It has become one of the most controversial matters in modern-day churches. The trend is changing, and for some, it is painful.
Music is a means to an end, and not the end. The end is bringing people to love Jesus. In other words, music is a worship tool, designed to capture attention, create mood, and convey truth on an emotional level. The most important thing about music is the words. The tune to which the words are set is a distant second to the words. There is nothing either good nor evil about a tune without words.
We need to ask the question, “Who is this for?” As I heard one man say, a few days ago, “It may be more for those sitting around me, than it is for me.”
The truth is, when it comes to what we like, we may say we know what we like, but in reality, we like what we know. Great numbers of people are coming to appreciate the more contemporary style of music, as they are becoming more familiar with it.
There are really two basic types of songs that are used in churches: Vertical songs, that are sung to God in worship, and horizontal songs, which are sung to people about God as testimony. It doesn’t take deep thinking to determine that the songs that most line up with the songs of the Bible are vertical songs. Virtually all praise and worship songs are vertical songs.
At its best, church music should be like a funnel. At the beginning it may consist of something to grab attention and loosen up the congregation, but as it gets closer to the time for the preaching of the word, the music should become more narrowly focused, turning the congregation’s attention more fully to the greatness and wonder of God.
The trend is changing. The new Baptist hymnal has many praise and worship choruses. The trend has always been changing. The hymns of the 1950s were not the same as those of the 1850s. As a matter of fact, some of the hymns that so many people today call the, “old time hymns,” were saloon tunes that had Christians words put to them at the turn of 20th century.
The church that reaches people today, and beyond, will have to be a changing church. Someone said, “Nobody really likes change, except a wet baby!” God’s people need to be people who like anything that honors Him and reaches people for His kingdom. I, for one, never want to stop singing the hymns of the previous centuries. I love them, but I also love the new praise and worship music, and I especially love how it attracts those we are trying to reach.
I feel like a lot of people base their whole worship experience on the music or the lack thereof. It’s kinda fun at the church I go to you can get there early if you’re just really in the mood for some singing or come at then regular time and enjoy the service with everyone else. Definitely personal preference.
The music that I remember from my church experience as a young person came from the Baptist Hymnals that were in the pews. Although I am very fond of many older hymns I am embracing the newsongs that are becoming a part of a movement that God is using to reach people. Organ and piano, or guitar and drums, or choir or praise teams, its not what we are using that is important, but who we are singing about that we seemed to have lost sight of. God inspires people to pen such words as “How Great Is Our God” by Chris Tomlin and “Open the Eyes of My Heart” By Paul Baloche just as he inspired Fanny Crosby or Isaac Watts and I am thankful for that. It is exciting to see lives changed by what God is doing. I hope that he continues to put a new song in all of our hearts.
Thank you for the comments! It seems like churches everywhere are going through a difficult transition in the area of music. Lord help us all to see the big picture and act like fishers of men.