Problem with Modern Worship

[Distant_Shores]

Anyone finding the "hot new" worship songs a bit uhm... how do I say this... not very good? Not very biblical and self centered rather than God-centered?

Just these emotional songs that are often confusing to me as to what the composer is writing about.

 

[holyrokker]

Right here!

 

[icklemiss]

I think that many of the songs are often really good, when the lyrics an be sung with feeling. Alot of the songs are hard to get into, tbh, i think theres some great stuff out there, thats more modern. I definately see where your coming through, alot of the stuff doesn't work for me. But i think that alot of the stuff is definately possible to get into...didn't really reach a conclusion there but there we are....


Abbie
xxx

 

[sonrisedawn]

can you be specific and give examples of what you think is not biblical and self centered

 

[KristianJ]

True, there is a lot of stuff out there that seems to focus more on our response and what I'm gonna do instead of targeting the truth of what Jesus did for us on the cross. There are some fantastic songs that balance the two biblically, but when I have the time, I could list some lines from songs that I feel are pretty weak in terms of a "do" theme rather than the "done" theme.

 

[Tavita]

Anyone finding the "hot new" worship songs a bit uhm... how do I say this... not very good? Not very biblical and self centered rather than God-centered?

Just these emotional songs that are often confusing to me as to what the composer is writing about.

Yes, I find them 'not very good' too. Though that's being general, there are some good ones. Most are very 'self' centred and not 'Christ' centred, not many that speak of the wonders of the things He has accomplished. And most sound like romantic love songs... it may be good to a certain extent but they sound like 'human' romantic love being sung to an all powerful, and very Holy God.

This is why I miss the scripture 'choruses' we used to sing many years ago, you know, the 'Songs of Praise'.

 

[BubblesRelena]

Hey, I get what you mean. At first I thought maybe I was the only one who noticed that it seemed that way, but now I know it's not just me.

~BubblesRelena

 

[BlessedMan]

There are definitely some good ones out there but there are a lot of what we call "7-11" songs...(7 words sung 11 times)

 

[Tavita]

Exactly! No content. That may be good if it was a rare occurrence produced by Holy Spirit. It's no wonder many in the church are going to sleep, spiritually. Where are the the vibrant and passionate songs of adoration for the works He carried out on our behalf?

 

[feo]

Most Christian music to me sounds very "cookie-cutter"ish. It's all the same. It's all happy.

Christianity can be happy, but sometimes it's not. It's rough, its difficult. A lot of songs do not deal with this side of our walk with Christ. It's OKAY to sing about a disapointment in how we handle church, it's OKAY to sing about our spiritual struggles, it's OKAY to sing about problems concerning lust. It's okay to CRY OUT to God.

I remember reading a statistic comewhere (I'm still trying to do more research into it) of how much proceeds go towards social justice and world missions- that Christian musicians make... and the figures are startling. It's my two cents that they're in it just for the money, like the rest of the world

 

[staugustine68]

I find that Modern Worship songs gets better and better with each passing year.

 

[cool2bCatholic]

Some songs are like that. But then, with artists like Matt Maher, Tom Booth, and Fr Stan Fortuna, I have high hopes for Christian music!
God bless you,
Angela

 

[coreXian]

Yeah, it can be hard to find songs with both emotion and a true, Biblical message. But I don't think the problem is necessarily just new songs. There are countless older songs that we no longer even know about that people found didn't quite make it.

 

[Keys4Praise]

I agree with the premise of fluffy praise music to a certain extent. There are a couple issues I have with the modern, contemporary praise music of our time:


The message (the words) are vague, or highly symbolic. Case-in-point is a chorus that states "You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet song" (can't remember the song title or author). I think the sweet, sweet song is supposed to stand for Jesus Himself, but the first several times I heard it, I was repulsed at the pride and arrogance of the songwriter, and wondered why this song was being used in a Christian service.



In addition, there are many traditional hymns with deep, rich history, and deep meaning, that are being overlooked in place of fluffy, feel-good music. I could take up a whole page on great hymns, but will only mention two. "It Is Well With My Soul", and "Amazing Grace". These lyrics challenge the depth of our faith despite troubles, and the depravity of our sinful natures -vs- the holiness of God. Instead of eating meat, we have gone back to eating icing of songs that pine over how wonderful it is to be a Christian (without any personal challenge, or mention that a true Christian life is about the hardest thing to follow), or songs like "Every Move I Make", or ones with "La La La" in them. You probably sang some last Sunday, and know what I mean. They just don't challenge the depth of your faith, or strengthen your convictions.


I will caveat, in that there are some great strides in contemporary songs that have deepened and challenged people's faith. Examples that I can think of are "I Can Only Imagine", which puts a Christian in the frame of mind of worshipping God forever (eternal perspective). And songs that challenge our ways and teach us lessons, such as "If We Are The Body" (can't remember).



Personally, I would like a return to a meat-and-potatoes message, mixed alongside the contemporary style of music. The music itself is hands-down better than it ever has been, but the messages seem to be increasingly superficial and experiential.

 

[KristianJ]

I
The message (the words) are vague, or highly symbolic. Case-in-point is a chorus that states "You are beautiful, my sweet, sweet song" (can't remember the song title or author). I think the sweet, sweet song is supposed to stand for Jesus Himself, but the first several times I heard it, I was repulsed at the pride and arrogance of the songwriter, and wondered why this song was being used in a Christian service.

The song is "You Are So Good To Me" and the band is Waterdeep (Third Day covered it on their Offerings II album) and I agree to an extent - it's not a congregational song, and the chorus is too similar to something you'd find in a modern secular pop song.

 

[yod]

I remember reading a statistic comewhere (I'm still trying to do more research into it) of how much proceeds go towards social justice and world missions- that Christian musicians make... and the figures are startling. It's my two cents that they're in it just for the money, like the rest of the world

ouch!

This begs a couple of questions.

1. Are you judging the veracity of a christian musician's faith by how much they give/gave to any particular public charity which you can verify?

2. Do you realize that the problem isn't with the musicians? It's with the buying public and those record distributors who "think" they serve them. It's not the middle man.

In my opinion, the reason all songs sound the same right now is because there was a big spurt of buying Hillsongs that made all the corporate entities known as "Record Labels" or "Distributors" think this is what YOU wanted.

If we ALL decided tomorrow that we were only going to buy music from some fantastically original worship leader, a record label would sign them and every other record label would start to copy them until that bandwagon was worn out too.

Songwriters and musicians are low rung on the totem pole though. There are so many variables that have to go right for a band before you ever see their records in the stores or hear a song on the radio. If you don't buy their CDs, the labels drop them and keep trying to produce something you will buy whether the music was great or not.

Anyone checked into a genre known as "Messianic Worship" for an alternative? I like it because 90% of the songs are the Word of God set to music....all focused on the Lord.

 

[Tavita]

An excellent post Yod, thanks for reminding us of the bigger issues.

I have some messianic music and love it. And you're right, the words are more centred in the Lord. I have artists like Paul Wilbur (I have nearly all of those), Barry and Batya Segal, Joel Chernoff, Karen Davis, Ted Pearce Project and other mixed CD's. Some of the music has a very Jewish sound and took a bit of getting used to, but on the whole it's great for worship.

 

[feo]

1. Are you judging the veracity of a christian musician's faith by how much they give/gave to any particular public charity which you can verify?

There is a big big difference between judging someone- and holding someone accountable. So no, not at all. It just disapoints me

2. Do you realize that the problem isn't with the musicians? It's with the buying public and those record distributors who "think" they serve them. It's not the middle man.

The problem is not with those who create the music and follow trends? I'm not sure if I agree with ya here. There exists SOME artists that create original music... that goes against the status quo. Yet that is in production. I don't think its good to always do the popular thing.

Anyone checked into a genre known as "Messianic Worship" for an alternative? I like it because 90% of the songs are the Word of God set to music....all focused on the Lord.

Nopez, it sounds pretty good though! Got a few URL's for me to follow so I can listen to some of their stuff?

 

[foursquareman]

I find that Modern Worship songs gets better and better with each passing year.

Agreed!!!

 

[Flames]

Does anyone have examples of modern stuff that isn't worshipful or is declining ect... I am just curious because if you make a statement, you would usually give examples and back it with some proof. I would just like to see a couple examples.

I have many many examples of where it is getting better and could list many artists that have the right heart in it all.