It’s a typical Sunday morning. Fall has shifted toward winter, as the air is thin and chilly. The leaves are falling off the trees onto your yard, which you will have to rake later. As of now, though, your focus is on the Maker of the chilly air and leafless trees and pesky leaves. You are on your way to church to praise the Creator.
You walk into the church building, are greeted by the doorpersons, and grab a worship flyer. You greeted by an usher at the doors of the sanctuary, and walk in to find your normal seat. You sit down, commence in small talk with those seated around you, and prepare to be immersed in the glory of the Lord.
The worship pastor walks out on stage, greets the congregation, and asks everyone to stand and sing with the worship team. All rise and begin to sing the words on the screen: words about grace, love, and sin. The songs vary in tempo and musical feel, as the band and singers bounce between traditional, sluggish hymns and newer, hyperactive “praise music.” It is during this time of corporate worship that an intriguing phenomenon occurs.
The involvement of the crowd of worshippers will fluctuate, all in tune with which style of music is being shared amongst the people. Certain people will raise their hands, close their eyes and sing far louder than their musicality should allow, all in response to the newest praise song by contemporary artist Chris Tomlin. Others will shed tears and boldly sing along with the words of the world’s most famous hymn: “Amazing Grace”. As one group dives into their spiritual high, the other will tune out and wait for their style to return. The whole shift back and forth among the believers is fascinating: do they simply dislike the music style that the other adores so much, or is it deeper than that? Is it a generational divide, or is it the results of musical preference?
Music has always been an integral part of worship. God very much desires for His Creation to worship Him. Wouldn’t you want your kids to love you, and tell you so? A very large portion of the Book of Psalms covers worship, saying things such as “I love you Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Ps. 18:1-2a),” and “Sing to God! Sing praises to His name. (Holman Christian Standard Bible, Ps. 68:4).” Throughout the books of the Bible, worship is mentioned very consistently. The phrase “His love is eternal” is found repeated twenty-six times…in Psalm 136 alone. Jesus Himself said, “...the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him” (Holman Christian Standard Bible, John 4:23). God requests for you to pay attention to Him and praise Him; that much is known. It’s the method that has changed over time.
Some of the earliest forms of music that we know came from churches. Back in the days of the crusades and the Dark Ages, Gregorian chants were the norm for worship. Gregory the Great is traditionally the one that people give credit for making the Catholic Church’s final chant (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06779a.htm). However, as syllabic chants are lacking in true heartfelt passion for the common man, something needed to happen. The solution was to turn to secular (not-church related) composers of the day to write church music.
Palestrina was one of the first secular artists to tackle the job of “fixing” the Catholic Church’s musical issues (http://www.essortment.com/all/churchmusich_rksc.htm). After Palestrina cleaned up the chants and made them more streamlined (and therefore easier for the common man to sing along and get connected with), more and more secular style began to be added. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote multiple pieces of music that praised his Creator, including a favorite of mine, “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” More and more composers began to get involved, especially after the Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century.
Some of these names that you may recognize include Beethoven and Mozart. Mozart wrote eighteen compositions for the churches, but they were so lengthy that they had to be shortened to make them fit into a service. Handel and Haydn wrote many pieces, most notably Handel’s “Messiah.” Beethoven, however, did not directly write much, if any, in the way of worship music. But, in the 18th century, the hit song “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee” had the same melody line as Beethoven’s famous Ninth Symphony.
It was during this time that many of today’s hymns were written. If we look through a hymnal (book containing the hymns in sheet music form), we can see that from around the time of the American Revolution (Amazing Grace, 1779) through the American Civil War and near to the next century (Nothing but the Blood, 1876), these songs were written down and passed from church to church. Protestants and Catholics alike could use these hymns to have a common worship experience, singing songs with catchy melodies and words in their vernacular. Many of the hymns contained direct quoting from Scripture, and spoke of almost aspect of the Christian mindset, theology and praise. They were the “perfect” praise songs, and the preferred way to worship the Lord for a long time.
It is through these qualities of hymns that we see one side of the age-old debate: hymns or contemporary music. Many believers today prefer to listen, and subsequently sing, to the almost purely Scriptural words of songs like “Come Thou Fount” and “Victory in Jesus.” These songs have a very even melody, rarely (if ever) deviating from their predestined course. They are old, as I have stated above. This is the reason we see words such as “fetter” appear in the hymns: the songs were written so long ago that words we don’t even know are used. The language has changed! (As a side note, a fetter is something binds, like a chain. I had to look it up one day because I just had to know what it meant.)
