This thought reminds me of a quote I heard from a guy recently who was invited to speak at a church (His name coincidently is Michael). When he got there, his host stated that they would not be having worship songs because they knew how much he didn’t like to worship. The speaker was kind of caught off guard and responded by saying, “It’s not that I don’t like to worship. It’s just that I don’t like singing ‘boyfriend songs to Jesus.'”
I think you know what ‘boyfriend songs to Jesus’ means. That was a pretty blunt way of putting it for sure. Yet, I wonder, why do so many people not sing – even though we all stand if we can – during the worship songs? (Have you noticed that if ONE person stands, eventually EVERYONE has to stand?)
Trust me, I’m not the only one asking this. The worship team can’t help but notice that quite a few people seem not to be engaged in the worship music.
What do you think? Is it the ‘boyfriend song’ thing? Would we rather listen? Have you noticed the same thing? You can be anonymous, just be honest. Post your comments below.
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4 comments:
I had never thought about calling it a "boyfriend song" problem, but it has often occurred to me that there isn't much meaningful content in our songs. I guess that leads to the question, "what content is meaningful?" Saying words of basic longing (you are the air I breath...)can be meaningful if they represent a call from our heart that can't easily be articulated. But what I usually mean by "meaningful" is the clever/poetic phrasing of powerful ideas. The modern worship emphasis does seem weak in articulating profound concepts. I suppose thats a matter of taste, but it seems the only time I really think about the message of stuff we sing in church is when the lyrics are ridiculous.
However... worship isn't a product of the type of music we sing. It is a condition of our lives. I was once told that we will not do on Sunday what we don't do the rest of the week. I personally know this to be true.
Michael
Michael
Hey Michael,
Just came here from Mustard Seed. I hate most of the worship services. I really loathe them.
I think one reason is I am trying to get a grip on who Jesus is/His grace/healing from religious wounds.
Another part is sometimes I just dont feel like 'you are the air i breathe'. Sometimes I feel like what David Crowder says 'My feet are tired, so tired from walking'.
I do really like hymns right now- as they speak truth to who He is. Deep truths I know.
I think reading from a screen keeps some people from engaging. I feel its harder to get engaged when I read instead of close my eyes and listen/pray.
And lastly- romancing Jesus songs really suck. I went to this big event over the summer, and this guy is singing 'Jesus how I love your kisses.'. What?!?!? I have never kissed jesus. i dont know what they are?!?!? I wish you could see my face, cause im laughing. It's sick and funny and a small thing to me.
Chuck
Our two biggest challenges to overcome in Christian music of all styles is escapism and sentimentallism. Frankly, much of he worship music that is now popular doesn't reflect my walk much. I spend as much time in the valleys as on the mountaintops. where are the songs about the valleys? Much of our popular worship music is just too simplistic (that is not the same as simple). It talks more about the way we wish life was than the way it really is.
'Jesus how I love your kisses', are you kidding me? That would have made me vomit right on the spot. I understand the sentiment, sort of (the Church is the bride of Christ), but I feel the pendulum is swinging a little too far in that direction. We also have to worry about the pendulum swinging too far in the direction of "cold, doctrinal information", something hymns could be accused of. The bottom line is that we all want to sing good music, and as Rick said, our worship teams often choose simplistic music, rather than something edgey or complicated.
The logic probably goes something like this: we want everyone to enjoy the music and be able to participate in singing, so we need music that won't alienate anyone (i.e. bland), that doesn't require much vocal range, plays at a medium to slow pace, and that everyone can easily remember. That's a formula for "boring". We will just have to accept risk if we want the music to be engaging.
But once again, we are just discussing window dressing, because if the heart isn't worshipping, it won't matter what we sing (well... it might matter if the lyrics are stupid... that would be distracting). Musical talent shouldn't be a requirement of meaningful worship through song. We have to be careful of suggesting that the music has to be performed at a high level before we can connect with it.
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