Worship tunes tend to evince an adolescent theology, one that just can't get over how darn cool it is that Jesus sacrificed himself for the world. "Our God is an awesome God." "Oh Lord, you are glorious." "How can it be/That you, a king, would die for me?" Moreover, it's self-centered in a way that reflect evangelicalism's near-obsession with having a personal relationship with Christ. It's me Jesus died for. I just gotta praise the Lord. Not for nothing is "Amazing Grace," which marvels at the author's salvation, one of the few traditional hymns to be regularly included in modern worship services. Absent is any hint of community found in hymns such as "The Church Is [sic] One Foundation" -- the Jesus of worship music is a mentor, a buddy, a friend whose message is easily distilled to a single command: praise me. Not "feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the prisoner." Simply thank him for his gift to you (and make sure to display copyright information at the bottom of the screen so royalties can be disbursed).These are interesting comments coming from someone who is, as far as I know, not a Christian.
I'm sure this is still true in certain circles, but I think there is an attempt to NOT to what is described above by many up and coming evangelicals in today's church culture. What do you think?
(HT: SHLOG)
1 comment:
Hey Z...
I think people probably find it EASIER to praise their personal relationship with God than something that might be less tangible... like feeding the hungry, etc.
I think we have to be careful about complaining about "the other type of music" etc, because they both hold their importance.
Yes, God is deep and deserves to have the richness of His glory expressed... but at the same time there is simple reality in the "God saved ME" concept.
You can't understand one without the other. I'd argue that you have to understand what it is that God has done for us on an individual level before we have the ability to truly go out and serve others with that same conviction and passion.
On an interesting related note... if you have not yet check out Derek Webb's new FREE CD, "Mockingbird"... get it soon. I don't want to turn Zach's blog into an infomercial, so I won't post a link here... but know that it is an album that I think really hits you over the head with being engaged in not just the "talk" but the walk as well.
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