Has the Church surrendered its songbook to market forces? After Graham Kendrick’s comments on the matter went viral he considers what a heathier approach to song selection in churches might look like
I wasn’t saying anything new, and the podcast wasn’t new either, so I was surprised when it went (modestly) viral.
I’d referred to a popular style of contemporary worship song which majors on what can be described as emotional intensity, comprising lyrics focusing solely on ‘me loving God and God loving me’. Beautiful as these moments are, I argued that too much focus on this was ultimately exhausting and limiting.
I asked, “Where are the songs of community, mission, joy, etc?” I am not against emotional intensity in praise and worship songs - as both worshipper and songwriter I desire it. It’s more about what we don’t sing. From the number of shares, clearly, the comment had struck a chord (no pun intended).
Joy found. Mission missing
As my home church emerged from the pandemic our senior leader told our music team, he believed it was time for a release of joy. All in agreement, we searched our usual sources for joyful songs but struggled to find any fresh ones. (Interestingly, this problem has since marginally abated, with a flood of songs coming out on the subject, suggesting we were not alone in this.)
More recently, the need was for songs to accompany a teaching series on community and friendship. Same problem: finding songs that send us out back into the world with vision and missional intent. Are these songs ‘missing’ because they are not being written, or for other reasons? Are they even ‘missing’ at all - or just hidden within the machinery that propels other material forward?
In this digital age, it seems to me that most of the contemporary praise and worship songs we sing reach our ears by one criterion: popularity.
Popularity comes not by merit alone, but by market forces, consumer preferences and sophisticated algorithms. Hence, what we like — and we like the intensity of stadium anthems — becomes pervasive.
If our songs are anthropocentric, placing the human individual at the centre of the Universe, we will be formed in the image of the surrounding culture.
To counter this requires intentionality. But why be intentional when it’s all done for me? If enough people like it, it’s guaranteed to build up the body of Christ where I lead - right? Not necessarily! Many top 100 songs end up on my song list when I lead worship, yet discernment is also needed.
New Testament scholar Gordon Fee once said, “Sing me your songs and I’ll show you your theology.” It has always been the case that Christians learn more theology from songs than from sermons. Why? Because words married to melody are easy to remember (like singing the alphabet in infant school) and singing engages the emotions, which reinforces the content.
Human-led worship
If songs shape our theology, could the most influential theologian in my church be not the preacher, but the one who chooses the songs? And could it be that what we don’t sing about, we don’t know about? If our worship is christocentric, centred around the Christ revealed in the scriptures, our beliefs and behaviour will be formed in his likeness. Yet if our songs are anthropocentric, placing the human individual at the centre of the universe, we will also be formed, but in the image of the surrounding culture.
The problem comes when popularity trumps discernment. It can also leapfrog accountability. The hymnal era wasn’t perfect, but it had a fair degree of both. Being accountable discerners, hymnal compilers are required to evaluate a song’s quality and content by a stringent criterion of theology, language, poetry, singability, and more.
Thus they have been ‘gatekeepers’ of the Church’s song, curating a balanced canon for long-term discipleship and life’s rites and passages. Their level of accountability extends beyond the largely anonymous clicks and algorithms which promote songs as unscrutinised content. Few would argue that our historic hymnals would be better were such quality control mechanisms not in place.
What can be done?
In a post-hymnal context, how can a service planner or worship leader discern accountably in a digital age? Here are some suggestions:
- Local church leaders and music leaders recognise the need to be song gatekeepers, and work together to bring pastoral, theological and musical perspectives to the task.
- Choose and introduce songs intentionally, prayerfully, collaboratively, and strategically: “Will this song reveal more about the God we worship, evoking a heartfelt and intelligent response?” “Will it help form us into deeper disciples of Jesus? Does it fit who we are, where we are, and what we hope to become, reinforcing the teaching programme, and marking important moments or seasons in our corporate journey?”
- Consider: can our people ‘own’ this song, sing it well, and carry it musically with the skills and resources to hand?
- Don’t be excessively critical! Not even the best songs are perfect; neither are any of us. Jesus was “full of grace and truth”, and so should we be.
- Finally, find an historic hymnal and take time to study the index. Are there any subjects, themes, seasons, or occasions which don’t get sung about today, yet would enrich your knowledge of God and his ways?
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