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| The Fisherfolk and Larry Norman |
Some of us remember the early days of Christian rock music (the '70s) when contemporary music first entered the evangelical church and began to replace the hymn-organ-only diet.
I remember those heady days very well and I even played in a Christian Rock band from Wolverhampton called Eyewtiness! (we were not very good!)
Two things happened. First, there was an outburst of new songs. Secondly, to accompany these new songs there was the introduction of new musical instruments.
The new music ranged from the more gentle and folksy "Fisherfolk" (Remember, "We really want to thank you Lord"?) to Larry Norman's full rock and roll concerts (with the anthem, "The rock that doesn't roll.")
Resistance from the traditional church was immediate and often negative. Consequently some of the young "rebels", probably went over the top in their criticism of the old! Larry Norman overdid it when he sang, in the song, "Why should the Devil have all the good music?"
I ain't knocking the hymns,
Just give me a song that has a beat.
I ain't knocking the hymns,
Just give me a song that moves my feet.
I don't like none of those funeral marches
I ain't dead yet!
Just give me a song that has a beat.
I ain't knocking the hymns,
Just give me a song that moves my feet.
I don't like none of those funeral marches
I ain't dead yet!
but this was his reasoning...
I want the people to know that he saved my soul
But I still like to listen to the radio.
They say rock 'n' roll is wrong, we'll give you one more chance.
I say I feel so good I gotta get up and dance.
But I still like to listen to the radio.
They say rock 'n' roll is wrong, we'll give you one more chance.
I say I feel so good I gotta get up and dance.
I know what's right, I know what's wrong, I don't confuse it.
All I'm really trying to say
Is why should the devil have all the good music?
I feel good every day
'Cause Jesus is the rock and he rolled my blues away.
Today contemporary music has entered the church and has become the new norm. What are we to think?
1. Music style is not Gospel, it is tradition
Some years ago I was worshipping with some young Indian Christians in India and was shocked at the songs they were singing. They had an English song book in their hands and were singing the most traditional English hymns and songs. Instead of singing Indian songs with Indian instruments, they had been not only evangelised by the West, they had been traditionalised. English missionaries had brought not only the Gospel but English music to their shores and failed to distinguish between Gospel and Tradition. Gospel is the message, Tradition is the cultural package. Indians and Africans and Chinese should be able to worship in their own language and their own musical style. There is absolutely nothing "Christian" about hymns, organs and pianos. To fail to see this is to fail to make the elementary missionary distinction between "Gospel" and "Tradition."
So the move in churches to contemporary music is exactly the right thing to do. Why should a Christian who enjoyed Keane, Kanye, or Vampire Weekend on Spotify have to change cultural gears to worship? (There are lots of other repentance gears he has to change, for sure). Sure, there will be some styles (and lots of lyrics) which a believer leaves behind, but the music which a bass guitar, electric guitar, drums and keyboard produces is neither intrinsically good nor bad; like writing, computers and mobile phones it is spiritually neutral.
There are no biblically coherent arguments against contemporary music. Music style is entirely a cultural and traditional thing, not a Gospel thing.
2. Lyrics are (almost) everything
The resistance to contemporary music from the more established wings of the church was largely caused by the quality - or rather lack of it - of the new lyrics. Here is a typical fisherfolk song, which in my youth I must have sung a thousand times:
There was a real freshness about the words - here were newly converted pagans wanting to worship the Lord in their own fresh words, and what they lacked in depth they surely made up for in sincerity and living reality.
But the problem was that over time, the new lyrics did not deepen as they should have done. And therefore the seemingly endless "mindless" (a common objection) songs of the new were rejected by the old, who then dug their heels in and turned a secondary or even tertiary issue (music style) into a primary test of faithfulness (are you a proper Biblical church- do you sing hymns?).
But in the last 20 years, everything has changed! There are so many excellent modern hymn writers around that the argument-from-poor-lyrics is now defunct. From the Gettys to Stuart Townend to Graham Kendrick, a lot of biblically and doctrinally solid words are being written today. I have personally recently loved and worshipped with and appreciated the new Getty song, "Is he worthy?" sung by Andrew Peterson (see here).
Instead of feely-weely songs about the Holy Spirit which focused on our emotional state, we now have deep hymns which mention the Spirit's work in our hearts and lives, leading us to greater sacrifice - not greater highs:
Holy Spirit, from creation's birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth;
Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise.
