What's Wrong with Modern Christian Music?

Willie T said:

Yeah, I like that one. And this one, too.

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Oh I know that song! I drummed that one in my church's VBS, and had fun with it. But I wouldn't say it's well written. I doubt that it took more than an afternoon to write. And it's very repetitive. It never breaks that same pattern.

timewerx said:

Repetitive is bad. The Pharisees were cited for such behavior in prayers and would only annoy God.

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But what if the repetition is for us, and not for God. There is a song by Passion called, How Great Is Your Love, and it repeats that line a lot. Phil Wickham, one of the writers of the song, said that he wanted it to repeat so that you, the listener, can say it over and over again to help you believe it. I don't play songs multiple times a row, or repeat lines in songs because I think God will hear me for my repetition, I do it so that I can help myself know what it is that I am saying. Lyrics can be overlooked really easy, but when you repeat often, they stick with you.

Willie T said:

Even a lot of A cappella grabs me: (I think this was written in 1962)

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Would you say that that song is easier to sing than, More Like Jesus? I feel like the melody was all over the place, and hard to follow. I'm not saying it's a bad song. I liked it, but I'm questioning your logic.

Serving Zion said:

They do not sing from a place of power, but of hope. They don't have a sense of present salvation and a close walk with The Lord, but of going to heaven to be with Him after they have died. IOW, it is a false gospel that they have believed, that has not united them with their maker, but they have instead entered a covenant with death (language from Isaiah 28:15).

As a consequence, they cannot sing lyrics with a conviction of that reality, whereas it is clear through the dense doctrine of the hymns that the faith of our forefathers had found that reality of The Gospel.

For example, compare the lyrics of your modern worship music to these ones. They are all speaking of having already become righteous, having already come to see Jesus face-to-face, whereas the modern ones speak of those things being a hope that they will never achieve in this life. It is simply a different spirit.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace
Hymn: Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Are you washed in the blood,
In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Hymn: Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending, bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Hymn: Blessed assurance

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Hymn: It is well

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First off, I LOVE It Is Well With My Soul!! That's one of my favorite songs, and the words are amazing! But I get what you're saying about them being written in a different spirit, but I'd say it's the minority that are like that. At least for the songs I listen to. I'll quote Glorious Day by Passion again, because I think it's a great example:

"I was breathing but not alive
All my failures I tried to hide
It was my tomb 'til I met You
You called my name and I ran out of that grave
Out of the darkness into Your glorious day"...
"The old made new
Jesus, when I met You"

Notice how the words speak of presently living in righteousness with God. The past was awful, but now Jesus has made things new.


More examples include:

I am redeemed, You set me free
So I'll shake off these heavy chains
Wipe away every stain, now I'm not who I used to be
I am redeemed
Redeemed by Big Daddy Weave

This is amazing grace
This is unfailing love
That You would take my place
That You would bear my cross
You laid down Your life
That I would be set free
Jesus, I sing for
All that You've done for me
This is Amazing Grace by Phil Wickham

And if our God if for us
Then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us
Then what could stand against?
Our God by Chris Tomlin

My heart beating, my soul breathing
I found my life when I laid it down
Upward falling, spirit soaring
I touch the sky when my knees hit the ground
Touch The Sky by Hillsong UNITED

Chains fall, fear bow, here, now
Jesus, you change everything
Lives healed, hope found, here, now
Jesus, you change everything
Holy Ground by Passion

These songs talk about the present glory revealed through Jesus, and that we are currently in light of what He has done for us.

Willie T said:

Well of course. It was 5-part harmony, and cannot possibly be sung that way by one person without the dubbing they did. But it is a song that is memorable, and most anyone can very easily sing at least one part of it. All CoC congregations sing it all the time.

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What are CoC congregations? And you may be different, but I was there in the crowd that day in the video for More Like Jesus and I was able to sing along just fine, because it didn't matter if I sang it correctly. I wasn't trying to memorize the song, or hit every note. But I was able to follow the music where it lead, and tried my best. I didn't care if I got it right. It was about me focusing on the words, and earnestly singing, "Father I pray, 'make me more like Jesus!' "

maintenance man said:

Modern Christian music is not all bad. Much of it is wonderfully conceived, produced, and preformed.

The problem is the same as with music in general these days - to much commercialization. A lot of music in general these days is derivative - it's a rough copy of something else. In terms of modern Christian music specifically - you hear a lot of musical patterns repeated from one song to the next. This is also the same in today's country music, and other popular forms.

The quality of music overall has been diluted by people writing songs like they are a product to be sold rather than a deeply felt emotion to be shared.

Music is a language of emotions. We connect with music that speaks to our emotions in a language we are familiar with - the musical language we are each familiar with is composed of all the music that has touched us emotionally throughout our life.

Many people tend to gravitate to the musical language they learned early in life - or in the period of life when they were most in tune with music. Therefore, musical taste tend to be generational.

I think you're right to say that if people would take the time to listen to a lot of modern Christian music it's very likely they would find something they like - something that connects with them emotionally - the problem is most people don't want to take the time to wade through all the bad stuff to find the good stuff. So many just stick with whatever it is they already know works for them.

I didn't realize I had so much to say about this. Those are my thoughts.

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I think that's a good way to put it. I hate how so many songs are produced only as a way to make money. One reason why I like Passion so much (I know I've talked about them a lot in this thread, but they are a great band!) is because they don't write songs to be heard on the radio. Only a few of their songs have been on the radio at all, and they aren't usually played much. They write songs for their worship conference that they host once a year. They write an entire worship album each year, and there is a big team behind each album, not one or two people. They write songs to glorify God, and not just to make money. I think they stand for all that's right in Christian music today.

THE W said:

are you running into people who are attempting to bind your conscience against listening to modern Christian music?

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Just everyone at my church. My church only ever sings from a hymnbook, Getty Music, or Sovereign Grace, with only a few exceptions. I don't have much against those two bands, but they have a very old feel to them, and are intentionally written to mimic the structure and sound of old hymns. Some of them wouldn't even consider listening to new music. Except for some reason they like This is Amazing Grace by Phil Wickham. Not sure why, but they still rarely sing it. I don't know how that song got worked into the mix.

But yeah, people in my church think it's wrong to listen to modern Christian music, and no one ever explains why.

THE W said:

seems like they would be the type to see the modern style of music as inappropriate for the worship service. I also would not participate in a worship service that sang songs from passion or hillsong for worship, though I wouldn't have a problem with them as far as casual listening.

they see it as wrong to listen to these songs under any circumstances?

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They don't see it wrong for me to listen to them. Only wrong for church service. But I don't understand what would be wrong with that? If you could shed some light on the situation, that would be great.

P.S. I go to a Presbyterian church.

THE W said:

are you OPC, RPCNA, PCA..?

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PCA

THE W said:

I would not be able to shed any light on their position as I honestly don't understand their position myself being that they allow for man-made hymns for worship. i'm from an RPCNA tradition where we sing psalms only with no instrumental accompaniment. this would have to do with how the LORD set up worship with king david in the old testament and how it would carry over into the new testament church.

but yeah, your best bet would be to have a sit down with your pastor on the subject.

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Alright, thanks. My brother has talked with the pastor about it, and I've asked my brother about it, but the way he says it, it's mostly about preference, but he hasn't mentioned exactly what the pastor thinks about it.