I'm sure you've probably heard this one before - and for all the right reasons! Its usually in the context of using 'contemporary' (insert appropriate genre here!) music in church, and coming against opposition that claims that the particular genre is irreverent, debauched...or just plain from the devil! Against this (rightly) comes the declaration that "There's no such thing as Christian music..." - there is no one genre or style that is more sacred or holy than any other - its just our traditions or cultures that tries to assert this. Of course there can be unhelpful stuff associated with particular styles or genres...but that is not inherent in the music as such. Pipe organs are no holier than post-rock, pop-punk or psych-trance.
However, we need to be careful. In defending this truth, the pendulum can easily swing to the conclusion that our choice of music style or genre is irrelevant...that music is purely the 'culturally appropriate' box in which to place christian lyrics. Yes, it is critical that our music is culturally appropriate...but we must think beyond that. What does the style of music we choose communicate? What music is going to serve our people best? Are there some genres that are more appropriate than others for use in church? Here's a few things worth thinking about when choosing songs and shaping our churches music cultures to get the conversation going...
- Does the genre or style encourage your church to participate? Is it easy for Joe Normal to join in? Does it leave space for singing as a group? For example, while the lyrical style of rap / hip-hop has an extraordinary capacity for expressing complex thought and truth, its may not be the easiest genre to join in with. Some styles are just melodically complex - will people be constantly learning songs, but never 'owning' them as their own? On the other side, there's a lot of indie stuff coming out featuring big 'gang' vocals...what is the potential for these styles in our churches?
- Does the emotion of the music align with and enhance the content and sentiment of the lyrics? I think there's two sides to this issue. Firstly, I think we generally have a very limited emotional vocabulary in our worship music - we have songs and music that express joy and longing (which we need!) but not much more. How can we encourage more songs of justice, lament, repentance, even anger (just look at the Psalms!)...and what would be appropriate musical settings for them? But secondly, I often hear lyric / music 'mash ups' - where lyrics are put to music with no thought to how that music adds or detracts to the message of the lyrics. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about - the upbeat, hand clapping songs of lament, or the dirgey, funeral marches declaring our joy!! Yes, there's no 'Christian' genres...but surely some will be more appropriate than others for different occasions or expressions...
- Should we immediately rule out styles or genre's that aren't totally culturally aligned? We had an example of this the other day at Kirkplace - during a service celebrating God's work in Africa, we set a familiar song to what might be loosely described as an 'afrobeat' style. Now, I wouldn't say that's our kind of culture, but nevertheless, it really helped our church express great joy in that moment! Why not at other times? Or is it culturally inappropriate? Again, while I'm sure 95% of our church would have no idea that Sigur Ros or Mogwai are bands...let alone know what they sound like...we often successfully borrow post-rock ideas to help express God's majesty and grandeur. Some genres seem to lend themselves to expressing different things...should they be excluded because they don't fit the predominant cultural context of the church?
Anyway, there's some thoughts to provoke some opinions! What do you think? Does style and genre matter? Is there a place for dubstep or art-pop or screamo (or even pipe organs!) in our church contexts...or should we stick to the well worn path of the middle ground?? Over to you...
Hi Trev
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The whole is issue of music is purely subjective. Whatever we choose to play needs to be appropriate to the context and culture. As a musician with a long history in improvised music I have heard on many occasions that my playing is detrimental to worship, that playing a guitar solo is all about me, etc.
These comments hive generally come from people who don't know me nor have ever really listened to me play in church. The amusing thing at my church is that a lot of the oldies tell me that it is disappointing that I am not given the chance ti really go for it in our services as they feel it is an act of worship when I play. These are people in the 65 + category so not what one always encounters with that demographic.
As with everything, grace is paramount with how we approach music, along with having an attitude of a servant. When I was employed as the music director of my church I told the musicians nice that I really didn't care for any of the music we played but I knew it worked with most of our people and that was important, and I was there to serve the congregation and as a musician serve the song, not feel the need to have a whinge because I didn't get to play what truly moved me.
And when people start making assertions that one particular style of music is sinful or worldly, it seems to be born out of ignorance. If we actually follow those arguments thorugh to their logical end they do not have a lot of credence.
What does concern me is that the music of the church is so often so poor. We - being connected to the greatest creative dynamic in the universe - should reflect that in everything we do. Music coming from the church, irrespective of genre, should be awesome. Everything we do should be awesome. Christians should be leading society in every aspect, instead of getting hung up with petty
squabbles .
Take care
Not to cross-pollinate, but these gentlemen with very Christ-centered hearts have really been inspiring me with my own music ministry work lately. Especially check out the 700 Club segment that they were featured on, in the Videos section of the site. Not your usual church music, but their words speak volumes:
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