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Worship or American Idol-atry? — Jon Gabriel
My wife and I have dragged our daughters to many churches over the past several years. We’ve enjoyed most of the sermons, congregations, programs and pastors, and my wife has liked most of the music. As for me, I’ve pretty much given up on finding any worship music that doesn’t drive me a bit batty.
For background, I’m a plain-old Christian, sans denomination, though I have enjoyed Lutheran, Baptist, Anglican, Reformed and other congregations over the years. Most of the churches I’ve attended are evangelical, with several that would fit into the “megachurch” category. Most have offered inspiring teaching with solid, if not terribly deep, theology. But the music… oh heavens, the music.
My family tires of my weekly critique of modern church music and architecture, so I figured it was time to inflict it upon a larger audience. (You’re welcome, readers.)
My experience is in the pew not the pulpit, but church music (“worship music” in evangelical parlance) should direct the congregation’s focus to God, not the performers. Too often, I can think of nothing but the guitarist’s hair, the drummer’s kit or the singer’s oversouling.
This weekend, I (shockingly) was enjoying the second song at the Easter service. Sure, it was far too loud, but I was ignoring the band, singing along with the steady meter and focusing on God. All of a sudden I was singing by myself — the leader had veered into some spontaneous arrangement that showcased her unique vocal stylings. The song’s lyrics were still on the screen, but the congregation was lost. Since I could no longer follow along, I just quietly watched her performance, which was followed by extended applause.
This seems less like worship and more like an audition for American Idol. And I hate that show. (Besides, God’s not down with the whole idolatry thing.)
I won’t mention the specific church since this is standard among evangelical megachurches. I assume that most of the musicians have the best of intentions and are probably fine Christians. But week after week, these mini rock concerts grind at my soul. Am I the only one?
This modern version of “worship” also is reflected in church architecture. Many older churches placed a choir loft and an organ way in the back. This genius design prevents the congregation from being distracted by the musicians at the same time it prevents showboating performers. Instead, everyone in attendance has their eyes fixed forward and above, right where they belong.
Consider the opposite end of a traditional church: you have an altar, pulpit, maybe a baptismal, but the eye is directed upwards via the steep ceiling to the towering cross and the heavens above. Contemporary church architecture is wide and low, directing everyone’s attention to the speakers and performers on the main stage.
What once was vertical is now horizontal. Instead of looking to God, we’re staring at his ministers along with their elaborate Power Points. That works for a TED talk, but not for worship.
“Get off my lawn!” he cried. My complaints are not mere curmudgeonry. I love strange, loud music that scares my cat and austere modernist architecture that scares my wife. But when I want to celebrate musicians I go to a concert. At church, I don’t want to applaud singers, celebrate a pastor or focus on myself; I want to worship God. Is that too much to ask?
Published in General
I’ve played bass guitar for my church for over 20 years. I’ve sung in the choir longer. My father is a pastor, and between our church and visiting other pastor friends’ churches throughout my life, I’ve seen just about every kind of worship service there is. The key for me is authenticity and devotion.
Are some people showy? Of course. But is it a conscious thing to draw attention to themselves, or are they so caught up in worship that they think they are giving their best in worship? Well that’s not as easy to answer without knowing the person. If someone comes across as fake, that bothers me, but if they appear sincere, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
I have been to black churches where the worship was so lively that you couldn’t help but make a joyful noise. I’ve been to Greek Orthodox churches where the devotion and solemnity where humbling. I’ve played upbeat contemporary worship music, classic hymns, and simpler folk-style music. God was in all of these places because the hearts of those there were seeking Him.
I’m glad I live in Japan where some traditions are still respected… sometimes. The thought of going to a rock concert or beer hall-like environment for worship completely frosts me. I prefer a simple piano or an organ which allows all of our frail warblings to combine into one worshipful voice to the Lord. See also: “Why Johnny can’t sing hymns” as well as “Why Johnny can’t preach.” Both titles available on Kindle or dead-tree version. Some things our parents and grandparents did are well and truly worth emulating.
I’ve written music for the evangelical church for nearly 40 years. Everything from tradional choral music to songs for contemporary CCM artists.
It’s been my observation in churches using Praise & Worship music that very few congregants further back than the 10th row really sing. They mostly just stand there. If the purpose is corporate worship, then this music fails much of the time.
And for lots of reasons:
As Jon mentioned, the worship leaders have become performers. Good musicians want to perform. Don’t be surprised when the guitarist turns his amp up. He wants to dig his own chili.
Much of the music is so new no one knows the songs except the band.
P&W music allows little for the fact that we are all built in different keys. (The beauty of 4-part singing is that it allows for voices of every range.)
Much of the music is boring by any professional standard of pop music.
Far too many of the lyrics are void of real depth, focusing mostly on “I.”
