Why do churches give into CCM

[Peter Mann]

I've seen first hand how my church is tolerating more and more CCM songs in the worship service. Even the Vacation Bible Schools that our kids go to are introducing more rock songs in their programs. I sometimes see posters of supposedly Christian bands and most of their faces are angry. I look at them and I ask myself: do I want my children to grow up and be like these guys and the answer is an emphatic NO.
I keep wondering why they (CCM) have so much appeal to our youth and young adults?

 

[Richard]

I personally don't care for that type of music, but it could be that they love the rock stuff and want to incorperate God into their music. Now, at churches ? That's silly.

 

[Rich48]

I see nothing wrong with ccm in a church setting. Why not? If it praises the Lord, why not use it? If it uplifts one's spirit, why not use it? Our church uses all types of music for praising the Lord. Yes, we use some ccm; we also use praise and worship music, and yes, we use hymns.

Rich

 

[A New Dawn]

I think it is a fine line to tread when using music that is way out, one way or the other. If CCM music turns many people off (and I know I am not too keen on it), as well as some of the old hymns that many feel weight down the service, why not have special services for those specific types of worship? It might be a drawing point to bring in others who like that type of music, but have been turned off of worship in the past, to begin to find a way to worship Christ.

Just a thought.

 

[Rich48]

I think it is a fine line to tread when using music that is way out, one way or the other. If CCM music turns many people off (and I know I am not too keen on it), as well as some of the old hymns that many feel weight down the service, why not have special services for those specific types of worship? It might be a drawing point to bring in others who like that type of music, but have been turned off of worship in the past, to begin to find a way to worship Christ.

Just a thought.

There are quite a few churches that do just this. Some have 2 different services-one contemporary (this one is usually the "early" service), and a traditional service.

Rich

 

[we5frogs]

We all know that our youth are the future of the church, and I know my kids rolled their eyes whenever my "Southern Gospel' music is on.

When the music speaks to them in their 'own language' they are more apt to hear the message, rather than tune it out. I can't tell you the number of times my children have come to me and said 'hey mom, listen to this, it's great'. Now, I must admit that they usually have to either translate or let me read the CD insert with the words, because I can't understand a thing they are saying, but the words are speaking to them!

Also, we must give our kids credit, they are hard critics. There are at least two bands I can think of that my kids will not listen to, even though their music is available at our local Christian book store. They didn't like things they heard or read them say, and because they were not living what they were singing, my kids, and their friends, would rather not buy their music. Also, one of the CD insert had swaer words on it, and some kids from our youth group noticed and brought it to the attention of the manager of the bookstore, who has since removed this from their shelves.
Our church does offer a traditional as well as a contemporary service, one with praise and worship and one with hymns, and come fall we will also add a Saturday night youth service with a more rock sound. I actually enjoy all three, personally as long as a song speaks to me, the genre is not as important.

 

[wgjones3]

What are you calling CCM/rock in churches? Hillsongs-style praise and worship like "Awesome God" and "Shout to the Lord"?

 

[Aya-kun]

They want to keep up with the times, I think. And also, they want to encourage more youth to go to church. They figure that youth don't want to listen to "boring, old" hymns, so to make it more "fun", they add in rock.

My church has added a bit of CCM, but they tend to mix it a lot with older, more traditional songs. For example, in the morning we almost always sing older praise songs, but at night we sing a lot of contemporary music, bringing out the electric guitar and sometimes drums. This is because most of the time kids will go to church in the morning, but not at night.

I really wish we would sing more of the older songs though, like from the psalter hymnal. I miss songs like that....

 

[FiRePrOoF_bUnNy]

whats CCM ?? i think that its good that there bringing ''rockier'' stuff to the church. If you ask one member of the ordinary youth (who isnt a christian) what they think church is like they will have such a warped view of it. They think that its boring, irrelevant to thier lives, and full of the elderly members of society. They dont get to experience the living God thats in our churches because of these pre-determined ideas that they have. I think that by bringing more up to date music into churches more youth are going to come, and they'll b able to worship in thier own way. As one who enjoys christian rock gigs and being in church i can't really decide which i like more. But whether im lifting my hands, or jumping up and down in a moshpit its all to one God isnt it?

 

[Zoomer]

I cannot stand any rock music, or live bands, or even praise and worship songs in church. They are fine for a home but not in a formal worship setting. I use praise songs to worship during the week at home. But during Sunday service, I want to sings something deeper with more meaning. I think that rock and contemporary music is so popular in church because we are a culture that looks to be entertained in all that we do, even in our worship. I go to church to praise God, and receive the Sacraments not be entertained by the music.

