad experience parking the car, finding the coat rack, or any number of a dozen issues before they sit in the seat, we could have their favorite musician play their favorite song, and it’s not going to speak to them in the way we all strive. If they are there seeking, they’ll find. Something got them there. If it’s their “time”, then the Holy Spirit will do the work. I don’t condone just showing up and waiting. Our God is a God of order, but he has a plan for us each individually, and also a plan for our “church”. He will lead us if we listen.

We CAN NOT make everyone happy. Too much variety is chaos. Too little variety is routine. As leaders and servants, we need to listen to the Holy Spirit, and sense his direction for each of our churches. When we are unified, He will guide us. We can do all the strategic planning that we want, take surveys, and have town hall meetings in the hopes of keeping our congregations happy, but ultimately, we must be in tune with the Spirit. If we feel led to play the U2 song that week, then rock on, and trust the Holy Spirit.

Each church is going to have a stylistic “bent”. Stay in tune with the Holy Spirit and let him bring the people to your congregation that your body can most effectively speak to.

When we love someone, a spouse for example, and we want to show or tell them how special and wonderful they are, we need to be in tune with them well enough to know what they want. Our worship is for God alone. We need to be intuned with him to know what he wants to hear, and he will bring the people to us that we are supposed to minister to.

If we try to be all things to all people, then we water down the work that God wants us to do.

What if Tony Morgan and Wired Churches came up with an annual award for excellence in worship music? You might say that we already have the Dove Awards, but I feel they reward commercial success before excellence in art. (I’m not condemning the awards I just think those awards will not “fix” worship music). If Wired Churches would come up with a panel of music critiques (even if they are not Christians), the panel could vote on the best worship songs submitted that year regardless of commercial success or even if they person is not signed to a record label. The people who receive the top awards would join the panel for the next year of voting. If the songs were listed on the Wired Churches website, I know our worship leader would be doing those songs in our church. Right now, churches sometimes find ourselves searching for worship songs in lists that only highlight commercial success.

Do I think that all worship music is terrible right now? No, but I do think that worship music could or is becoming decadent based on how recording artists are rewarded. As it’s commonly said, “It’s much easier to redirect a moving boulder than to get the boulder moving down the hill.” Fortunately, the Christian music industry has got the boulder moving finally. I think that rewarding what we want the end result to be, excellence in art, will drive a better product. Tony, it’s up to you.