It is this constant appearance of old, unknown words that helped give rise to contemporary praise music. Beginning around the sixties, just as rock music began to take off, so did a desire to make new kinds of music for the purpose of better understanding our worship of the Most High. Songs began to pop up with new, more modern styles of music, reflecting the culture in a seemingly more relevant style. By the seventies and eighties, Christian rock bands like Stryper were appearing with songs such as “To Hell with the Devil.” Flash-forward to the present and it’s crazy.
In the year 2010, we have so much contemporary music surrounding us that it is a bit overwhelming. We have radio stations devoted to contemporary hits by superstars like Casting Crowns, David Crowder Band and Reliant K. Christian rockers like Switchfoot, Thousand Foot Krutch and Lifehouse have been able to get their music pulled into the secular popular radio spectrum, and are being listened to by millions across the English-speaking world. Rappers like KJ-52 and Lecrae are coming out of the poor urban areas in America and showing that your conditions and upbringing don’t make you rap about violence, drugs and money, among other things. Christian music is literally at your fingertips with the Internet going mobile within smartphone products such as the iPhone and Droid.
You may be wondering what the problem is with all of this is. Why bother with hymns anymore? The culture and applicability of the hymns has all but passed; they are very nearly obsolete. Yet churches have split, recently, over the use of hymns and contemporary praise music. It just seems baffling that it could be this big of a deal! So, after some digging around, I came up with some more information.
My first assumption was that only older people would want to keep the hymns. I figured they were just stuck in the past, and couldn’t accept that the times had changed. After all, no one speaks in the “thees” and “thous” of the King James Version of the Bible anymore. I was partially correct. Part of the reason to keep the hymns is, in fact, tradition. Hymns have been around, as was said earlier, since the American Revolution or earlier in some cases. That’s a long time! Some people feel that if they have stayed around this long, there is no reason to replace them now; it’s kind of like the old saying, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
So the old people want to keep their music they sang as a kid. That is the conclusion I had assumed until I began to talk to some younger people. I found an interesting divide. Beginning with people in college and working up, the appreciation of hymns only increases. In fact, many college students I asked about the topic replied that they would prefer to worship with hymns over new music. This blew my mind.
Clearly, singing the same music as when they were a kid is out the window. Sure, their church may have sung hymns on Sunday, but they weren’t limited to just hymns. They have heard modern worship music. So what gives? After some questioning, I found that it largely has to do with the Spiritual connection. As was said above, the hymns are largely Scripture with music put to it. Many people feel that they can get far closer to God through the deeper, more Scriptural words found in hymns than in the catchy, modern praise songs.
I mentioned a divide above, and that happens at the age that divides college student from high school. Within the youth group in my church, I found a general (even unchallenged) distaste for hymns. Hymns are considered to be too slow, too old, and lacking in passion. They say that they cannot truly feel God moving within them when singing hymns. Isn’t this curious? This is almost precisely what the hymn-singers said about new music. One may be tempted to say they are both wrong. They have the blinders up, one might say, and cannot see the forest for the trees. I would, however, disagree, for I have experienced both.
I have had the pleasure of attending the Icthus Festival, an outdoor weekend of Christian music and food and fun akin to a Jesus-loving Woodstock. This festival is one of the biggest in the country, and happens every year in Wilmore, Kentucky. While there, I experienced some of the biggest names in contemporary praise music. The experience was amazing. I praised the Lord Jesus with thousands of other believers, all in tune to their surrounding and the movement God was causing in the crowd. Since then, I have attended other concerts, and had similar experiences.
Meanwhile, while in church every Sunday, we sing both hymns and contemporary music. The hymns, while maybe not able to evoke the feelings of passion the contemporary can, have a different bonus. The hymns are old, yes, but wise. They are a key to the past, when Christianity was less commercial and less about the show. Mind you, the hymn writers were not Peter and Paul, but they were in a different age. They didn’t have to impress; they just wanted to worship. This no-frills, straight forward approach to just sing to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is refreshing in a world of flash and show. It’s just you and God, no guitar solo needed. So which style is better?
