Timf said:
Most modern Christian music is composed, arranged, performed, and marketed to make money. It makes money by appealing to what people want to hear. What people want to hear is what makes them feel good. People want to hear music that makes them feel good. While listening to music that makes us feel good may not necessarily be the evil that some would claim, it is also not necessarily the "worship" that others claim.
Amen, Amen and a big AMEN!!!!!
I think I said this somewhere else around here: If I could gather enough aging hippies, put them all in an arena, and get a really talented band to play John Lennon's "Imagine", I could guarantee the same kind of kindred "feeling" that passes for "worship" in most churches today. Too often anymore, "worship" is defined as a type of music that generates gooseflesh.
It's not.
But, I do realize that this thread is specifically about "worship" music, so I won't digress further.
Tina said:
What's wrong with contemporary christian music ?
The Bible is pretty clear about TRUE worshippers worshipping God in Spirit and in Truth, and making music in our hearts to the Lord.
Tina, I'm sure that you don't have this attitude, but I came of age during the '70's and '80's, when contemporary Christian music was just beginning to enter into church services, and too often the attitude was that anyone who resisted the urge to go "contemporary" was fighting the Spirit of God. This idea that somehow contemporary Christian music is more "spiritual" or "truthful" than the music of old is simply not true.
Great psalms, whether contemporary or not, are based upon great doctrine. If one was to pick up an old hymn book from the pre-postmodern era, one would find great doctrine contained upon just about every page.
I just reached over and grabbed the Lutheran Hymnal off of my shelf. This one has a copyright of 1941, and most of the hymns are from the 1500's through the 1700's. I opened it up and here is one hymn's lyrics, from the 1700's. Read through and tell me that this isn't based upon the Spirit and truth:
My Maker, be Thou nigh The light of life to give
And guide me with Thine eye While here on earth I live.
To Thee my heart I tender And all my pow'rs surrender;
Make it my one endeavor To love and serve The ever.
Upon Thy promise I rely; My Maker, be Thou nigh.
My Savior, wash me clean With Thy most precious blood,
That takes away all sin And seals my peace with God.
My soul in peace abideth When in Thy wounds it hideth.
There I find full salvation And freedom from damnation.
Without Thee lost, defiled by sin, My Savior, wash me clean.
My Comforter, give power That I may stand secure
When in temptation's hour The world and sin allure,
The Son to me revealing, Inspire my tho't and feeling,
His Word of grace to ponder, Nor let me from Him wander.
On me Thy gifts and graces show'r: My Comforter give pow'r!
O Holy Trinity! To Whom I all things owe,
Thine image graciously Within my heart bestow.
Choose me, tho' weak and lowly, To be Thy temple holy
Where praise shall rise unending For grace so condescending.
Oh heav'nly bliss, Thine own to be, O Holy Trinity!
Now to me, that is a hymn that is socked full of powerful truth of how wholly reliant we are upon God's Spirit.
I'm not knocking Michael W. Smith and I like "Our God is an Awesome God" as much as the next girl. But, without the (to my mind rather manipulative) surroundings of the modern "worship" service, compare the truth and Spirit of "Awesome God" with that old hymn above.
When He rolls up His sleeves
He ain't just puttin' on the ritz
(our God is an awesome God)
There is thunder in His footsteps
And lightning in His fist
(our God is an awesome God)
Well, the Lord wasn't joking
When He kicked 'em out of Eden
It wasn't for no reason that He shed his blood
His return is very close and so you better be believing
that our God is an awesome God
Our God(our God) is an awesome God
He reigns(He reigns) from heaven above
With wisdom(with wisdom) pow'r and love
our God is an awesome God
And when the sky was starless in the void of the night
(our God is an awesome God)
He spoke into the darkness and created the light
(our God is an awesome God)
Judgment and wrath he poured out on Sodom
Mercy and grace He gave us at the cross
I hope that we have not too quickly forgotten that
our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
Our God is an awesome God
(Our God is an awesome God)
It's not that there is anything untrue about Smith's song, it's just that it seems rather shallow, if one is looking for truth in it, and, any song that is sung during worship of our Lord most definitely should be filled with truth.