I have just seen an advert during Coronation Street for the triple CD Album “More best worship songs ever”. I JUST DON’T GET IT. And I don’t get it from so many angles. I don’t get many worship songs, in fact I turned to my son in a church service today and asked him if he knew what the chorus was on about. “Nope” he replied with a shrug. He may only be 9 but my response as a 34 yr old was “me neither“. I don’t get them at the best of time, let alone advertising a CD of them. I recognise that many people value and find a help from chorus’ but I don’t get the context, rarely understand the point of singing those words in the context they are being used in. I don’t get how they are “worship” songs or a time of worship. I don’t get coming into the presence of God. I don’t get the lack of resonance with current music culture. I don’t get the all too often acoustic guitar thing, that feels like I should don a cowboy hat. I guess my sister who is a country and western freak might line dance to some, but she wouldn’t get them either. I don’t get the consumerism of many songs. I don’t get the lack of community, I don’t get the individualism or the triumphalism. I JUST DON’T GET IT.
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Miz said…
Richard i totally understand where you are coming from. It perplexes me that “more best worship songs ever” should even exist. I mean, if you have already released “best worship songs ever” how can there be more??? Plus a triple CD is overkill!
I think the issue is the culture of the Christian Worship Leader hero culture. Now i “do” the guitar thing once in a while but I would like to add that worship flows from a community not from a leader. Worship leaders have become their own phenomenon at the moment. True worship i believe comes from the heart of the community… so nowadays when all churches do is use other songs from other communities I am sure that something will be lacking. I am not saying that all new songs are bad and can’t be transferred into other places, i just believe that it is the consumerist nature of churches who want the latest worship, over the right worship, who are getting it wrong… so “more best worship songs…” is a sub-cultural phenomenon.
To be culturally authentic (and as a community)is hard when communities are asked to connect to God through songs which don’t reflect the members. Perhaps the reason we are unable to connect with some worship songs is because they are not “ours” and we don’t get the meaning. No style, no tune or melody can make up for the depth of a song which connects with you and your communities expression of God.
Anyway, what’s your flava?
7:58 AM
Pete said…
Pete Ward’s Selling Worship goes some way in explaining/documenting all this – worth a look!
9:45 AM
Kyrie said…
Hi i have just finsihed reading your article on “More best worship songs ever” and may i just say that i have both the ablums and i think that they are great they really help me to worship, its great to have modern worsip music that is actually good, but not only good but helps young people, like myself relate to it.
10:54 AM
Richard Passmore said…
Thanks for dropping Kyrie I am glad you enjoy the albums and they are revelent to you. I would be interested to hear how else you worship and what other types of music you are into as many young people I come into contact with dont relate to this kind of music.
11:46 AM
Anonymous said…
i am wary of the title of this cd that says- ‘best worship songs ever!’. surely from a christian perspective this isn’t right?! i’ve got the cd, and like the mix of songs on it- i’m 19 yrs old, + too often i just end up buying the latest albums of artists that i like with all new songs on them, whereas this cd has got a good mix of old+new, cos some of the old ones are classics and certainly shouldn’t be forgotton!
as for the worship leader comment- i think it depends on the attitude of ur own heart. a few yrs ago i made this mistake (when i was younger +possibly not as wise!), but i was also a teenage girl + some of them are fairly attractive! however God set my heart right, + i now respect them as being gifted to lead people into worship but with no other connotations.
if u don’t get many worship songs, why don’t u ask God to reveal to u what his heart was in inspriring that song to be written? its something i’ve started to do as i’ve realised that just because i don’t like the song doesn’t mean i shouldn’t worship God thru it, + i’ve asked him to give me his heart for that song.
i’ll agree with the guitar comment! although i like it- for many churches moving on from using an organ in church has seemed to mean always using a guitar instead, when God gave us many different instruments with which to praise him with.
but the bottom line of it all is- we should be worshipping God in everything we do, + too often we seem to limit worship to just singing songs, when he deserves the glory in everything we do!
6:59 PM
Awesome topic. Since when did worship only become music? I worship the Creator when I see the cherry trees blooming in the spring.
Also, I want to pick up on the phrase ‘Triumphalism’ (mentioned in the original post). I know for many US citizens, just being Canadian lumps me into a left-wing anti-American category. I am not anti-American, but my perspective is from outside of the fishtank. I’m still trying to understand the complexities of your nation. Triumphalism is a good word though. Here’s a quote from a related article:
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
I’m tempted to think that much of ‘our’ practice of worship takes a very Old Testament form and doesn’t recognise the fact that we worship with out whole lives and all that we do.
This seems similar to the concept that the US thinks of itself in a similar way to Old Testament Israel – the chosen nation bringing judgment to the Earth!
How come so many Chrstians are unhealthily stuck in so many OT traditions?
By the way, Sunday Papers hails from the UK – we’re outside of the fishtank too! 🙂