Historically, I have not been an advocate of so-called contemporary church music. Anyone who listened to me on KFUO years ago would affirm that fact. When I retired in 2000 and moved back to St, Louis from Pittsburgh we joined a traditional, liturgical church, but my two daughters and their families attended a church that featured contemporary music. They kept begging Dianne and I to attend. We did, and I was impressed, not so much by the music but by the Christ-centered preaching., After speaking with the pastor he offered me the opportunity to preach monthly and do Sunday Bible Class. So, I became a part time pastor at a church featuring contemporary, band-led, music, which, as time went by, I began to somewhat enjoy and appreciate. So, I do have a platform for perhaps honestly evaluating the place of contemporary Christian music in the life of the Lutheran congregation. (I do say "Lutheran" for a specific reason that will become evident.)
First of all, I really do not care what instruments are used to lead Sunday morning worship. Psalm 150 makes it quite clear that any instrument can be used to praise and worship God. With that being said, in my opinion, it is difficult to beat organ-led worship if the organist knows how to play the instrument and is playing the hymn, not merely the same notes four or five times in a row. I might have some difficulty worshipping to music led by bagpipes or whatever they use to accompany their music in the Islamic world. Traditionalism is not the issue, nor should it be.
I do think we need to be careful of a couple distortions. One of the notions of the 1943 "Latter Rain Movement," which was a precursor to the later Charismatic Movement, was that "praise and worship will usher God into our presence." Or, if you will, "sing 'til the Spirit comes" (or you drop, whichever comes first). The fact is, God is already present. Let us worship Him. Also, the repetition of words or phrases can have a "mantra" effect leading to a "brainless" response. One of the popular choruses of the past was the singing of the word "alleluia" eight times over to an enchanting melody. It was a rather emotional experience. Speaking at a pastor's conference some years ago I made the comment in passing that using the word "pepperoni" rather than "alleluia" would produce the same effect. I got a rather angry letter from the District President of that region telling me that I had ruined his favorite chorus. Poor fellow, now every time he sang the chorus he thought of pizza. There is a place in the historic liturgy for the repetitive use of singing the word "alleluia" but in response to the Word of God that came before, not merely to stir emotions.
Music and singing is an excellent medium for the communication of truth, or, as was the case of the fourth century heretic Arius, the communication of error. Arius, a prelate in Alexandria, taught that Jesus was inferior to the Father, and he disseminated his views, not merely by proposition, but by writing little choruses and jingles containing his heresy and setting them to simple popular melodies. The church father Athanasius defined the songs of Arius as being “depraved and effeminate,” yet his jingles became very popular. It has been suggested that since Alexandria was a major seaport, some of his jingles containing his false doctrine were sung by sailors and in this way the heresy spread from port to port. While the Council of Nicea in 325 settled the Arian issue theologically, the tunes of Arius remained popular among the common folk.
Martin Luther was responsible for introducing congregational singing. Music was always a part of sixteenth century worship but featured a choir, usually a boys’ choir. It was a performance. Luther believed that for the Reformation to be successful among the common people, theology had to be expressed in song. Contrary to Calvin, who gave little import to music and Zwingli who rejected it, Luther believed that music was second in importance to theology and said, "Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise." In 1524, working together with George Speratus, Luther published the first hymnal which contained eight songs. In subsequent years working with Johann Walther and Justin Jonas, the hymnal was frequently enlarged as Luther wrote more hymns.
Why did Martin Luther believe that congregational singing was vitally important for the spread of the Reformation? After perusing everything Luther said about music on my Luther’s Works DVD, I believe there were three primary reasons.
First, in agreement with Arius, Luther believed that doctrine could be effectively communicated in song. Music produces an earworm. If the common folk could be motivated to sing popular melodies containing doctrinal truth, that truth would infect the heart and mind. Many of Luther’s hymns were written to teach truth. For example, “We All Believe in One True God” teaches the doctrine of the Trinity. “Our Father, who from Heaven Above” teaches the Lord’s Prayer. “These are the Holy Ten Commandments” obviously in ten stanzas teaches the Ten Commandments, “Dear Christians One and All Rejoice” teaches the entire plan of salvation also in ten stanzas. This is just to name a few.
