Some Thoughts on Music and Trends in Worship

If you are following my latest posts you see a trend here.  Worship and the forms and music we use in its service lie close to my predominant concerns for the church.  Given this concern I did a bit of 'surfing' on the net to see what others thought on this matter.  What follows is a reflection on this and other thoughts.
  • Is music style a neutral issue?  One blogger noted: "There’s nothing inherently profane about rap, hip hop, country and western, or any other style of music."  I respectfully disagree.  I listen to a lot of the newer styles that my son enjoys, so I believe I am not yet completely out of touch.  Many of the styles this author notes evoke emotions and reactions quite foreign to the spirit of worship, especially Hebrews 12:28 which reminds us: "let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe...." I fail to see how rap and hip hop can convey any sense of holy reverence.  Anyone who listens to such music knows that its primary intention is quite different.  Given our culture can we hope to effectively divorce musical styles from the way they are used?  Hardly.  If you doubt this just try singing something sacred to a tune such as the theme song from "Gilligan's Island." 
  • This same blogger also talks about "an emotional attraction and power [people] do not experience with traditional church music."  Emotion is the bane of worship music in our time.  We value emotion in such a way as to place it virtually on par with faith itself.  At the conference this week one of the participants talked extensively about the need to tap into this area, especially for the younger crowd.  He made note of the old worn out idea that we are too head oriented and not sufficiently heart oriented.  The dichotomy is false and misleading.  Emotions vacillate wildly and thus remain very unpredictable measures of faith.  When we serve emotion we ultimately must sacrifice truth.  
  • Another site writes:  "Change will happen anyway, with or without us;  it is a fact.  Instead of refusing change and thus provoking revolt, we should become part of it, and make it happen in a responsible manner."  In a similar vein the oldest living American who recently died encouraged people to embrace change, even when change slaps you in the face.  "Every change is good," he said.  Not true.  Many changes, especially in the last few decades, have been disgraceful and revolting, particularly in the area of sexual freedom and experimentation.  Not all change is good.  This goes as well for changes in worship.  Many changes now occurring are jettisoning our valued traditions and leaving behind the collective wisdom of generations.  We are allowing the tastes and preferences of people to dictate our choices, creating a new way of leading by holding a moist finger in the air to see which way the prevailing winds are blowing today.  Some of the changes in worship import a foreign and false theology into our midst attempting to blend Charismatic and Baptistic practice with Lutheran theology.  The mix isn't working and we are eroding our identity and corrupting the faith of future generations.  
These are just a few of my thoughts and I will probably post another post or two along these lines.  Thank you for listening to my thoughts!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Firefighter's Cross

Image
[Note: A similar article to this will be shared with my department at their next meeting. During this Lenten season when we are meditating on the significance and meaning of the Passion of our Lord and the Cross at Golgotha, it seemed like one way to offer a witness to the department that captured their interest and yet was not too heavy.] [Editorial Note: In response to a recent comment on this article I have made some changes to the original version of this article especially in regard to references to the so-called St. Florian's Cross. For any confusion the previous unreferenced information may have caused I apologize. I hope that the changes are satisfactory.] THE STORY OF THE MALTESE CROSS In many ways the familiar symbol to the right requires no explanation. It is the universal insignia of firefighting nationwide. Yet the precise origins of this symbol are less clear. The most popular explanation proposes its beginning in the far distant past of medieval Crusaders fi...
Read more

Historical Roots of the Warham Guild Hood

Image
In doing just a little checking on the internet, it's interesting to see how the Warham Guild hood, which I have as part of my STM degree attire, is actually a throwback to the Medieval hood. One article notes "the work of the Warham Guild in its imaginative renderings of medieval hoods" (reference is from here ). Again, here is my hood: The Medieval hood, which was originally a very practical outer garment to cover a person's head and shoulders, protecting both from the elements, bears striking resemblance to this revived form: This hood was also a part of the garb of monks in that era. The Medieval hood, in some cases, also had what is known as a "liripipe," a long tail hanging from the back of a hood. You can see the modern stylized version of this on my own hood. From an article on "Academic hood development" we read that "By 1463 the favourite dress of doctors was the hood with round bell-shaped cape, and the lir...
Read more

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Image
According to a recent documentary, for all the talk about academic freedom in the world of the large American university system, it would seem that it extends only as far as the system defines it - especially with regards to the subject of origins and science. Noted speechwriter Ben Stein stars as host of the film Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Dr. Angus Menuge, professor of philosophy at CUW, highlights the film in an article included in the Concordia University - Wisconsin magazine Concordian , including some seemingly revealing details about the expulsion of talented scientists who apparently were ‘expelled‘ from their positions for mentioning the theory of Intelligent Design: “In the current climate, even when academicians have a relevant doctorate and a track-record of peer-reviewed publication, their careers suffer if they argue that the scientific evidence points to an intelligent source involved in the creation of the world. In 1992, Dean Kenyon, a biology professor at ...
Read more