Worship is something that’s on my mind a lot these days, mostly because of what I do at Heartland. I’m continually striving to worship more honestly and effectively. But at the same time, I’m really sensitive to how cheesy some of the trappings of corporate worship can be.
Sometimes I feel like I’m being arrogant or silly…like I’m letting my obnoxious music snobbery sneak into how we pick, write and arrange songs at Heartland. And maybe I am being a bit arrogant. But I loved reading this article. Especially the bits about embracing diversity in music, and the paragraph about rejecting bad songs.
I was glad to know that this author thinks it’s ok to throw out certain worship songs, purely because they’re cheesy, or have really spiritually shallow lyrics. Like the one he mentioned that says, “Draw me close to you. Never let me go.” My friend Matt, who also leads worship at his church, calls songs like this “making out with Jesus songs.” haha. That may be a little harsh, but I like to think that when we worship, we can be inspired to dig a little bit past vague romantic sentiment and find something more meaningful.
I love having annointed worship leaders work with the teacher, each reading the Scripture for the message, listening to God, praying about what He wants us to emphasize on any given Sunday morning, and collaborating about which songs & “mood” to do at different points of the service. If we’re like-minded and in-tune (no pun intended) to our congregation and our “target audience,” and obedient to the Holy Spirit, He will give us the right songs & style to use. Left to me, I’d have jazz every Sunday — but it’s not about me (aren’t you glad!) — it’s about reaching the people God wants us to reach.
Since I personally love lots of different kinds of music, I love the idea of diversity in worship music. I recently had a conversation with a radio personality who joked that “Jesus needed a better A&R guy,” basically asserting that Christian music was boring. He (not a believer) wondered if God was all-powerful, etc., why He wouldn’t make the bands on His “team” amazing… giving U2 as an example (side note: from what I’ve read Bono *is* on God’s team!). I think he has the impression that all Christian music sounds like Amy Grant or John Tesh (not dissing, just citing examples). To be honest, I held a similar belief for a long time and have only recently been listening to more “Christian” music than secular radio and really like a lot of the songs. Is it me changing, or the music? Maybe both.
When we’re talking specifically about worship music in church, I think we often like to keep it in a nice little box. I love the range of music we play at HCC. I personally like the idea of being retro and playing “special music” … there are a lot of songs I sang as a kid that have stuck with me all these years and I’d love to hear them against a more modern musical backdrop.
Now. I have the utmost respect for my dear friend John Benda, our fearlessly authentic and, I agree, anointed worship leader. But I do have a different slant than he (and the article) presents on the idea of rejecting “bad” songs. Bad is subjective and I question what basis we stamp a song with that label. I do believe we should be discerning about the kind of music we listen to and especially introduce as worship songs to the church… we probably wouldn’t want to play “Talk Dirty to Me” on Sunday morning. But all kinds of people worship all kinds of ways and I’m not sure we can put “good” worship music in one box and “bad” in another. Last summer I went to a Foo Fighters concert and had a wonderfully worshipful experience, in spite of lyrics perhaps weren’t spiritually deep. I didn’t even agree with a lot of the lyrics, but God knew my heart and I was able to throw up my hands and offer my heart to Him. And call me a girl, but I am a-ok with expressing romantic sentiment for my sweet Jesus. I’m not sure that lyrics always have to be deep and specific to draw us into His presence… in fact perhaps leaving a bit of lyrical breathing room can allow for each of us to express our own heart and current experience to Him in a personal, intimate and meaningful way. That’s the great thing about being in communion with a God who not only hears what we say but knows our hearts as well.
All that said, I totally get that you have to draw a line somewhere and with the myriad of songs to choose from, some have to get chucked on one basis or another. Everyone has opinions. I love the variety of songs that are chosen at Heartland. I agree with Paul that it’s really cool when the lyrics of the songs help add another dimension to the message. I think the ultimate thing to consider when we’re considering what songs to add to our catalog is to ask God what HE thinks of them… His opinion is the one that really counts!
I think Anj makes a good point about “bad” songs. I have to admit sometimes I am put off by “sappy” worship songs — but I think they do have a place. Our whole loving God with all our heart is in part a emotional thing. Certainly we need great theological lyrics in some songs–but we need not be too heady. The simple and honest responsive lyric is necessary too.
link to article
June 8th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Worship is something that’s on my mind a lot these days, mostly because of what I do at Heartland. I’m continually striving to worship more honestly and effectively. But at the same time, I’m really sensitive to how cheesy some of the trappings of corporate worship can be.