 

[Rich48]

I cannot stand any rock music, or live bands, or even praise and worship songs in church. They are fine for a home but not in a formal worship setting. I use praise songs to worship during the week at home. But during Sunday service, I want to sings something deeper with more meaning. I think that rock and contemporary music is so popular in church because we are a culture that looks to be entertained in all that we do, even in our worship. I go to church to praise God, and receive the Sacraments not be entertained by the music.

I can partially agree with you: If it is entertainment, then it was wrong. But I will point out that there are churches out there that, in my opinion, will take the use of hymns to the entertainment level.

But praise and worship music does not have to be done as entertainment; it can truely be used as worship. And sometimes, the meaning is just as wonderful as the old hymns. As an example, let's take the old Charles Wesley hymn And Can It Be

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

That is how the old hymn says it. The more modern song, Amazing Love (You Are My King) puts is this way (the words to this are copyrighted, and therefore I will not post them, but will post a link to a site that has both the lyrics and a wav of the song:

http://www.atthewell.com/amazinglove/index.php

2 songs that both say the very same thing, but yes, it different ways. Yes, the hymn is "deeper", but that does not make it better.

Rich

 

[byfaith1965]

Its all a matter of culture to me. I was raised among different cultures and have respected them, because of that my taste for music is varied. You can say you don't think one type of music is right for you or your church and you are probably right to some degree but you can not say what is right for another person or church. We all have different make ups and different tastes in all things. Music is just another way of expressing ourselves through music so we tend to gravitate to what feels right in our hearts. What feels right for you may not feel right for another and vise versa. Theres nothing wrong with that at all. I go to a church that plays only CCM type of music. The way I make up for the Gospel my church doesnt have, is play it in my car. I travel a lot. Visit other churches during their worship services that have great gospel choirs. I tend to not judge others by the music they like. All teenagers go through a time of discovering. At least the christian rock bands are praising God and not praising sex and drugs like some of the rap music that other teens get involved with.

 

[boilerblues]

My church plays primarily modern worship music (harder than what is usually labeled CCM), occasionally a hymn. As someone who grew up in the church I do appreciate hymns, but in the last 5 years when I've gone to a service that was hymns there seemed to be no life to the music. Some of the music by people like David Crowder and Chris Tomlin can be just as deep as the old hymns. I think young people today prefer modern worship because it's more relevant to who they are. They can't identify with a song that was written 300 years ago, they want to share in the heart expression of someone they can relate to. Our church recently started throwing in "A Mighty Fortress is our God" and to me it has really struck home how disconnected a lot of the hymns can be. It uses words that no one knows the meaning of and expresses them in a way that no one understands. Those who grew up in the church may understand, but the majority of our church did not grow up with a church background. Is a song really glorifying to God if the singer does not understand what the song says and they can not express the words from their heart with full meaning?

Let's also keep in mind that many of the hymns of today took their melodies from the bar songs of the day they were written. The writters of the hymns took the music of their culture and used it to express their praise to God. It's the same thing that happens today, people have taken the music of the modern culture and they are using it to praise God.

At first I was wary of modern worship music, but I've come to realize that what the writters proclaim in their praise to God is as deep and as real as anything the old hymn writters experienced. There is nothing in the Bible that dictates the style of music we are to use to praise God, we are just to make a joyful noise to the Lord. Any more hymns sound more like funeral dirges than a joyful noise to the Lord. Check out some music by David Crowder and Chris Tomlin, you'll find some people very passionate about their love for Christ and expressing it in a very deep and very real way in their music.

 

[Hockley]

Wow. I was at this ice cream store awhile back. They had more than 50 flavours. There were some tweny or thirty peole in line. Several chose Vanilla, several chocolate, and most of the rest chose from the vast array of other flavours. It was all ice cream.

I like...

 

[Hockley]

I can partially agree with you: If it is entertainment, then it was wrong. But I will point out that there are churches out there that, in my opinion, will take the use of hymns to the entertainment level.

What's wrong with entertainment?

 

[Rich48]

I can partially agree with you: If it is entertainment, then it was wrong. But I will point out that there are churches out there that, in my opinion, will take the use of hymns to the entertainment level.

What's wrong with entertainment?

We are talking about music in a worship setting. Praise bands, in a church service are not there to entertain-they are there to lead in worship. We come together on Sunday (or any other day for that matter) for invidividual and corporate worship to our Lord and Savior. not to be entertained.

Now, let it also be pointed out that, in general, there is absolutely nothing wrong with entertainment, but it has its place.