Secondly, while there are some today who fear emotions as if they were a plague, this was most certainly not the view of Martin Luther. He wrote: “We can mention only one point (which experience confirms), namely, that next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. She is a mistress and governess of those human emotions which as masters govern men or more often overwhelm them. No greater commendation than this can be found—at least not by us.” He said, “There is no doubt that there are many seeds of good qualities in the minds of those who are moved by music. Those, however, who are not moved [by music] I believe are definitely like stumps [of wood] and blocks of stone.”
It is one thing to propositionally understand that our sins are forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus and that we are righteous before God because of the righteousness of Christ, it is another thing to sing with gusto and emotion, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” If the emotions of the one singing those words are not affected, they are either ignorant of the truth or are, as Luther put it, “blocks of stone.” Luther believed that the truth of the Gospel must infect the total man: intellect, will and emotions. For this reason, theology is king, but music is queen.
Thirdly, theology must lead to doxology. When the Holy Spirit brings a person to faith through the Gospel and they realize that their sins are forgiven, they are righteous before God, and going to heaven, how can they not praise and worship God? So, Luther wrote numerous songs of praise including “O Lord, We Praise Thee, Bless Thee and Adore Thee,” “All Glory be to God Alone,” and of course, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”
If the purpose of congregational singing is to present truth, stir the heart and emotions, and to respond to theology with doxology, my major criticism of Contemporary Christian Music is that it often does not produce congregational singing, especially if the song is so contemporary that no one but the so-called praise team is familiar with it. Similar to the music sung in the pre-Reformation church, it becomes a performance, not by a boys’ choir, but by a praise team. There is a marked difference in so-called contemporary churches between the usual Sunday morning worship and the worship at Christmas and Easter when the traditional hymns and carols, known to the congregation, are sung. I am quite certain the pastor would receive numerous complaints from the people if all new contemporary Christmas songs were sung on Christmas Eve, unknown to the congregation, in place of the traditional carols.
The Sunday morning exception to this is when songs are sung that have been around for a number of years. The very popular "In Christ Alone" (Getty/Townend) was written in 2001. “Christ Cornerstone,” a beautiful rendition of the hymn “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” was released by Hillsong in 2012 and most Lutherans already know the hymn. The beautiful song by Matt Redman, “Jesus, Only Jesus” was released in 2013 as was Glen Packiam’s “The Mystery of the Faith.” I really enjoy singing these songs because I am familiar with them. My all-time favorite is “Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective which came out in 2012. Anyone who is not stirred by this song would qualify for Martin’s Luther’s description as a “block of stone.”
This raises the question, when is contemporary Christian music no longer contemporary? If a song has been sung for ten to twenty years, is it contemporary or traditional? Perhaps contemporary worship leaders should establish a benchmark: at the point where the congregation knows the song and participates in the singing marks the song as traditional and should be replaced by something “really” contemporary. If that is the case, perhaps we need to replace praise teams with boys’ choirs.
There are so many great hymns of the Church that deserve to be sung. Many of them can easily be converted to chords and accompanied by a praise band. Why not? Our people are being robbed of a great heritage. “Well,” the complaint goes, “they are traditional, not contemporary.” But why are they old and traditional? For the simple reason that they have endured the test of time and have been aiding Christians in expressing their faith for generations. Having endured the test of time is an apologetic for the truth of the Word of God. If a hymn has endured the test of time and has been joyfully sung by Christians for many generations, why does that make it bad and worthy of the trash heap to be replaced by a contemporary song no one in the congregation knows? That is absolute foolishness.
This raises the additional question: how many of the contemporary Christian songs popular today will stand the test of time and be sung by Christians in generations to come. I would say few if any. There is no doubt that one of the banner Christian songs of our time is “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me. The development of this song was turned into a popular movie. I think it is a great song and depicts the joy of being in heaven and seeing Jesus face-to-face. In 1830, Thomas Rawson Taylor wrote the song “I’m but a Stranger Here, Heaven is my Home.” The song reflects the same sentiments as “I Can Only Imagine.” Since “I’m But a Stranger Here” is published in 600 hymnals it will continue to be sung for generations to come while “I Can Only Imagine” will be all but forgotten.