Madeleine L’Engle (“A Wrinkle in Time”) offers that most religious art is bad art, and thus bad religion. Sadly, I don’t disagree.
While I also attend (and am employed by) a church that has a wide, low sanctuary, I’ve long felt that the traditional architecture (long, narrow) forced attention upwards instead of downwards and sideways. Many friends have heard my lament, so it’s nice to hear someone else express it.
I’m in complete agreement, even if I do enjoy American Idol from time to time. (Harry Connick, Jr. is a very good addition to the judgery because he’s a total music nerd.)
Regarding Jon’s observation that leading worship has become a performance venue:
In the early 80s, the founders of a huge Praise & Worship music company met with me to see if I was a suitable fit as an arranger for their burgeoning record empire. (When they realized I was a Southern Baptist I was pretty much instantly disqualified.)
They explained to me they started the company because church music had become too performance oriented. It was all about the choir and a soloist performing complicated arrangements. They wanted to get congregations singing and usher the worshiper into the presence of The Lord. From this movement came the repetitive praise chorus, and the worship band, and praise team.
Fast forward to today: The church has never seen a more performance oriented style of music than modern P&W. Kind of ironic.
What the founders of that company did not figure on is the burning desire of most musicians to perform. It’s what they do. They want to play music. And that’s not the same thing as leading worship.
I suspect there have always been performers leading worship. And there always will be, regardless the style of music.
Hank Hill nails it:
A couple decades ago, it seemed like there was Christian music for the radio (aka CCM) and there was Christian music written for use in worship. At some point over the last fifteen years, these things seemed to merge, so that the radio hits were more worship-themed, and the worship music on Sunday morning was probably you probably heard on the radio the previous week.
Instead of a song taking 10 years to become popular and well-known enough to be used in corporate worship, it now takes about 10 weeks.
On the whole, I don’t mind, particularly if it’s a well-written song that fits in with corporate worship. (Gungor’s “Beautiful Things” popped up in one of our services last year, and it was a very worshipful experience for me. Likewise, Rend Collective’s “Build Your Kingdom Here” has been well-received.)
It’s those awkward or poorly-written songs that just wreck worship for me. Matt Redman’s “The Heart of Worship” means it’s time to step out for a coffee break. Why does a song that’s supposedly “All about you, Jesus” have such self-centered lyrics?
These days, maybe.
But what about Bach, Palestrina, Victoria… all those beautiful illuminated manuscripts, all those stunning Renaissance paintings of Madonna and Child, or the Crucifixion? What about those glorious cathedrals?
Mozart, brilliant though he was, nonetheless wrote a lot of mediocre pieces. His c-minor Mass and Requiem aren’t among them.
Religious work used to at least sometimes bring out the best in artists.
Perhaps even in those days, most religious art was bad, and the bad stuff has thankfully been lost in the mists of time. But perhaps such background mediocrity is the price for a culture in which truly great works are created?
Perhaps these days, we have more people who think that good religious art should be about pious sentiment, not rigorously applying God-given talent. Personally, I think this is the attitude that makes for bad religious art. Artists do art. Demanding that they not get “too artistic” when making art for worship is more likely to produce bad art than a sense of humility and reverence.
Speaking of all the “I” songs, David Crowder just put an interesting spin on it…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH_LLGiE0f0
I heard this song for the first time this morning, and I love it. Yes, very Mumford feel, but the idea behind it is awesome.
Bingo.
You can ask performers to give performances more sensitive to church logistics and the needs of the congregation, but asking them not to perform is most likely self-defeating.
Just so. Being an attention seeking ham and a worship guitarist I know how easily one can fall into the trap of performing for the sake of performance rather than being the lead worshipper (love that formulation, btw.) Some focus on getting the music to a quality level they can live with, but I’ve found that worshipping regardless of how much “jazz” I play is what really makes the music work.
You’re absolutely correct. You just summed it up better than I did. : )
I might even say that CCM is pretty much a dead genre in 2014. P&W took its place.
I used to attend a semi-megachurch. There was this gal who would sing as the “backup vocals.” You know, the person who isn’t the worship leader, but has a mic and everything. Anyway, she’d stand up on the stage during worship, singing, with this big plastic smile on her face, and she’d lean over and look at people. Like she’d catch your eye, and sing at you, then catch someone else’s eye. She’d go back and forth like some kinda worship rain-bird. It drove me bonkers! We finally moved to the other side of the worship hall, because she was so distracting. I don’t know what she thought her role in worship was, but it sure caused me to stop worshiping and get irritated.
I loathe CCM. I simply loathe it. So much of it is effeminate, man-centered, happy-clappy and shallow that it is unbearable. CCM is a business. Plain and simple. It is part of the Christian-industrial complex and as a consequence, truth loses to popularity. In his book A Lover’s Quarrel With The Evangelical Church, Warren Cole Smith describes well the process of how tunes get onto CCM radio and from there into the church.
