“All worship music sounds the same…”
As you read this and learn the theme of this issue, I want you to know that I am routinely checking myself in this area. I have crossed the line I’ve personally drawn many times, so I’m not sitting in the seat of the scoffer here. We’re on this journey together, brothers and sisters. My aim is to build the church up in love (Ephesians 4:16).
I hear and read “All worship music sounds the same…” said in a derogatory sense more than I wish I did. In addition, I also read and hear that playing praise and worship music is boring. It saddens me, because I feel like it reveals potential wrong thinking concerning the purpose for the singing portion of Lord’s Day gatherings. I also feel like it reveals potentially dangerous and entitled thinking concerning what our role is, and for what is actually motivating professing Christians to serve as a guitar player in worship gatherings.
The arc of Scripture would suggest the purpose for the singing portion of Lord’s Day, or singing to God in general, is to behold his glory and give thanks to him through singing songs that proclaim and celebrate Him for all he truly is, all he has done and all he promises to do. When we do this, we affirm who God is to ourselves, each other and to God. I gather this from reading the Psalms, Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16.
A few things that are partly my opinion, and the Bible also seems to support:
First, there should be a difference between songs that are meant for listening and songs that are meant for congregational singing. When folks complain that they’re playing the same four chords, playing similar parts, singing similar words and, in general, that the music isn’t technically interesting or challenging, I feel as if they are confusing songs meant for listening (which can still include lyrics) with songs that are meant for a congregation to sing. They’re referring to the issue of technical and musical expression, not worship. The purpose of the singing portion (and every portion, really) of Lord’s Day is worshiping God, not technical, creative and musical expression. Sometimes those things can happen at the same time, sure; but the chief purpose is worshiping God. There’s no requirement to balance these things. Worshiping God is the end goal. So the question becomes: What helps us best accomplish that on Lord’s Day?
Songs meant for listening aren’t bad, can certainly bring glory and honor to our Lord and can be included in a Lord’s Day gathering, yes. But let’s ensure there are clear categories and understand that the church gathers primarily to sing, pray and preach. The worship team is there to support that. We should never sacrifice congregational singing and worshiping God for musical expression and creativity.
Here’s an important question to check ourselves with: What is our motivation for choosing certain songs or choosing to play a certain way? Is it to please and honor God, or to entertain men, including ourselves? The issue of motivation is one of the predominant motifs in the Sermon on the Mount. We have two ends of the spectrum that I can see, and it’s up to you to determine where you are. On one end (the not-so-good end), we have the person who desires to express their technical and musical abilities and, for whatever reason, has decided that church is a place where they can satiate that desire. It could be that they used to be a rocker, but now they “do the church thing”, so church has become the next best place to scratch that itch. Maybe it’s lack of spiritual maturity (they should pray for wisdom, and transformation and seek a mentor) or maybe they don’t truly belong to Christ. In any case, the point is this: they have no regard for what Lord’s Day is actually about and do not desire above all else to magnify Christ through their gift. On the other end, we have the player who loves God and desires to serve on Lord’s Day. He or she is concerned with serving the song in the best way possible, and uses that as the ultimate gauge for what should be played—entitlement to creative expression or having a musical outlet has nothing to do with what they play. Again, those are two sides of a VAST spectrum that includes the unbeliever who simply plays in church, the new believer who needs direction, the spiritually mature believer who has demonstrated maturity in this area and everyone in between.
Where on that spectrum do you fall?
Second, creativity is good, and you can express creativity, with measure and wisdom, in songs that are meant for worship, with the ultimate test being, “does what I’m contributing primarily help others worship God, or does it bring attention to me?” Understand that you should not force creative expression into Lord’s Day, and don’t allow yourself to feel entitled to doing so. Further, don’t criticize songs that are written for the church to sing and for the saints who are serving to play, as they are fulfilling the true call of singing on Lord’s Day.
Lord’s Day isn’t a playground for us to unreservedly express our creativity or express it in a self-serving manner, and we are not owed time and space for that on Lord’s Day. God gives us many gifts and great things that we are to use in a way that stewards them for his glory and our good. If he has gifted you with creativity, use it wisely. If you have a difficult time understanding what that looks like, pray for wisdom. Our Father is good and will certainly guide you. Secondly, it would be wise to seek a Godly mentor in this area.
Third, understand the honor and privilege it is to lead God’s people in worship and singing. When you understand the gravity of what you are doing, the desire for technical, musical and creative expression as ultimate ends begin to fade and is replaced by the desire to be proficient, musically tasteful and musically supportive so we can lay a foundation for the church to sing and pray over, leading to worship of God. Participating in and contributing to that is such an honor!
