Hymns, Songs and Spiritual Songs

Basically, I'm a product of the 70's. I went through Jr. High, High School, and College all through the '70's. I loved most of the music then, certainly the music of the '60's, and, as a young adult, the music of the '80's. I've been through the '90's and well into the new millennium and there is a lot of music - folk, rock, and alternative - that I like. There has and is some I can't stand but generally, I like most of it.

Contemporary Christian Music (CCM), as it is called, started to come into it's own in the late '60's but I really didn't discover it until I was in Jr. High. I don't recall who I first heard that caught my attention - "ah, songs about Jesus that have a beat" - but I realized that CCM consisted of a little more "depth" than the (non-Christian artists) Doobie Brothers' "Jesus Is Just Alright With Me" or Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky," to name just two. And yet, even if they lacked "theological depth" they had great catchy music and singable lyrics.

My first exposure to CCM was at Jr. High summer church camp, when the "speaker" consisted of a folk rock trio. They were REALLY good, funny, and sang - and not just "Christian" music - all in the context of a message and, to my surprise, worship. It was a new experience to me and I LOVED IT, as did the rest of the camp. What a let down it was to come home and find yourself back to singing from the hymnal, with piano and organ, songs that, if they caused any swaying, was from boredom, not from rhythm.

So, I embraced CCM and bought what I could get my hands on. For thought provoking and challenging lyrics, it was Larry Norman and Randy Stonehill. For sweet, uplifting songs, it was Honeytree. Maranatha was on the rise as the worship music leaders. Love Song, Phil Keaggy and Paul Clark had depth both in their musicianship and lyrics. Resurrection Band gave a rockier edge to their music, as did DeGarmo and Key. This was who and what I listened to then. Now, well, the list is way too long. But then, often, I would almost prefer the secular music over the CCM because the music seemed fuller, harder, more expressive, experimental. I remember a friend who bought a new CCM album by some artist that was being praised as the best new CCM artist out there and, upon listening, took off the LP and threw it out the window. "Yeah, their right, he does make the best CCM Frisbee out there!" Any question about what he felt?

All this to lead me here: after all these years, there is still this ongoing discussion about hymns (the traditional, from the hymnal, kind) and contemporary worship music. There are still those who are adamant about using ONLY hymns/gospel music in church and those who don't want anything resembling a hymn sung in their service. Then there are people like me who say, "I want both."

And here is why. Typically, most hymns have far more depth and theology than most contemporary worship music. When you sing a Charles Wesley hymn, you get a treatise on salvation and grace; when you sing a cont. worship song, you get praise and adoration but not much theology. Both have their place, both must have a place in worship. My issue is more about musical STYLE when it comes to "traditional" verses "contemporary." I love the piano and organ but after a while it can feel like your at a funeral.

Worship should be expressive, should have a feeling of life in it, should involve our senses. I mean, c'mon, we're worshiping our holy, magnificent God who has given us life and salvation. That should keep us on our feet and clapping for at least a minute or two! "Contemporary" music (aside from the lyrics) at least offers a little more energy than "traditional" music does over the long haul. Usually. I agree with Larry Norman, who sang in his song, "Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music":

I ain't knocking the hymns,

Just give me a song that has a beat.

I ain't knocking the hymns,

Just give me a song that moves my feet.

I don't like none of those funeral marches

I ain't dead yet!

Now, if my mother were to respond to this (and probably my Dad), she would disagree with me (and I know I will hear from her about this), and she would be right. This is my opinion as it comes out of my experience. Hers is very different from mine. She loves the hymns, she loves the choir, she loves the gospel songs, she loves the sound of piano and organ working their way through a hymn, culminating in a crescendo on the last verse. And so do I.

But there sits in every congregation people with varying backgrounds and musical tastes. Do we not have an responsibility in our churches to do all that we can to offer different "aspects" and "styles" in the worship experience that people can at least find something to connect with? It may be contemporary, it may be gospel (southern and otherwise), it may be traditional, it may be country (is there such a thing as country worship music?), it may be jazz, etc.

(Just a side note: the new Baptist Hymnal (it's also called the Worship Hymnal) is one of the best I have seen of late. It is a great combination of traditional, gospel, and contemporary, with many opportunities to segue from one style into another. United Methodist Hymnal Committee, take notice!)

Of course, music is just one component of the worship experience but it is a huge part that can, no, does have a huge impact on the spirit/feeling/experience of worship. If the music is bad, boring, slow, then the service will often be perceived as the same.

But we must not just settle on worship "lite" - songs that have very little theological depth. Simple does not have to mean "shallow." But "depth" doesn't have to mean boring. What message do we send about our faith in Christ when that is how our worship experience comes across? Again, to quote Larry Norman:

I want the people to know that he saved my soul

But I still like to listen to the radio.

They say rock 'n' roll is wrong,

we'll give you one more chance.

I say I feel so good I gotta get up and dance.

I know what's right, I know what's wrong,

I don't confuse it.