Rich

 

[Hockley]

Hey Rich, You have not sold me on the entertainment notion yet. Why can't worhip include entertainment? Can a song not entertain and worship at the same time? Can't remember hearing "thou shalt not entertain" in the big 10. How about some "groovin' to God?"

 

[jbgordon]

From a musicians stand point, I can say that I appreciate both traditional and contemperary forms of worship. I'm really getting sick of the two sides of this debate arguing about which is better. Here is my point.

What is it saying about the attitude of the heart if all we focus on is whether worship should be done with a piano and organ or guitar, bass, and drums? How can we judge what a band is trying to say just because we dont like bluegrass style southern gospel or hardcore? In the end, God is going to judge us not by the musical style in which we worshiped Him, but by where our hearts are with Him.

I may not choose to play hymns when I lead worship, but that doesnt mean that the text isnt just as powerful. There are plenty of traditional hymns that are in our hymnals that are less scripturaly based than modern worship songs. As much as I love both hymns and modern praise, Im sick of people worrying about that.

If I dont enjoy prasing God, then what is the point???

 

[shotgun]

Wow, some of you guy's are a little off base.

"I will point out that there are churches out there that, in my opinion, will take the use of hymns to the entertainment level." - quote from Mr. Rich48

Hymns do not use a syncopated rock beat like the majority of praise and worship songs. Praise and worship music, (unlike Hymns) is specifically written in a way that promotes not just entertainment, but "warm fuzzy" or positive feelings. Any entertainment value that would come from singing the old hymns should purely be a by-product of the wonderful praise that is taking place, however, hymns are not designed specifically for the singers, rather, they are designed for God.

"What is it saying about the attitude of the heart if all we focus on is whether worship should be done with a piano and organ or guitar, bass, and drums?" - quote from jbgordon

I don't know if you actually wanted that question answered or not, but I'll answer it anyway. I would say that a person focusing on such issues is trying his or her best to worship God in the truest biblical way possible. What is so wrong with trying to ascertain whether or not something is worthy of God? It seems like whenever someone speaks out against this new contemporary worship, they meet with nothing but spite and anger, and many times the attitude displayed by the above quote (saying something is wrong with those of us worried about worship).

"How can we judge what a band is trying to say just because we don’t like bluegrass style southern gospel or hardcore?" - another one from jbgordon

I'm harping on Ol' JBgordon here because his attitude is one that many in this new contemporary worship movement have.
First off, we are called to make judgments about all things, (the spiritual man). We are to test the spirits, determine whether something is from God or not. Music styles such as "hardcore" so closely emulate those musical styles of the world that inquiry into their motives certainly should not draw the resistance from other Christians that it is receiving.


As many so called "Christian" concerts that I’ve been to, and seen these people jumping up and down, (even in church) doing their "moshing" thing, it makes me wonder if they would be as excited about the music if it were only the words or the "message" of the song being read without the music on stage. I think not. I think that certain music should indeed be "judged".

"God is going to judge us not by the musical style in which we worshiped Him, but by where our hearts are with Him." - jbgordon

This is true, but what does it say about the state of our "hearts" when we can't worship unless it's to music we like and enjoy? What does it say about the state of our hearts when we can easily use our music to worship with, or party with, or cruise the strip with? What does it say about the state of our hearts, when the music we use to worship with is copied from music the world uses, and music is deemed "old fashioned" or "dry" if it does not copy it's style from the world?

"If I dont enjoy prasing God, then what is the point???" - jbgordon

This is probably the statement that upsets me the most. What is the point of praise if not your own enjoyment? When the question is rephrased just the tiniest bit, we can all see how ridiculous it is.


If you don't enjoy praising God, then what is the point? Well, I guess there wouldn't be any point, if your not happy. That’s what this new Contemporary worship movement is all about, making ourselves feel happy, and feel good. If God is praised, that's just a by-product.

all for now,
from
shotgun

who knows that all ice cream is the same, but also knows that his momma would slap the snot out of him if he tried eating it for dinner every sunday!

 

[Rich48]

Wow, some of you guy's are a little off base.

"I will point out that there are churches out there that, in my opinion, will take the use of hymns to the entertainment level." - quote from Mr. Rich48

Hymns do not use a syncopated rock beat like the majority of praise and worship songs. Praise and worship music, (unlike Hymns) is specifically written in a way that promotes not just entertainment, but "warm fuzzy" or positive feelings. Any entertainment value that would come from singing the old hymns should purely be a by-product of the wonderful praise that is taking place, however, hymns are not designed specifically for the singers, rather, they are designed for God.

