“Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
Colossians 3:16
The worship songs of today have become all about the music than about the songs. I'm sure if we are all asked to mention any worship song of today that has repetitive lyrics, we can always point out to one without putting much thought into it. But if you are asked to mention a song that has touched you immensely, especially with regard to the meaningful lyrics that moved you into worshiping the Lord in truth and in spirit, will you be able to say it right off the bat?
I don't, by any means, suggest that music played in churches today are wrong or that the songs no longer make any sense. It's just that they have become less soulful than how they used to be in the past. If we take most traditional Hymns for example, the words written, were through experiences of feeling God's presence, joy in the Holy Ghost, fellowship of the saints, Biblical doctrines, rejoicing in the free salvation and grace, arduous circumstances, facing abandonment, persecutions, loneliness and sorrows, all for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These hymns still talk to us, relate to us on a personal and a spiritual level. They drive us to tears, lead us to experience the presence of God and give us renewed strength in striving for the Kingdom of God.
Can we say the same about an awful lot of worship songs of today?
I totally agree that there are exceptions and certainly there are songs that move us to tears, convict us, and lead us to experience God's love and grace; but don't you think that they are scarce, as compared to the ones that are music-centered, focused on personal branding, or even blatant falsehood?
Here are 5 things on what I personally believe have gone wrong with the worship music of this generation.
Compromises: Many worship leaders are complacent with compromising with the world when it comes to the actual doctrines of the word of God. This is either because they are ignorant in learning the truth from the Bible, or that they are simply not ready to tarnish their popularity among their 'admirers'.
Infusing Spirituality with Secularism: In all honesty, how many of us, in our personal lives, listen to, sing or play music that are secular? Hasn't it come to a point where we do not consider it as much of a problem? If we are of the belief that worshiping idols is breaking the commandment of the Lord then we should realize that paganism also starts from small things that mix spirituality with secularism. Worship music today has come to a point where we even use Electronic Dance Music (EDM) or Heavy Metal in churches. I'm not implying that using these kinds of music is completely wrong and I don't wish to be a judge of that, but it has come to the point of having to attract the millennial generation to even attend church by using these mechanisms of worship that clearly bear off the purpose of expressive music and passionate lyrics.
In-cognizance in the Word: As mentioned earlier, we have come to ignore the teachings of the proper doctrines from the word of God. Even if we do read and listen to it, we wish to interpret everything according to what suits our opinions best and target effortless living standards. We write songs that are no longer in sync with the word of God and concoct schisms against those who try to instruct us otherwise. We have progressively become uncertain about what the Bible teaches us on basic principles regarding godliness, faith, humanity, physicality, forgiveness, testimonies, spiritual maturity, anxiety, depression etc.
Abundance: It goes without saying that we have abundance of everything we need today. That even applies to spiritual resources such as churches, Bibles, Musical instruments, Christian websites, songs, gadgets etc. But this was not the case until recent decades or centuries. When people came to the knowledge of Christ and decided to follow Him in truth, they had to go through a lot of challenges daily, from learning more about Christ and His mission, to attending church, to singing Spiritual Hymns, to sharing the gospel, to staying strong in the faith despite persecutions and seasons of abandonment. Most hymns and songs at that point of time were born out of those hardships and through real joy of knowing Christ. Today the value of it all has dwindled to the point of offering a little to/for the Lord out of our abundance rather than offering everything out of the little we have.
Paucity in Humility: Though it sounds facile, Humility is practically one of the most difficult Biblical principles to follow. With unconditional love comes humility, that esteems another person better than you, reserves praise and glory to God who deserves them, encourages fellow brethren, believes in complete service to God and His people and lifts a broken person up from his lowest state. This Christ-like characteristic has been grossly overlooked in church ministries, especially with respect to worshiping the Lord.
Let our worship songs be Christ-centered. Let our praises and meditations be holy and acceptable before God. Let us play skillfully in His courts and come with thanksgiving, with a humble heart, pondering on that greatest sacrifice ever known to man. Let us be reminded that Christ is seated on the throne and we are worshiping the Creator who has the power to assign our destination. Let us not take the name of Christ in vain. Let us not call ourselves Christ's believers and compromise with the world, and let our lives be genuinely focused on Him at all times.
This blog was initially posted on the blog Brewing Melodies