Worship Lyrics: Are Hymns Really Better?

I was talking to some new friends from our new church last night and was reminded during the course of conversation that there's still a false view out there about worship music in the Christian church that older means better, in terms of lyrical content.

What is Worship Anyway? - Intro

Do you know how many Christian churches are active in America today? 

A reliable estimate is that there are roughly 350,000 religious congregations in America right now. Only about 12,000 of those are what are considered non-Christian. 

That 12,000 includes your Hindus, your Muslims, Buddhists and Satanists, Wicca, Scientology, and UFO cults, and anything else you can think of, all in just less than 5% of the total. 

Of course, Catholic and Orthodox also take about 24,000 away from the total. That leaves around 314,000 congregations that are considered Protestant or Christian (other).

Within the walls of those 314,000 congregations can be found, should one look, endless programs and activities which churchgoers busy themselves with, from the expected small group Bible studies, worship music concerts, and choir practices, to the not-so-expected, naïve, and somewhat misguided “holy yoga,” to the downright bat-guano-crazy dirt-bike-ramp-jumping-over-pastor-while-he-teaches gimmicks, poorly designed to lure the unchurched, all of whom likely laugh at the downright embarrassing lengths to which pastors will go to attract more tithing members. All that to say this: lots of churches are busy providing lots of programs and activities to lots of congregants, seekers, and reluctant husbands of churchgoing wives.

In light of these statistics one might come to the conclusion that American churches and churchgoers are pretty darn good at worship. Well, one would be wrong if one held the facts concerning how Americans classify engaging in religious activity up against worship as defined and practiced in the Bible. Fact is, good reader, we are failing, both miserably and dismally. I just couldn’t decide on an adverb. They’re both so descriptive and appropriate...

In this series of blog entries I will painstakingly, but humorously, attempt to run a virus scan and perform a cleaning on brains which have inadvertently downloaded a common form of Churchianity malware. I will predict the following three scenarios concerning how this series is received:

• Some of you will read through the series with your super-smart melon-heads nodding furiously in agreement, shouting “amen!” from time to time, causing your family to once again question your sanity. I applaud you, for you are astute far beyond your peers and perhaps should be writing this series.

• Others among you will flatly reject what I present in favor of your preconceived beliefs, which have been, like I said, accidentally “downloaded.” I pray for your souls! But seriously, please know I care deeply for you and would gladly buy you a triple grande caramel macchiato if you wanted to hang out with me. I am that desperate for friends.

• But a few of you – you know who you are… don’t be shy – you will read this series with open eyes and hearts and you will rejoice at the Scriptural truth wave flowing through and washing away the grime of that wishy-washy worship mindset. 

Please know, I implore you, I don’t think I’m some kind of pious Christian guru, gracing you with my amazing understanding of spiritual matters. Everything I know I have learned from others. I will include a list of references and influences at the end of the series, just so you know I’m not making this stuff up.

For this first entry I just wanted to give you some solid statistics and make you aware of the series, in hopes that you will return in two weeks to begin this journey with me. I will, during the series, present you with some more statistics that will likely sadden you and even cause outrage. Some of you with especially tender hearts will weep. I did when I discovered this truth. But for now, let me leave you with an encouraging message from Someone very special...

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out.”

Jesus of Nazareth

To continue reading this series, What is Worship Anyway? Part One, click the link.

P&W

As a worship leader, I have come to separate all church music into two very broad categories. Understanding that there are many subcategories, I am confident that every song we use in church will fall somewhere in the spectrum beneath one of these two categories. 

My purpose for writing this is to bring to attention an issue which I have run across various times in my decade or so leading worship through music, and an issue which I have confirmed to be present for others in my field. So, I'll quickly share these two categories, and then talk a little about the issue I mentioned.

Before I reveal them, please understand that I am not speaking theologically with these categories. They have nothing to do with lyric content, but rather the overall feel and tempo of the song. So, with that in mind, here they are:

Cross Songs and Tomb Songs

What do I mean by Cross Songs and Tomb Songs. It's really simple. It's just a fresh way of saying praise and worship. But since the term "praise & worship" has been used for so long in conjunction with church music in general the two separate words have become fused and are used together to describe all music used in church, regardless of tempo or theme.

So, I chose these two category titles based on the fact that there are two major points in Christ's primary ministry to us, and those are the crucifixion and the empty tomb. The Crucifixion is the quintessential sad moment, while the empty tomb is possibly the happiest moment in history. The Cross Songs are those which are more mid to down-tempo, reflective, somber, worshipful. The Tomb Songs are those which tend to be more up-tempo, celebratory  praise songs. All church music can be placed under one of these categories. Sure, there are songs which seem to be near the middle, but all of them can fit into one of these two groups.

A few examples might be, Heart of Worship - Cross Song, Forever - Tomb Song, Mighty to Save - Cross Song, Everlasting God - Tomb Song.

Now that I have explained the categories, here is the issue I run into. I think we can all agree that both of these categories are equally important. Without the cross the empty tomb would have just been any empty tomb, never having been occupied. Without the empty tomb then the story of Christ ends on a cruel Roman cross. In the same way, the Church of Christ needs both types of songs. We need to praise, and we need to worship. We need to celebrate but we also need to reflect. Many worship leaders run into an issue where the pastor only wants Tomb Songs. They just want the church happy, happy, happy, singing loud, clapping hands, smiling wide. And to them those Cross Songs are something they see as a necessary but unsavory condition to appease worship leaders who tend towards the mid or down-tempo songs. Of course, it goes both ways, but most gifted and experienced worship leaders understand that, while they may not prefer one category, both are necessary, because... well, that's our job.

We need to learn to communicate with our pastors these truths, and we need to be patient and loving in the process. And that goes for every area in which we might differ from the pastor, like maybe when that super reflective, somber, serious song ends and you purposefully leave some silence for reflection, and suddenly, within a nano-second, there's a pastor on a microphone with his ever cheery tone moving the service along. That's who they are, and it's every bit as appropriate as the way we are. It's just poorly timed, sometimes...

There is a great need for loving dialogue between worship leaders and their pastors and I am the first person I know who needs to take this advice to heart! What are your thoughts on the issue?