I was recently asked to share some thoughts in response to the question, “What is the value of contemporary Christian music in our worship experiences?”
Here was my response:
The story of God is ever-unfolding, developing, ongoing in our lives. He is constantly and consistently at work in and through us, in the hearts and lives of believers all around the globe. He worked personally and supernaturally in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in the same way, He is at work in the lives of us today in 2014. While the Israelites were wandering in the desert, experiencing firsthand the miraculous deliverance of God from trials of every kind, new songs of faith burst forth, moments of inspiration and gratitude that became songs of worship from the people of God. Through the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the same thing continued to happen. The people of God experienced the works of God in their lives, and as a result, hymns and songs of worship and gratitude burst forth.
We still sing many of those hymns today, a few hundred years later. For example, I recently led our congregation in the beautiful hymn “It Is Well With My Soul”, which was written in 1873 by Horatio Spafford, a Chicago-based attorney heavily invested in real estate who in a span of two short years lost his entire business & fortune in a fire, watched his 4-year old son die of scarlet fever, and shortly after lost all four of his daughters in a tragic shipwreck. After being reunited with his wife who was rescued from the wreckage, he sat in his cabin weeping and penned the words to this great song, which the global Church is still singing today, 140 years later.
It would only make sense that as God is continually moving and working in our lives today, new songs of worship would continue to burst forth. That is all “modern worship” really is – new songs of the faith. At some point in history, “Amazing Grace” was a new song, a “modern song” for the people of its time. “The Old Rugged Cross”, “How Great Thou Art”, “Be Thou My Vision”, “Blessed Assurance” – every song we describe today as a “sacred hymn” was at some point a brand new, “modern worship song.”
So, why is it important to use “contemporary worship music” in churches today? Because someday, these “new” songs of today will become the sacred standards of the future church. Songs like “In Christ Alone,” “10,000 Reasons,” etc. will continue to be sung and used in churches 100 years from now. I firmly believe people will talk about the Gettys and Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman in the same way they talk about Charles Wesley and Fanny Crosby.
If the Spirit of God is at work in the lives of His people, the song of His people should reflect that.
Shelly E. Johnson is an exclusive LifeWay Worship songwriter and serves as worship leader at First Baptist Church, Woodstock, GA. Visit her official website at http://www.shellyejohnson.com. Her new project, Your Kingdom Come, will be available in September 2014.
Though I do agree that modern worship music has importance, it does break my heart that there will be generations that will never grow up with the hymns of the faith. I also disagree that songs like “In Christ alone” and “10,000 reasons” will be sung 100 years from now, because our modern church is always about a new song. Very rarely do we see a song have more than a year or two shelf life in the church today. The songs of today will not remain or sustain. Case in point “The Heart of Worship”, a huge song 15 years ago, no longer sung in the church. That is modern worship. Sad, but true. Our churches need to be more balanced for the longevity of great music.
Your statement that Heart of Worship is not sung in churches anymore is incorrect. We’ve sung it many times this year. We are still singing Shout to the Lord, How Great Is Our God, and I Can Only Imagine right along with Victory In Jesus, Blessed Assurance, and Heavenly Sunlight. You may not be singing 10,000 Reasons in 100 years but someone else might be. TGBTG that great songs of worship and praise are still being written today through gifted song writers like Phil Cross, Travis Cotrell, Matt Redmann.
I also agree and disagree with you, Jerry. As a worship leader – it’s my job to try and find a balance, as you said – so we DO sing “Heart of Worship” in our services, along with the old hymns. This week, we’re doing Tomlin’s “Lord I Need You” followed by the hymn “I Need Thee Every Hour.” It’s very easy to get caught up in today’s high energy contemporary pieces, but finding a balance with songs that carry strong biblical truths are necessary if they are going to carry over into the next generation. Perhaps suggesting that to your pastor or worship leader may be necessary. God Bless!
I agree on much of your post. But I also believe that the more music out there pointing the world to Christ the better. So what, if thousands of Christian music writers and worshipers fill the earth with new music. I am sure that the Lord is not complaining when a new song reaches the heavens with a sweet aroma of offering from His bride. Yes to hymns and yes to a million new songs, as long as Christ receives the glory and honor He is due.
The spirit of God is alive in my life, but I do not like some contemporary music. In some of the songs, the music is so loud I can not hear the words….so how could that be of any benefit, except to allow music to be exciting. i love music, but it is not the main thing in a worship service. It may be what most people love, but may not be what they really need.
Clarify please, is it the songs you don’t like or the volume at which some songs are played? Do you love ever song in the hymn books? Is it the songs you don’t like or the different way in which they’re sung?
Great article, Shelly
Barbara, with all due respect the reason that so many songs written between the late 1800s and into the early/late 1950s were prominent for so long was due the fact that not many NEW corporate hymns were being written and distributed throughout churches. Certainly there were songs being written and sung, but the mediums for distribution were not what they are today (ex: the Internet, multiple publishing companies, etc).
Maturity tells us that when revelation happens in someone’s life and a song is birthed that points people to Christ, we as the Body of Christ should rejoice and celebrate that. I’m thankful that there are thousands of song writers out there who have a passion for writing new songs for the church. Not because the “older songs are bad” or that they have run their course and are no longer required. Rather because God’s mercies are new each day and he’s working and reveling himself to people still today through modern songs. Our personal “heart language” can sometimes blind us to the reality that God is being glorified through our worship… whether we like the style or not.
If volume is the issue, sit down with you pastor and have a conversation about the lyrics/vocals no being heard above the instrumentation
I agree with you wholeheartedly here, Shelley. In every generation there are songs that are sung for a while and then they pass, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are unimportant, or of lesser quality. While there are other songs from that generation that remain in the “songbook” of the church for centuries. Case in point, I have a book on my desk here at church titled, “Hymns That Endure,” by W. Thorburn Clark. It was published by Broadman in 1942. Of the 20 songs that Mr. Clark suggests will endure, about half of them are currently sung regularly in churches. Titles like, “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” And there are a few that aren’t in any current hymnal I could find. But the rest, though we are nostalgic about them, are not used often today, if at all. And again, that doesn’t mean they are not important.
We don’t know which songs will be sung for a season, and which will be sung for a century. Fortunately, we don’t need to know. Let us sing (and write) songs that are old and new, beautiful and true.
Sometimes a song resonates with God’s people in a particular culture during a particular time in history and then fades in use. But just because a song is not sung any longer in the United States does not mean that it is no longer sung by Christians somewhere in the world translated into their own language. On every international mission project I have participated in, I have checked out the local hymnbooks and found songs by Fanny Crosby, B. B. McKinney, and others that we don’t sing here any more. I have also heard more “contemporary” songs and choruses that have waned in use in our own country. On every trip I also have been blessed by hearing new songs that have sprung up in their churches as well. Remember “How Great Thou Art” was not originally written in English. All we can do is thankfully sing the songs God has already given us, and joyfully receive the new songs He gives us year by year. As His Word reminds us, “Sing a new song unto the Lord!”
Amen! Thank you Kirk for how you are allowing God to use you in refreshing the songs of old but also bring us songs of new.