Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

23 October, 2006   comments: (0) Today's Worship   Who Has Worship Music Myopia? (Old Versus New) You may have seen the comment controversy under my post of a couple of weeks ago which highlighted a few of the biblical topics spanned by old worship music but neglected by today's tunes. One pastor went so far as to say that my post was attacking the very Church of Jesus Christ! Expressing sadness towards the "myopic view" that I presented of old church music, he sang the praises of that which is contemporary. Could it be though, that his proposed modern formula has myopic problems of it's own? In case you missed it, you can go back and read the post in question, entitled: "Ten Hymns the CCM Crowd Couldn't Even Dream Of". It demonstrated the fact that the old hymns cover biblical ground that is largely untouched by today's Christian music. In addition to the 'positive' topics that are focused on today, the great hymns addressed 'negative' and theologically complex topics as well. Ten examples were provided. The pastor that I've been mentioning is Rick Long; he leads a new church called The Point. Pastor Rick talked with us for a while and gave us permission to mention his name and link to his church website. The conversation about worship music started when he posted this comment: "I am saddened that such energy and enthusiasm is committed to attacks on the church. While my personal theology mirrors much of what is apparently yours, I am disturbed by your attack on anything new. I pastor a new church. One that is committed to the Truth of The Gospel. While many of our songs are new, they are merely Scripture put to music. This is the same for many of the churches that you espouse on your blog. The recent Desiring God conference had more (theological) contemporary songs than old hymns, of which there were plenty too. I am just saddened in a way by your myopic view and perspective here." If I understand Pastor Rick correctly, the idea that he's communicating is that hymnody is "myopic" (nearsighted and narrow), because it is not broad in embracing some of the new music of today. Pastor Rick however, espouses a view towards worship music that is extremely popular today with growth-driven churches. Ironically, it's a view that has it's own very serious myopia. To demonstrate this, here is an excerpt from a page on Pastor Rick's website; I've added some highlighting which should make the myopia stand out for even the most nearsighted: Top 10 Reasons Why You Will Love 'The Point' 10. We never beg for money! (Relax and enjoy the service.) 9. We promise not to embarrass you. (Just blend in with the crowd.) 8. Our messages are relevant and Biblical. (Answers for real life situations.) 7. Wear what you want. (No Sunday morning fashion show here.) 6. Music that is alive and vibrant. (It's a celebration, not a funeral.) 5. Kids have fun in worship too. (We don't mind kids being kids.) 4. Babies get to hang out in our preschool area. (Parents can relax and know that all is well.) 3. You can worship God with real people like you. (Perfect people are not allowed.) 2. You will be welcomed but not harassed. (No one will hound you at home.) 1. You'll have fun and go away with genuine hope. (We didn't listen when they said Church was supposed to be boring.) So in Pastor Rick's church, as in so many churches today, the myopia (narrow nearsightedness) is the necessity of music to always be celebratory. The fact that it's further described as "not a funeral" communicates to the reader that they should expect the music to be upbeat and positive. For Children, it will be "fun". These are the modern limitations that I was attempting to expose in my original post which Pastor Rick commented on. The point that I was making is that hymns are much more broad than this modern narrowness. Though hymns are upbeat and celebratory at times, they sometimes deal with other topics too, even sober topics that reflect the often weighty realities of life and eternity. I believe that this is the point that John Piper made in my post yesterday, in which he voiced his concern with churches today that feel they must continually be positive, upbeat, and 'chipper' all of the time: "I know there is tremendous pressure on you [pastors] in many seminars to grow churches by helping people feel chipper and good..." Though he has a very big church of his own, John Piper tells pastors not to give in to the lure of popular pragmatic church growth methodology, and states the case that slow growth might be better sometimes. He goes on to contrast today's chipper churches with John Bunyan: "John Bunyan's suffering opened his understanding to the truth that the Christian life is hard, and that following Jesus means to have the wind in your face." Pastor Rick responded to the main point of my original post by saying: "I suppose that I am not so concerned that the modern songs we sing 'hit all the topics' as much as I am that our teaching 'hits all the topics' and is grounded in the Word, doctrinally rich and complete Truth. Our songs do magnify God and are theologically thoughtful. Are there modern songs that hit all the topics you mention in your original post? My first thought is yes, but I will closely consider the question for a more definitive answer." If he does eventually find a modern theological equivalent to hymnody, I invite him to stop back and share with us what he's found. Though I don't think hymns are the only way to rightly worship God with music, I stand by the main point of my original post about the non-myopic nature of hymns. I also think it's possible to write modern theological equivalents to hymnody, but until I actually see it happen on a significant scale, I'll stick with the great hymns of the past. Pastor Rick brings to mind the question of what exactly is biblical worship? He cites "scripture that is set to music", but we've seen all sorts of music genres say that, from heavy metal to hip-hop. After all, these types of music can be set to scripture. Pastor Rick also cites modern songs that "magnify God and are theological thoughtful". But couldn't that be said of a (hypothetical) church that only sings about John 3:16, and perhaps a handful of other related scripture passages? What I'm getting at is, there should be some attempt at scriptural diversity in our music, and this is what I think hymnody provides. I'm careful in these discussions to refrain from doing what is so common today, by neglecting to check with what was believed by past generations of Christians. The Puritans for example, judged their worship practices according to what's called the Regulative Principle to determine whether what they were doing was really biblical or not. I was recently very moved by my reading of the Puritan classic entitled Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs. His scriptural treatment of the Strange Fire offered up to God by Aaron's sons is a chilling reminder for us to center our worship around what God wants, and not around what man prefers. A Puritan's Mind (website) provides this page which gives an excellent summary of Jeremiah Burroughs on this topic. As for Pastor Rick, I wish him well in his church and ministry. He has acknowledged on more than one occasion in our discussion that he is open to change, and has in fact taken on some significant theological upgrades over the past four years. I disagree with some of his current methods, but like all of us, he is on a journey, and in his case I think it's likely a journey headed in the right direction. Let's be sure to keep him, and his new church in prayer, and ask God to bless it with true growth and real relevance. Before commenting, please keep an eye on what I am and am not saying: I'm not saying that hymns are the only acceptable music. As I've said in depth on my About page, I'm not "anti-anything-new". Hymns aren't good simply because they're old. I don't believe that hymns are 'inspired' (there are bad hymns too). Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.511   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism