Ok so this is a question and an issue that has been around for a long time. The two ends of the spectrum look something like this.
"I believe we should only sing older songs. These are songs written by Godly men who really knew what it was to seek God. They are theologically accurate and the tunes which are written for these songs are reverent and fitting for the worship of a Holy God. Modern day songs focus on the driving beat and align themselves to closely to the world in the style of music and often present weak theology"
on the other hand we have views such as
"I believe we should only sing modern, bang up to date songs. These songs are up to date culturally and are presented in a familiar style to the non-christian meaning that church isn't a scary or unusual place to enter. The words are also easy to understand and make sense whilst still presenting biblical truths. Older songs present out of date English which is hard to understand and often clumsy to sing. The tunes sung also come across as depressing and lifeless."
Two very contrasting views both with elements of truth but both misguided in areas. Before dealing with these two views, it's probably a good idea to think about what we should look for in a song.
Firstly, all the songs we sing in church should be God centred and God directed. Basically if your song doesn't talk about God or Christ, there are probably better songs worth singing. God should be the centre of our lives and the centre of our affections. Philippians 1:21 says "To live is Christ". If Christ is the centre of our lives so should he be the centre of our worship including singing!
Secondly, our songs should be filled with the truth and word of God. This should be the case for two reasons. One, as christians, we constantly need reminding of who God is and the truth that he has given us in his word. For the christian, being reminded of the truth should refresh and revitalise us like the rain quenches the thirst of the dry ground. Secondly, when non-christians come into our church, we want them to have an encounter with God and ultimately come to have a living relationship with him. The only way that this can happen is if the truth of Gods word is proclaimed to them whether in song, prayer or preaching. Jesus said "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" - John 8:32
Thirdly, we should make sure that we sing a variety of songs that talk about all aspects of God. When you look at Psalms (the Bible's songbook) we see that it covers topics like confession, meditation, seeking God, Gods holiness, Gods justice, Gods mercy, Gods Kingship and God as creator as well as many more. It is important that we sing about all aspects of God otherwise we end up only conveying a God of Love or a God of mercy. Of course God is all these things but he is also a God of Justice who we need to confess our sins to. When we sing about every aspect of God, we remind ourselves and present to others a FULL GOD!
In my opinion, if a song has these three elements in them then they are fit and useful for sung worship whether written by Charles Wesley or Tim Hughes. Its not about when the song was written or who wrote it. The important point is that the content is sufficient in aiding people to worship God. Too often we get tied up with who wrote a song or when it was written and fail to analyse whether or not it glorifies God. I believe it is important that we sing both old and new songs. Singing old songs means that we relate with the church universal reminding us that we are part of a massive family not only worldwide but from various ages. By singing older songs we remind ourselves of the gifts that God gave to our forefathers and recognise the blessing he poured out on them in their time. We realise that God has been faithful through all ages and by singing these older songs we stand uniting with those who have run the race before us. In singing newer songs, we recognise that God is still blessing people in being able to write new songs which still describe and glorify him. We realise that God is still moving and active in the world and still pours out his Holy Spirit to provide people with the gift of writing music to his praise.
In my discussions with various worship leaders in various churches, I've come across various questions from both camps about how they cope with new and old songs or why they don't sing them. In my next post I hope to deal with some of these questions and how I would respond to them. What are your views? Do you have any issues with singing old/new songs?
2 comments:
I like both, but I think it can be a tricky issue for worship leaders as it also depends on the make up of the congregation. It can be harder to worship when you don't understand the words or don't like the style of music, so I think that should be taken into account.
And some people have only ever experienced one end of the spectrum so it is hard for them to accept something completely different.
Thanks Rhoda. Great points made. It is definitely not an easy task being a worship leader and it can be incredibly hard to break the mould which people have found themselves getting into when it comes to worship. Also I agree worship should definitely not leave the congregation feeling confused, it should always be completely clear. I hope to deal with a load of these questions in a few days so stay tuned. :)
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