For all those who attend church regularly: Hell, for those who listen to any form of music and enjoy singing along with the words...
Do you really listen to what you’re singing? How often is it that we learn lyrics to a song, worship or otherwise, and we soon forget what it is we’re saying? We have this very special gift of memorization as humans, the reason why most music is pleasing to our ear (there’s actually a specific pitch of sound in music that’s said to have the most positive effects on humans), the reason we find ourselves in tears after a particularly moving melody, the reason why our very attitude can change after hearing a specific song at a particular point in our lives. Like advertising and other blatant media-type schemes we’re so so susceptible to audible forms of manipulation and even coercion.
Now, I’ll be the first to admit this. You could see me on my feet, singing at the top of my lungs during high school summer camps. At Tuesday night youth group I was more than happy to be in the front row, surrounded by a group of friends, belting out lyrics to my “favorite” worship song. Mostly my favorite because it was repetitive and easy to remember. I myself am more susceptible to musical forms of manipulation more than others. When I buy a new CD, I take every song I hear to heart immediately, apply it at every point in my life, let it change and move me as if the musicians were singing and playing especially for me.
Then okay, that’s fine, but when I think about worship songs, I don’t want something that rolls off the tongue easily; something that comes out of my mouth before I have time to read the words on the screen and truly take them to heart. Isn’t the point of worship music to point to God? It’s not the catchy phrases, how high you jump, how far your arms reach; if your eyes are opened or closed. I know most music has been accused of causing things to happen in the past. According to various news stories, it has affected teenagers all over the world negatively and even caused them to commit crimes. But the problem isn’t the violent heavy metal or depressing screamo, it’s the manipulation of letting people believe they are truly loving and worshiping God when they have no idea what is coming out of their mouths.
When the performance on stage becomes more important than the music itself, when the voice singing becomes more beautiful than the words of God whispered in the singers ear… that is where the real harm is done. I’d rather be screaming out lyrics like “With no sense of direction, I am lost and can’t ask a question” and really meaning it, remembering what it meant to Jason (the person who gave me the CD), thinking back on the first time I heard it and why it appeals to me… than mindlessly droning on about God with much less zeal and really without any opinion on the song at all.
How do we take worship music and make it into something much more? I have no idea. Maybe this is just my personal experience. I feel a little ashamed that I never really sat back to think about any of it until recently. I’m also not suggesting that every worship song is used to manipulate or that none of it means anything. I am simply questioning the validity of it and the probability of decreasing value over the years. I’m sorry, but I am not moved when I go to a church of thousands, with thirty musicians and attractive singers on stage. It feels like a performance and I’m there to watch the show. In no way does my mind drift to thoughts and images of God.
At the porch, I feel like we do things a little differently. Of course, I’m biased because I’ve been there since the beginning and have just generally liked the way we do our services. But Peter stands in the back, behind everyone, with one guitar, and sings. He doesn’t repeat the song over, and over (Once, a friend of mine timed a worship song out to 26 minutes of the same two lines). He sings the song through, maybe repeats the chorus, and it ends. He has a great voice, easy to sing along with, and he’s personable about it. He’s just another guy, who was just sitting next to you on the couch, and is now playing his guitar. The songs he chooses are real, with lyrics like “Love your neighbor you said, but have you seen them God?” At times I’m skeptical, yes. I get sick of some of the cheesy songs easily, or I analyze the lyrics. I just don’t want to become a mindless drone. I want to mean what I say, especially if I’m supposedly singing it in an act of worship to God. But I think at the porch (and I’m sure many other churches) some people are getting the right idea about songs at church. Or getting a little closer to it.
I try to imagine the Psalms. Like, when they were first written. What they must have meant to the psalmist and how they’ve been contorted today. Music is so special, I imagine it wasn’t much different or less special to people at the time they were written.
I… don’t really have a conclusion about this or anything else to say. Those were just some thoughts I had after re-visiting the summer camp I went to in high school last week. They had a boy-band type worship band and… it actually made me a little nauseous. That I was just as brainwashed and into it as those kids. I don’t know, maybe I’m taking it to an extreme, but I think there’s a tiny bit of truth in there. Why else would there be “contemporary” services at certain churches, or only one type of “band” for worship at high school camps, with attractive male singers and more of a light show than anything else? Why would we write songs specifically for youth, and use older hymns and such for the old people? We tend to take advantage of the fact that certain people groups like certain music, and forget that God likes all types of music. Its written all for HIM, not a specific group of kids.
I don’t even know why I get so riled up about this in my mind, especially after last week, considering I’ve been saying for the past few months that I don’t want to go to church, can’t pay attention, and don’t really care at all. I’m a weird person.
But whatever.
Thoughts, anyone?
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