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Ed Stetzer Wants to Test Your Music

November 24, 2009 3 Comments

Drummer Boy.jpgEd Stetzer brings up the issue of worship music again on his blog post, “How To Test Your Music.” He offers seven tests for songs to pass before they should be used in a worship service.
One of the tests he mentions is the “association test.” The idea is to ask whether the song is associated with anything contrary to scripture and/or the meaning of the lyric. This association could be due to the groove or the genre, or any host of things.
My experience has been that you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure out such things. I’ve known folks who associate ungodliness with all sorts of artistic expression (from dance to instrumentation to the color of one’s shirt in the pulpit). How much is the worship leader responsible for others’ associations? The church I’m currently a part of uses contemporary worship music, but comes out of an a capella tradition. I don’t know how we could have ever plucked a note if we were bound to these seven tests.
Now, I wouldn’t want to go head to head with Ed, but I take his words with a grain of salt. First, although he plays guitar, he is not tasked with the challenges of routinely choosing musical material for worshipers. Second, as my friend Dave Durham likes to point out, Jesus came to restore all things (Colossians 1:15-20). Surely this includes art, music, and even culture itself. Our artistic palette with which to worship Him is vast, my friends. He has come to restore all things.
My conclusion is that these tests may contain good principles when looking at your overall repertoire and ministry, but would be tiresome and unnecessarily academic to apply every test to every song. Certainly, let us be mindful of the culture where we are called to minister and the associations some may hold for certain expressions we may choose. But don’t let those concerns alone dictate what you should or should not do. Instead, seek the Lord and let the testing be of your heart. Sometimes we are to respect the culture; sometimes we are to challenge it.

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Filed Under: Church Life, Worship Leaders, Worship Talk on the Web Tagged With: church music, culture, Ed Stetzer

Comments

  1. Matt Capps says

    November 24, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    Jonathan. I would rethink that argument. I am not sure you understand what Stetzer is saying.

    Reply
  2. uberVU - social comments says

    November 24, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    Social comments and analytics for this post

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by lifewayworship: @edstetzer Wants to Test Your Music. http://digg.com/u1Gzfa

    Reply
  3. Jonathan Riggs says

    December 2, 2009 at 11:27 am

    Thanks for your comment, Matt. Where do you think I’m missing it?

    Reply

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