If the music being sung in the church today was meeting the expectations of Martin Luther, I honestly believe he would strap on his lute (a form of guitar which Luther played very well) and join a praise band.
First of all, I really do not care what instruments are used to lead Sunday morning worship. Psalm 150 makes it quite clear that any instrument can be used to praise and worship God. With that being said, in my opinion, it is difficult to beat organ-led worship if the organist knows how to play the instrument and is playing the hymn, not merely the same notes four or five times in a row. I might have some difficulty worshipping to music led by bagpipes or whatever they use to accompany their music in the Islamic world. Traditionalism is not the issue, nor should it be.
I do think we need to be careful of a couple distortions. One of the notions of the 1943 "Latter Rain Movement," which was a precursor to the later Charismatic Movement, was that "praise and worship will usher God into our presence." Or, if you will, "sing 'til the Spirit comes" (or you drop, whichever comes first). The fact is, God is already present. Let us worship Him. Also, the repetition of words or phrases can have a "mantra" effect leading to a "brainless" response. One of the popular choruses of the past was the singing of the word "alleluia" eight times over to an enchanting melody. It was a rather emotional experience. Speaking at a pastor's conference some years ago I made the comment in passing that using the word "pepperoni" rather than "alleluia" would produce the same effect. I got a rather angry letter from the District President of that region telling me that I had ruined his favorite chorus. Poor fellow, now every time he sang the chorus he thought of pizza. There is a place in the historic liturgy for the repetitive use of singing the word "alleluia" but in response to the Word of God that came before, not merely to stir emotions.
Music and singing is an excellent medium for the communication of truth, or, as was the case of the fourth century heretic Arius, the communication of error. Arius, a prelate in Alexandria, taught that Jesus was inferior to the Father, and he disseminated his views, not merely by proposition, but by writing little choruses and jingles containing his heresy and setting them to simple popular melodies. The church father Athanasius defined the songs of Arius as being “depraved and effeminate,” yet his jingles became very popular. It has been suggested that since Alexandria was a major seaport, some of his jingles containing his false doctrine were sung by sailors and in this way the heresy spread from port to port. While the Council of Nicea in 325 settled the Arian issue theologically, the tunes of Arius remained popular among the common folk.
Martin Luther was responsible for introducing congregational singing. Music was always a part of sixteenth century worship but featured a choir, usually a boys’ choir. It was a performance. Luther believed that for the Reformation to be successful among the common people, theology had to be expressed in song. Contrary to Calvin, who gave little import to music and Zwingli who rejected it, Luther believed that music was second in importance to theology and said, "Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise." In 1524, working together with George Speratus, Luther published the first hymnal which contained eight songs. In subsequent years working with Johann Walther and Justin Jonas, the hymnal was frequently enlarged as Luther wrote more hymns.
Why did Martin Luther believe that congregational singing was vitally important for the spread of the Reformation? After perusing everything Luther said about music on my Luther’s Works DVD, I believe there were three primary reasons.
First, in agreement with Arius, Luther believed that doctrine could be effectively communicated in song. Music produces an earworm. If the common folk could be motivated to sing popular melodies containing doctrinal truth, that truth would infect the heart and mind. Many of Luther’s hymns were written to teach truth. For example, “We All Believe in One True God” teaches the doctrine of the Trinity. “Our Father, who from Heaven Above” teaches the Lord’s Prayer. “These are the Holy Ten Commandments” obviously in ten stanzas teaches the Ten Commandments, “Dear Christians One and All Rejoice” teaches the entire plan of salvation also in ten stanzas. This is just to name a few.
Secondly, while there are some today who fear emotions as if they were a plague, this was most certainly not the view of Martin Luther. He wrote: “We can mention only one point (which experience confirms), namely, that next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. She is a mistress and governess of those human emotions which as masters govern men or more often overwhelm them. No greater commendation than this can be found—at least not by us.” He said, “There is no doubt that there are many seeds of good qualities in the minds of those who are moved by music. Those, however, who are not moved [by music] I believe are definitely like stumps [of wood] and blocks of stone.”