All I'm really trying to say

Is why should the devil have all the good music?

I feel good every day

'Cause Jesus is the rock and he rolled my blues away.

To close, I invite you to read the following article: "Your Guide to Contemporary Music."

I have no doubt you will find it very insightful and inspiring!

So, let us take our hymnals and turn to page....

Streams of Thought

I was sitting outside on the front porch earlier this evening, listening to the rain, watching it splash on the cement, and I started having a stream of thoughts: about wisdom - human and Godly; about love - between a husband and wife, between friend and friend, between strangers, my love for God and his love for me; about my responsibility to others - those I know, those I don't; about hope and faith - the things that make i weak and those that make it stronger. It was a fluid stream of thought, nothing I could hang on to but something streaming through my head. Mixed in the thoughts were pieces of Scripture that related to those streaming thoughts, like leaves floating on top of the water.

Later, much later, in the evening, I stumbled upon a website for Andrew Zuckerman Photography and there was a video posted on his site, by him, entitled, "Wisdom." As I watched it, I found myself having those thoughts again but this time more as a walker along the stream, observing and seeing it all from a different perspective. So I share this video with you. What stirred the waters for me was what I know God says about wisdom - our need for wisdom that comes from Him; our need for true love - the kind that comes from knowing Christ, which has a way of transforming us; how we are called to care for others - by expressing Christ-like love to all those who are around us; how doubt has a strange way about it - serving as "the ants in the pants of faith (Fredrick Buechner)."

Here is the video. After watching, take a "walk" by whatever stream it causes to flow by you - but also be sure that you watch for the stirrings in the water by the hand of God.

Nothing New Under the Musical Sun?

I was sitting in my office at home today, watching my wife work on her resume and online applications for a job, and me laying out the basics for next Sunday's sermon. In the background music was playing, sort of a melodic white noise which would cause either one or both of us to begin to sing along, softly, as we worked. It hit me, though, while I was listening to the music, that I haven't heard anything lately that has really grabbed me. I've been listening to some good stuff but nothing that made me sit up and truly listen and go "wow". Most music of late has just served as "white noise" and that bothers me. It bothers me because I can't remember hearing anything in a while that has grabbed me and made me giddy with delight or moved me, not just my feet but my head and heart. Is it because artists have finally written everything new that there was to be written and now their left with simply trying to recycle it with just enough slant to make it seem new?

I was listening to some of the music on the radio that my daughter listens to while we were on a trip to the beach the other day. After three songs in a row I honestly couldn't tell you when one song ended and the other began. And lyrically, there was no depth, no meaning that I could tell, no emotion. Just synthetic, computerized vocals and rhythm. (I have heard similar words once upon a time - when I was a teen and my parents listened to my music but really, it's really different now, right?) After a few songs I couldn't take it anymore and I had to change. Of course, what I listen to is just "old man" music. Really?!!!!? You just can't reason with a teenager these days!

I remember, when I was in my teens and into my 30's, hearing songs from an album (LP) on the radio and running to the store and purchasing it, going straight home, putting it on the player and then reading every word on the linear notes (the lyrics, who played what, all that stuff) while the music played. Then, when I was done, I would play the album over again and just listen to the music and the lyrics. There were times when it seemed like a mystical experience. Listening to Yes' "Close to the Edge" or "Tales From Topographic Oceans" or Jackson Browne's "The Pretender" or Larry Norman's "In Another Land" or.....there have been a few others. Or remember those rare occasions when you stumbled on an unknown artist and you went "wow!" and you couldn't wait to share their work with others - they were unique, their music was different, their lyrics was full of pathos or empathy or energy or hope or... But it just seems that those special moments have become fewer and farer between. Of all the CD's and downloads that I have, and I have a few, there are only a small number that still impact me like they did when I first heard them. All the others are nice, and I enjoy, but just don't haven't maintained that energy like they first did.

I miss those musical mystical moments. Maybe it's because I'm getting older (could my daughter be right?). I'm willing to admit that. But I do think there's more to it than that. I try to be open in my musical tastes; I do make an effort to check out a CD/download when a friend or reviewer recommends it. But I am still often left yearning for more. It's nice, I enjoyed it, but where's the power, the impact?

I wonder if the fact that we now simply download songs, and not entire album's/CD's, and therefore don't have the "package" that often helps draw the listener into the process of the music. You download what you want and often skip what doesn't grab you, which removes the opportunity for those songs to "grow" on you or help set up the other songs. You know what I mean?

Well, anyway, I was just thinking and wondering. Not sure if any of this makes sense to anyone else. It may be just all in my head - which is where good music has its greatest impact but moves the heart.

Speaking of head and heart, I think I'll put on John Mark McMillan's "The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down" and Number One Gun's "The North Pole Project" or 16 Horsepower's "Live March 2001" or just about anything by U2 (I know, I need to move on from this U2 kick I have been on for a while). There is something in these albums that is powerful and riveting, unique and different, deep and stirring.

What music have you found that has created those mystical moments for you? I'd really like to know.