I have been through this discussion in a Yahoo music debate group. So I will ask you: What us wrong with using a syncopated rock beat? And, I will point out that many, many people get that "warm fuzzy feeling" when singing the old hymns. Now, please note that I love the old hymns. And also, I am not defending all of the new music. But I also love using the newer music. Our church uses all kinds of music. We may sing "Blessed Be The Name" and then "Amazing Grace."

Addressing the hymns for entertainment issue. Many churches "perform" the old hymns with large orchestrations. There are NOT designed for worship, but for entertainment value.

What is it saying about the attitude of the heart if all we focus on is whether worship should be done with a piano and organ or guitar, bass, and drums?" - quote from jbgordon

I don't know if you actually wanted that question answered or not, but I'll answer it anyway. I would say that a person focusing on such issues is trying his or her best to worship God in the truest biblical way possible. What is so wrong with trying to ascertain whether or not something is worthy of God? It seems like whenever someone speaks out against this new contemporary worship, they meet with nothing but spite and anger, and many times the attitude displayed by the above quote (saying something is wrong with those of us worried about worship).

I will agree with you that those who speak out against the new songs are, indeed, often met with spite and anger. But, on the other hand, the same can be said of the other side! Those who favor the new music are often told that they are NOT worshipping in a blbilical manner, that their worship is meaningless to God.

How can we judge what a band is trying to say just because we don’t like bluegrass style southern gospel or hardcore?" - another one from jbgordon

I'm harping on Ol' JBgordon here because his attitude is one that many in this new contemporary worship movement have.
First off, we are called to make judgments about all things, (the spiritual man). We are to test the spirits, determine whether something is from God or not. Music styles such as "hardcore" so closely emulate those musical styles of the world that inquiry into their motives certainly should not draw the resistance from other Christians that it is receiving. [/QUOTE=shotgun]

Exactly what are "musical styles of the world?" Most so-called traditional music (ie-hymns only) churches use an organ in worship. Do you know that at one time the organ was forbidden in most churches because it was "of the world?" Where did that compromise come in? More to the point, what insturments can be used in worship? Piano? Organ? Guitars? Keyboard? Drums? ALL of these can be used for secuar (or worldly) music! And yes, they can ALL be used for worship music.

As many so called "Christian" concerts that I’ve been to, and seen these people jumping up and down, (even in church) doing their "moshing" thing, it makes me wonder if they would be as excited about the music if it were only the words or the "message" of the song being read without the music on stage. I think not. I think that certain music should indeed be "judged".[/QUOTE=shotgun]

Now this might be different. You are not talking about music in a church setting. And yes, I have a problem with this, too. But this is such a small factor in all the "new" music.

"God is going to judge us not by the musical style in which we worshiped Him, but by where our hearts are with Him." - jbgordon

This is true, but what does it say about the state of our "hearts" when we can't worship unless it's to music we like and enjoy? What does it say about the state of our hearts when we can easily use our music to worship with, or party with, or cruise the strip with? What does it say about the state of our hearts, when the music we use to worship with is copied from music the world uses, and music is deemed "old fashioned" or "dry" if it does not copy it's style from the world? [/QUOTE=shotgun]

Again-what is the "music of the world?" I will agree with you to some extent-we need not "like" the musical style in order to worship. And, many of the old hymns ARE copied from the musical stye for the times in which they were written. This is not to say, as many falsely do, that many of the old Wesley hymns were set to bar tunes-this is NOT true. But many hymns. for example, are set to 3/4 time, which is musically called "waltz time." Do you feel like waltzing to those old hymns? Of course not! Neither do many of use feel like "partying" to the newer songs.

"If I dont enjoy prasing God, then what is the point???" - jbgordon

This is probably the statement that upsets me the most. What is the point of praise if not your own enjoyment? When the question is rephrased just the tiniest bit, we can all see how ridiculous it is.


If you don't enjoy praising God, then what is the point? Well, I guess there wouldn't be any point, if your not happy. That’s what this new Contemporary worship movement is all about, making ourselves feel happy, and feel good. If God is praised, that's just a by-product. [/QUOTE=shotgun]

Just how much to you really know about what you call "the new contemporary music movement?" How many songs do you know? Many of the praise and worship type of music are based directly on scripture. What do you find wrong with a song such as "Shout To The Lord"?


http://www.atthewell.com/shout/

I will agree with you that some the new music is bad. But so are a number of the old hymns that promote bad theology, yet most "traditional hymn only is the only way" churches will sing them with no thought at all-and the reason is that it is a hymn!

Rich