Sometimes I feel like I’m being arrogant or silly…like I’m letting my obnoxious music snobbery sneak into how we pick, write and arrange songs at Heartland. And maybe I am being a bit arrogant. But I loved reading this article. Especially the bits about embracing diversity in music, and the paragraph about rejecting bad songs.
I was glad to know that this author thinks it’s ok to throw out certain worship songs, purely because they’re cheesy, or have really spiritually shallow lyrics. Like the one he mentioned that says, “Draw me close to you. Never let me go.” My friend Matt, who also leads worship at his church, calls songs like this “making out with Jesus songs.” haha. That may be a little harsh, but I like to think that when we worship, we can be inspired to dig a little bit past vague romantic sentiment and find something more meaningful.
June 9th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
This is such a great idea to do for our church. I can see this really being a cool thing!
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I love having annointed worship leaders work with the teacher, each reading the Scripture for the message, listening to God, praying about what He wants us to emphasize on any given Sunday morning, and collaborating about which songs & “mood” to do at different points of the service. If we’re like-minded and in-tune (no pun intended) to our congregation and our “target audience,” and obedient to the Holy Spirit, He will give us the right songs & style to use. Left to me, I’d have jazz every Sunday — but it’s not about me (aren’t you glad!) — it’s about reaching the people God wants us to reach.
June 26th, 2009 at 9:01 am
Since I personally love lots of different kinds of music, I love the idea of diversity in worship music. I recently had a conversation with a radio personality who joked that “Jesus needed a better A&R guy,” basically asserting that Christian music was boring. He (not a believer) wondered if God was all-powerful, etc., why He wouldn’t make the bands on His “team” amazing… giving U2 as an example (side note: from what I’ve read Bono *is* on God’s team!). I think he has the impression that all Christian music sounds like Amy Grant or John Tesh (not dissing, just citing examples). To be honest, I held a similar belief for a long time and have only recently been listening to more “Christian” music than secular radio and really like a lot of the songs. Is it me changing, or the music? Maybe both.
When we’re talking specifically about worship music in church, I think we often like to keep it in a nice little box. I love the range of music we play at HCC. I personally like the idea of being retro and playing “special music” … there are a lot of songs I sang as a kid that have stuck with me all these years and I’d love to hear them against a more modern musical backdrop.
Now. I have the utmost respect for my dear friend John Benda, our fearlessly authentic and, I agree, anointed worship leader. But I do have a different slant than he (and the article) presents on the idea of rejecting “bad” songs. Bad is subjective and I question what basis we stamp a song with that label. I do believe we should be discerning about the kind of music we listen to and especially introduce as worship songs to the church… we probably wouldn’t want to play “Talk Dirty to Me” on Sunday morning. But all kinds of people worship all kinds of ways and I’m not sure we can put “good” worship music in one box and “bad” in another. Last summer I went to a Foo Fighters concert and had a wonderfully worshipful experience, in spite of lyrics perhaps weren’t spiritually deep. I didn’t even agree with a lot of the lyrics, but God knew my heart and I was able to throw up my hands and offer my heart to Him. And call me a girl, but I am a-ok with expressing romantic sentiment for my sweet Jesus. I’m not sure that lyrics always have to be deep and specific to draw us into His presence… in fact perhaps leaving a bit of lyrical breathing room can allow for each of us to express our own heart and current experience to Him in a personal, intimate and meaningful way. That’s the great thing about being in communion with a God who not only hears what we say but knows our hearts as well.
All that said, I totally get that you have to draw a line somewhere and with the myriad of songs to choose from, some have to get chucked on one basis or another. Everyone has opinions. I love the variety of songs that are chosen at Heartland. I agree with Paul that it’s really cool when the lyrics of the songs help add another dimension to the message. I think the ultimate thing to consider when we’re considering what songs to add to our catalog is to ask God what HE thinks of them… His opinion is the one that really counts!
June 26th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I think Anj makes a good point about “bad” songs. I have to admit sometimes I am put off by “sappy” worship songs — but I think they do have a place. Our whole loving God with all our heart is in part a emotional thing. Certainly we need great theological lyrics in some songs–but we need not be too heady. The simple and honest responsive lyric is necessary too.