When Worship goes Bad pt.2

I know that I said my next post would be answering some of the questions that I raised earlier this week, but I want to add to it.

Meredith and I got home and after a few hours of settling in, I walked down to our local caffeine establishment.  The live music tonight is a three piece worship ensemble.  I don't want to launch into a diatribe about the quality, but instead do some thinking out loud regarding the place of "worship" music within the public spectrum.

1. Is worship music a turn-off to non christians?

I would say that at the quality I hear most of it, I think it is a turn off.  The Subway (sandwiches not mass transportation) in Wilmore usually plays the local Christian affiliate of K-Love.  It is usually the stuff off of Wow "Thats what I call worship", and I don't think the college students or the dudes that fix whatever is broken in rural Jessamine county really like it.  The little ensemble I am listening to currently seems to have no energy whatsoever regarding what they are "proclaiming".

2. So what is the place of worship music in the public sphere?

I keep going back to the same Sally Morgenthaler article (it is linked in a post below).  To what level have we created a consumer base for worship music?  Is it a genre that people list on facebook just like country, hip-hop and indie?  It seems as though there is a pretty standard formula to most of the songs, and a few friends of mine think that many of todays worship songs owe a big debt to the 80's power ballad (think "Every Rose Has It's Thorn").

Only Christ has the power to save, and I know that you can easily launch into the Holy Spirit's ability to use anything to draw someone near to Christ, but I have seen plenty of people walk in here tonight, catch an ear-ful of the tunes and talk about getting their drinks to go.

I know that these are more questions, and I have decided to start not posting/ranting and instead offer thoughts regarding contemporary expressions of worship that actually have a bearing on Christian Community, but I just wanted throw a few more things out there. 

Comments

[trent]

Most Christian music made today resemble artists such as John Mayer more than the old hymn writers, whose work reflects even to me, as a twenty first century post-moderner strikes me as a more authentic and honest expression of worship. Most Christian music today resonates more or less as a counterfeit version of whatever love-song that's being played on the 'secular' station. That is simply boring and thus, does not guide me, a sinner, in any honest attempt to go before a forgiving and just God and thank and praise Him for who He is and what He has given the world.

It doesn't need to be spectacular. It doesn't even have to be original. Just have some integrity.

There is a worship market that continues to make money off of the Christian consumer market. It is disgusting that people make money by creating "worship". It is not secret that christian bookstores are the most expensive places to buy music anyway.

Christian worship - as a music genre is an interesting observation. Besides the fact that Christian music all share supposedly biblical themes, what is frightening about this is the fact that it all sounds pretty much the same. If people were writing worship songs, wouldn't they reflect the unique nature of their own experiences with God rather than all conforming to one thing? This tells me that the music is then, not made out of that experience, but made for a consumer - a product with a target demographic like any other form of mainstream media.

American Idol, sure. But in the church we have our own version every Sunday, our contestants - the worship leaders. There is great expectation put on a group of people to a kind of spiritual orgasm for the people in the pews ever week! True worship is sacrificed when the worship leaders are not allowed to worship themselves.

[chad]

Trent-great response.

I do want to say one thing, that the price of CCM is high due to distributors. I worked in Christian retail and we only marked up our cd's 25 cents from what we paid for them, which was usually around 15-16 dollars. Unless one had a huge order, it was impossible to get it at anywhere close to a decent price.

Yes, Christian music is pretty lame. For those who find artistic merit to be a primary issue with the christian music industry I think they have a great problem to gripe about. Worship music is just as cookie cutter. I really don't care about Christian Music, but I do care about Worship. But what matters as much as bad worship music, the attitude that many Christians have towards it is just as bad. I have spent the last several years having to relearn how to worship because participation in the corporate act of worship is more important than me feeling comfortable about the situation. It isn't about us, it is about God.

That's one reason why I have started leading and writing worship music again, because if I am going to bitch about it I have to do something about it.