The conclusion that seems most evident is…both. Don Quantz, a writer for the journal Lithurgy, said it best:
The two principles of stability and adaptability…seem to reflect the bifurcation that has occurred in Christian song. To some believers, hymns offer stability and they consider CCM (Contemporary Christian Music) a temporary and passing fad. To others, hymns are remnants of the past that are best left there. They believe that CCM is the appropriate voice for believers today. However, if the tenets of canonic criticism can be followed in this case, a balance should be struck between stability, which speaks to the retention of expressions from the past, and adaptability, which speaks to the addition of new expressions. Both of these seem to be present in Christian song, as illustrated in the following examples. (Quantz, 34) As you can read through this quote, both styles of worship have their benefits. In the same article, Quantz goes on to say that there are many aspects of both stability and adaptability. I, however, have my own version these two qualities that is considerably less wordy and a bit more easy to understand (I don’t use a whole lot of big words).
Stability is achieved by being around for a certain period of time. It is seen as unchanging, unmoving, and solid. A stable environment is appealing to most people: no one likes to rock the boat. We like things to go unchanged- particularly if they are doing “fine” as they are. This is why hymns have persevered through the times and why many churches today use strictly them. Hymns have maintained a state of holiness that has remained unchanged for hundreds of years. When seeking life advice, do you ask your grandfather or your brother? More often than not, you are going with the older, more experienced grandfather. He has seen more and been around far longer.
Your grandfather, as well as hymns, is missing something though: adaptability. Hymns are like a Ford Model T: pure and mobile, yet antiquated and less applicable to modern life. If you drive a Model T on the road, you will be run over. Similarly, a hymn just cannot resonate as deeply with the generations of new as a modern praise song can. Hymns use words we don’t even know the meaning of, and are not as plain to understand. It is this reason that the King James Version of the Bible has also been put aside more often, in favor of using more modern, understandable translations like the New International Version or the Holman Christian Standard Bible. This is why contemporary music has entered the church: to reach the younger generations of the world for Christ.
How are churches handling this issue? How can they find ways for everyone to be able to understand and worship as they see fit? There are several ways that have emerged and are being used in churches today. One of them is using a blended service. This is how my church has helped it: we use a mixture of modern music with a balance of hymns tossed in. This way, you are able to give everyone some of how they can best praise the One above without feeling as though what they say is watered down or being confused as to what they say.
Further research has shown me that other churches are using two different worship times. Those who wish to worship in the more old school, hymn-singing style are encouraged to attend the “traditional” service; someone looking for a more current, modern experience of God can come to their “contemporary” service. This bi-service style seems to be working in the locations I know of, and has been able to give everyone more of what they feel that they need.
A third way, and the last we will look at, is the merger of old and new- in one song. Many contemporary artists like the aforementioned Chris Tomlin or Bart Millard have taken the deep meaning of the hymns and put their words to a rock or bluesy accompaniment. This is something else my church has been able to do: this past weekend, we sang the old hymn “Be Thou My Vision.” Instead of the traditional piano or a cappella version, a drum kit, two electric guitars and a bass guitar were used to accompany the praise team singers. This way, the traditional song is being sung, but with a more modern style.
“We must encourage this generation to keep pushing the boundaries and find new biblical ways of connecting with culture in worship and song. Yet all the time, keep digging up the ancient treasures” (Redman 14). These are the words of Matt Redman, a famous contemporary artist that has summed up the last eight pages you read in about thirty words. I couldn’t have found a better quote than this, which he said in a 2007 issue of Worship Leader magazine. The truth is that while believers may argue that it is better to be stable or adaptable, they can all agree on one thing: as long as God is being glorified, one can do no wrong.
WORKS CITED
Holman Christian Standard Bible, Psalms 18:1-2a, 68:4, 136
Holman Christian Standard Bible, John 4:23
Bewerunge, Henry. "Gregorian Chant." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 17 Nov. 2010
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Schneider, Elaine. "The history of music in church worship." 2002. eSSORTMENT. November 22, 2010 .
Quantz, Don. "Canons in Collision: Hymns and Contemporary Christian Music." Liturgy 24.4 (2009): 32-39. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.
Redman, Matt. "Something Old, Something New." Worship Leader January/February 2007: 14.