It is one thing to propositionally understand that our sins are forgiven through the shed blood of Jesus and that we are righteous before God because of the righteousness of Christ, it is another thing to sing with gusto and emotion, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” If the emotions of the one singing those words are not affected, they are either ignorant of the truth or are, as Luther put it, “blocks of stone.” Luther believed that the truth of the Gospel must infect the total man: intellect, will and emotions. For this reason, theology is king, but music is queen.
Thirdly, theology must lead to doxology. When the Holy Spirit brings a person to faith through the Gospel and they realize that their sins are forgiven, they are righteous before God, and going to heaven, how can they not praise and worship God? So, Luther wrote numerous songs of praise including “O Lord, We Praise Thee, Bless Thee and Adore Thee,” “All Glory be to God Alone,” and of course, “A Mighty Fortress is our God.”
If the purpose of congregational singing is to present truth, stir the heart and emotions, and to respond to theology with doxology, my major criticism of Contemporary Christian Music is that it often does not produce congregational singing, especially if the song is so contemporary that no one but the so-called praise team is familiar with it. Similar to the music sung in the pre-Reformation church, it becomes a performance, not by a boys’ choir, but by a praise team. There is a marked difference in so-called contemporary churches between the usual Sunday morning worship and the worship at Christmas and Easter when the traditional hymns and carols, known to the congregation, are sung. I am quite certain the pastor would receive numerous complaints from the people if all new contemporary Christmas songs were sung on Christmas Eve, unknown to the congregation, in place of the traditional carols.
The Sunday morning exception to this is when songs are sung that have been around for a number of years. The very popular "In Christ Alone" (Getty/Townend) was written in 2001. “Christ Cornerstone,” a beautiful rendition of the hymn “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” was released by Hillsong in 2012 and most Lutherans already know the hymn. The beautiful song by Matt Redman, “Jesus, Only Jesus” was released in 2013 as was Glen Packiam’s “The Mystery of the Faith.” I really enjoy singing these songs because I am familiar with them. My all-time favorite is “Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective which came out in 2012. Anyone who is not stirred by this song would qualify for Martin’s Luther’s description as a “block of stone.”
This raises the question, when is contemporary Christian music no longer contemporary? If a song has been sung for ten to twenty years, is it contemporary or traditional? Perhaps contemporary worship leaders should establish a benchmark: at the point where the congregation knows the song and participates in the singing marks the song as traditional and should be replaced by something “really” contemporary. If that is the case, perhaps we need to replace praise teams with boys’ choirs.
There are so many great hymns of the Church that deserve to be sung. Many of them can easily be converted to chords and accompanied by a praise band. Why not? Our people are being robbed of a great heritage. “Well,” the complaint goes, “they are traditional, not contemporary.” But why are they old and traditional? For the simple reason that they have endured the test of time and have been aiding Christians in expressing their faith for generations. Having endured the test of time is an apologetic for the truth of the Word of God. If a hymn has endured the test of time and has been joyfully sung by Christians for many generations, why does that make it bad and worthy of the trash heap to be replaced by a contemporary song no one in the congregation knows? That is absolute foolishness.
This raises the additional question: how many of the contemporary Christian songs popular today will stand the test of time and be sung by Christians in generations to come. I would say few if any. There is no doubt that one of the banner Christian songs of our time is “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me. The development of this song was turned into a popular movie. I think it is a great song and depicts the joy of being in heaven and seeing Jesus face-to-face. In 1830, Thomas Rawson Taylor wrote the song “I’m but a Stranger Here, Heaven is my Home.” The song reflects the same sentiments as “I Can Only Imagine.” Since “I’m But a Stranger Here” is published in 600 hymnals it will continue to be sung for generations to come while “I Can Only Imagine” will be all but forgotten.
If the music being sung in the church today was meeting the expectations of Martin Luther, I honestly believe he would strap on his lute (a form of guitar which Luther played very well) and join a praise band.
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