Lead us on the road of sacrifice
That in unity the face of Christ
Will be clear for all the world to see
(Getty)
Instead of subjective songs about how much I love Jesus (at the moment), we now have deep songs about the promises God has made to us in Christ:
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
The primary test of a good hymn is how much it is in tune with Scripture, both in doctrine, and if possible even in language. For example, although Jesus is the light of the World (John 8:12), the Scriptures never encourage us to tell Jesus to shine, so for that reason, "Shine Jesus Shine", takes a second place on my list! (Though I greatly honour Kendrick and his many fine songs).
3. Allow time to filter
So what then should we sing? In the Internet age, where fashions both in the world and the church can change in a moment, Christians need to pause before they automatically adopt the latest songs. I have been to Christian weddings and meetings where I did not know a single song, because they were singing the latest wave - and I am sure in some cases, doing this to show off how cool or contemporary they are.
A wiser approach is to allow time and the church to filter songs. We sing only a fraction of the Wesley output and only a small amount of Kendrick's songs have become mainstream, because the church, over time has filtered out the dross.
This can be a real problem when switching on Christian Radio stations, because they often have a policy of playing the latest albums - you get gold and dross all mixed up!
4. What shall we do?
Here are some guidelines for what we sing in church and for what we listen to:
1. Is the song God-centred? A legit criticism of latest wave songs is that they are so me-centred, focused on our subjective here and now emotions and feelings, rather than the glory and love of God in Christ. (Indeed in some cases I have wondered if the song was written for the author's husband / wife rather than about the Lord!)
2. Is it congregational? This criteria is for songs we sing together. I have found that some of my favourite Christian songs are not congregational. Can the song be easily learnt and sung by a congregation, or is the tune or the arrangement so complex that it can't be picked up or remembered by the average believer.
3. Is it accurate? Lyrics that brings comfort and help must be doctrinally accurate. They may be short or they may be long, but they must be accurate.
4. Is it Biblical? Not quite the same as (3). We could express a truth in non-Biblical language, but is there not power in the very wordings the Holy Spirit has chosen to reveal the truth? As far as possible let's express the truth in Holy Spirit language.
5. Is there a mix of old and new? "Sing unto the Lord a new song" (Psalm 96:1) is not a command to ditch all the old hymns. There is something unbalanced about a church that sings either only the latest wave or only the oldies.
We should thank God for the many wonderful contemporary songs which enable us to express the God-placed feelings of our hearts and the Scriptural thoughts of our minds in a contemporary way and thus fulfil the Scriptural commands:
All I'm really trying to say
Is why should the devil have all the good music?
I feel good every day
'Cause Jesus is the rock and he rolled my blues away.
Today contemporary music has entered the church and has become the new norm. What are we to think?
1. Music style is not Gospel, it is tradition
Some years ago I was worshipping with some young Indian Christians in India and was shocked at the songs they were singing. They had an English song book in their hands and were singing the most traditional English hymns and songs. Instead of singing Indian songs with Indian instruments, they had been not only evangelised by the West, they had been traditionalised. English missionaries had brought not only the Gospel but English music to their shores and failed to distinguish between Gospel and Tradition. Gospel is the message, Tradition is the cultural package. Indians and Africans and Chinese should be able to worship in their own language and their own musical style. There is absolutely nothing "Christian" about hymns, organs and pianos. To fail to see this is to fail to make the elementary missionary distinction between "Gospel" and "Tradition."
So the move in churches to contemporary music is exactly the right thing to do. Why should a Christian who enjoyed Keane, Kanye, or Vampire Weekend on Spotify have to change cultural gears to worship? (There are lots of other repentance gears he has to change, for sure). Sure, there will be some styles (and lots of lyrics) which a believer leaves behind, but the music which a bass guitar, electric guitar, drums and keyboard produces is neither intrinsically good nor bad; like writing, computers and mobile phones it is spiritually neutral.
There are no biblically coherent arguments against contemporary music. Music style is entirely a cultural and traditional thing, not a Gospel thing.
2. Lyrics are (almost) everything
The resistance to contemporary music from the more established wings of the church was largely caused by the quality - or rather lack of it - of the new lyrics. Here is a typical fisherfolk song, which in my youth I must have sung a thousand times:
We really want to
thank You, Lord,
We really want to bless Your name,
Hallelujah! Jesus is our King!