If one wants contemporary music but sound theology (and songs that are easily sung by congregations) check out the work of Indelible Grace.
Yes. I’ll also point out that some focus on getting the music to a quality level is most likely something the congregation can’t live without.
Having been in situations where the lead worshiper was apparently tone-deaf, rhythmless, or had started out in the wrong key, it’s my observation that such mistakes in musicianship are even more disorienting to the congregation than a few extra musical flourishes here and there.
As with everything, balance. There is a floor, but there’s also a ceiling.
P&W style performers should consider what they’re turning their back on when they play to the congregation. A traditional choir loft faces the Cross.
Just a simple turn ad orientem might get them focused on He Whom we are there to worship.
I’m probably not as critical of it as you are, since CCM was very important to me when I was young in my faith, and I still have a soft spot for some of those old 80s bands. I’m hesitant to go all “Angry Old Man” at it.
But I do like Indelible Grace.
As a church “performer”, I much prefer working somewhere where I cannot be seen, anyhow. It allows me to remain an anonymous voice in God’s service, and takes some of the pressure off – I’m one of those people who finds it easier to be musically competent when all eyes aren’t on me.
I realize other musicians are different, though, and tend to do better when they’re put on the spot. Personally, I think this is one of those temperamental quirks beyond most musicians’ direct control rather than a deep moral matter.
One of my good friends and mentors is a both a traditional and Christ-centered music minister. I remember when he was put in charge of revamping the hymnal of the community church where he was then employed. You should have heard the complaints from the congregation.
His decision to include the original, somewhat syncopated, settings of hymns such as Comfort, Comfort, O My People set some members howling. It was too much rhythm for them. How dare he restore a sense of rhythm when the congregation was already used to the dumbed-down, unsyncopated version!
Likewise, his decisions to include more Sarum plainsong, restore the original modes of some old hymns, include a few hymns in odd or mixed meters, and a few traditional descants in a small staff above the main staves were not greeted with universal joy, as some congregants found the musical variety confusing.
Perhaps the most heated – and most ridiculous – argument arose over his decision to exclude “Little Brown Church in the Vale” on the grounds that it isn’t, you know, a song focused on God at all, but one wallowing in our own nostalgia. “But we’re used to it!” came the cry.
OK. So I’m 30 ands that puts me into the relatively young-ish crowd for worshipers at many of the churches that I attend. I too have a beef with modern worship music and as a drummer who has played in lots to worship bands, I can speak from experience. It’s not how loud or rock concert like the music is, it’s how BAD the music is that gets to me. Can none of these modern songwriters write melody anymore? Can none of them take a page from the book of hymns and write a compelling and GOOD melody that isn’t simple repeated endlessly without any musical imagination or display of God-given artistry and talent? Can none of them write an original and poetic lyric? The last Christmas service I went to, I felt left out of the whole thing because the songs were terrible, hard to follow, and ‘new’ so not only did I not know them, but it seemed that no one other than the worship band (and that is debatable as well) did.
I get the feeling that I am not alone in this sentiment. I really wish it were different.
Been Catholic of varying fervor all my life. Only after I moved to California did I witness applause at the end of every mass. I assume it’s for the musicians, but I can’t be sure. I find it very strange.
To be fair to the modern writers, the really good church music we have has been compiled over centuries, and includes the greatest composers of all time like Bach, Handel, Mozart, and the like. I’m sure there was plenty of terrible church music in their days, but it has been lost to history.
Indeed!
http://www.cracked.com/article_18983_5-complaints-about-modern-life-that-are-statistically-b.s._p2.html
Oh, how I laugh! Those sort of songs is why I am not in the choir right now. Sing about God. Sing about the reason for the holiday (i.e. Christmas, Easter, etc.) But spare me the nostalgia and meta-songs.
No, not many and not often. It has ever been thus. There have always been more McGonagalls than Shakespeares.
My old denomination put out a supplemental hymn leaflet of about 30 songs a few years ago. Half mentioned the denomination by name, with a “hey guys! Live up to your name!” theme.
Unity is very positively oriented, and many of the lyrics of the old songs do not fit our beliefs. We do have hymnals full of songs, but the soloists and choir don’t sing songs out of the hymnal. Those are reserved for the congregation to sing together.
So, what do the soloists sing? Usually popular songs that may be uplifting and may relate to a theme, such as Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. (I once heard a certain song from Carousel as the Father’s Day solo…) Unfortunately, this often winds up with songs with no depth, newer songs, something for the moment not the ages, or something very inappropriate. There are a couple of us who actually write our own songs to try to get the right message and the depth. (I wrote one for Memorial Day last year that had a reincarnation theme.) But there aren’t thousands of years of songs that fit our beliefs that have been separated from the chaff.
I grew up with that. Beauty, worked on for a thousand years. Then they took it away.