We really want to thank You, Lord,
We really want to bless Your name,
Hallelujah! Jesus is our King!
We thank You, Lord, for Your gift to us,
Your life so rich beyond compare
The gift of Your body here on earth
Of which we sing and share.
We thank You, Lord, for our life together,
To live and move in the love of Christ,
Tenderness which sets us free
To serve You with our lives.
There was a real freshness about the words - here were newly converted pagans wanting to worship the Lord in their own fresh words, and what they lacked in depth they surely made up for in sincerity and living reality.
But the problem was that over time, the new lyrics did not deepen as they should have done. And therefore the seemingly endless "mindless" (a common objection) songs of the new were rejected by the old, who then dug their heels in and turned a secondary or even tertiary issue (music style) into a primary test of faithfulness (are you a proper Biblical church- do you sing hymns?).
But in the last 20 years, everything has changed! There are so many excellent modern hymn writers around that the argument-from-poor-lyrics is now defunct. From the Gettys to Stuart Townend to Graham Kendrick, a lot of biblically and doctrinally solid words are being written today. I have personally recently loved and worshipped with and appreciated the new Getty song, "Is he worthy?" sung by Andrew Peterson (see here).
Instead of feely-weely songs about the Holy Spirit which focused on our emotional state, we now have deep hymns which mention the Spirit's work in our hearts and lives, leading us to greater sacrifice - not greater highs:
Holy Spirit, from creation's birth,
Giving life to all that God has made,
Show Your power once again on earth;
Cause Your church to hunger for Your ways.
Let the fragrance of our prayers arise.
Lead us on the road of sacrifice
That in unity the face of Christ
Will be clear for all the world to see
(Getty)
Instead of subjective songs about how much I love Jesus (at the moment), we now have deep songs about the promises God has made to us in Christ:
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
(Townend)
The primary test of a good hymn is how much it is in tune with Scripture, both in doctrine, and if possible even in language. For example, although Jesus is the light of the World (John 8:12), the Scriptures never encourage us to tell Jesus to shine, so for that reason, "Shine Jesus Shine", takes a second place on my list! (Though I greatly honour Kendrick and his many fine songs).
3. Allow time to filter
So what then should we sing? In the Internet age, where fashions both in the world and the church can change in a moment, Christians need to pause before they automatically adopt the latest songs. I have been to Christian weddings and meetings where I did not know a single song, because they were singing the latest wave - and I am sure in some cases, doing this to show off how cool or contemporary they are.
A wiser approach is to allow time and the church to filter songs. We sing only a fraction of the Wesley output and only a small amount of Kendrick's songs have become mainstream, because the church, over time has filtered out the dross.
This can be a real problem when switching on Christian Radio stations, because they often have a policy of playing the latest albums - you get gold and dross all mixed up!
4. What shall we do?
Here are some guidelines for what we sing in church and for what we listen to:
1. Is the song God-centred? A legit criticism of latest wave songs is that they are so me-centred, focused on our subjective here and now emotions and feelings, rather than the glory and love of God in Christ. (Indeed in some cases I have wondered if the song was written for the author's husband / wife rather than about the Lord!)
2. Is it congregational? This criteria is for songs we sing together. I have found that some of my favourite Christian songs are not congregational. Can the song be easily learnt and sung by a congregation, or is the tune or the arrangement so complex that it can't be picked up or remembered by the average believer.
3. Is it accurate? Lyrics that brings comfort and help must be doctrinally accurate. They may be short or they may be long, but they must be accurate.
4. Is it Biblical? Not quite the same as (3). We could express a truth in non-Biblical language, but is there not power in the very wordings the Holy Spirit has chosen to reveal the truth? As far as possible let's express the truth in Holy Spirit language.
5. Is there a mix of old and new? "Sing unto the Lord a new song" (Psalm 96:1) is not a command to ditch all the old hymns. There is something unbalanced about a church that sings either only the latest wave or only the oldies.
We should thank God for the many wonderful contemporary songs which enable us to express the God-placed feelings of our hearts and the Scriptural thoughts of our minds in a contemporary way and thus fulfil the Scriptural commands:
"Let
the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish
one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the
Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts."
(Colossians 3).
"be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Ephesians 5)
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