Some things to consider:
- Songs that are for singing should be accessible to the congregation. They should be able to “follow” them. Off the wall, self-serving surprises in songs may take their attention off God and what they’re singing to and about him and place that attention on what’s being played and who’s playing it. Why risk that? Concerning less scripted moments in your gatherings: I’m all for providing extended, musically-supported moments of contemplation and prayer during the singing time, yes. But I don’t believe we should use those moments to let our creative prowess run wild and uninhibited. I believe we should stay musically reserved, controlled and humble.
- Songs that are for singing should be accessible to the average volunteer serving on Lord’s Day. God uses his people (the Church) to make his appeal to the world, to comfort one another, to bring glory to his name and a host of other things. The Church includes brothers and sisters who are proficient musicians and some who are not-so-proficient. Therefore, keeping songs relatively simple from a musical standpoint helps the not-so-proficient saints lead their congregation in worship. Songs should be easily scalable to the skill level and shouldn’t be out of reach for the average volunteer. Songs that require an advanced degree of skill do not meet this criteria, because they exclude a large percentage of faithful saints who help lead worship. Scalable.
- In many ways songs for Lord’s Day should be predictable. That’s why hymns are so appropriate. Because they are easy to latch onto from a melodic and musical standpoint, it doesn’t take long to forget about the music and focus solely on what you’re singing (many songs that aren’t hymns accomplish this as well, of course!) This is why, at least in the west, using the major scale and the main 6 chords is a great way to lay a non-distracting foundation for the lyrics to stand on. Further, hymns are easily scalable (see point 2).
- If you are bored and insist that worship music is boring, there might be a few things to consider:
- Your church sings empty songs that lack truth. If you truly know God and belong to him, you should be bored, disappointed and longing for more.
- If your church is singing true and God-honoring songs, and you still feel bored and unengaged, it might be wise to ask yourself, “Do I really know God as he has revealed himself in Scripture? Have I actually believed in the Jesus Christ of the Holy Scriptures? Have I sought to know him and understand his character by reading the Bible? Have I dedicated time, effort and energy to truly learning God?” Songs containing biblical truth should fill you with hope, joy, expectancy and assurance. Believers rejoice at God’s truth. It’s also true that believers go through dry seasons where joy seems hard to hold on to, of course. But on the whole, God’s truth should bring you great joy. If you are in a dry season or question if you really know God, I suggest you read the entire New Testament and ask God to help you understand his word and ask him to help you fall in love with Christ. Draw near to him and his promise is that he’ll draw near to you (James 4:8). The hope and joy you seek is in God himself, and the way you draw near to him is through his word. If the entire New Testament is a lofty suggestion, I still implore you to try. However, a scaled back request would be: the Gospel of John, Romans, Ephesians and Hebrews.
- You may think it’s about you and think you’re entitled to express yourself.
- You may place the emphasis on the experience you and others are having, when the emphasis should be on ensuring that what is taking place and what you’re contributing to by serving communicates and celebrates Jesus Christ and the truths found in God’s word. We absolutely can prioritize truth without sacrificing passion (credit to Costi Hinn for that sentence), but most of the discussion surrounding “all worship music sounds the same…” seems to come from those who care MORE about experience and feelings and LESS about truth. We are actually commanded to worship in Spirit and Truth (John 4:24). It’s not sacrificing one for the other.
- Church has become entertainment rather than the Lord’s Day.
- None of those are true and you just need to take a break from serving. Instead, go to church and SING with God’s people again. That helps rejuvenate me in seasons of dryness, so it might be good for you as well!
These are possibilities for why you are bored. I’m not criticizing you. I’m simply asking you, if you’re in any way serious about following Christ, to consider those. I’m here to pray for you and discuss this with you if you don’t have a trusted brother to lean on. I’d be happy to stand in that place if you need someone.
Guitar specific
I also hear “the guitar tones and parts are all the same.” First, I don’t hear that same complaint about any other genre of music. Blues guitarists sound like blues guitarists. Jazz guitarists sound like jazz guitarists. Country guitarists sound like country guitarists. And nobody complains about it. That’s the entire point of genres. Worship music is a genre. And one that SHOULD have the intention of minimizing attention on the musicians and music to instead maximize the attention on God. Guitar tones and parts that help accomplish that are the better ones for that end. Our role is one of support. It serves me well to remember what John the Baptizer said. Jesus called him the greatest man to ever live, so emulating his posture is wise.
“He [Jesus] must increase, but I [John the Baptizer] must decrease.”
John 3:30 ESV
So why don’t we just scrap all the musicians?
Because we are in the service of the Lord, and are instructed to use our talents (Romans 12) and musical instruments to worship him (Psalm 150).
Conclusion
Music and theology are such hot-button topics that people get incredibly charged over! But we must remember that there is a basis for truth: God’s word. As I mentioned in the beginning, I tried to provide a biblical basis for as much as I could and, after studying I concluded the overarching theme of Lord’s Day as presented in Scripture is that it’s not about displaying our talents or keeping everyone entertained, including the musicians. I also realize that some of this is just my opinion, preference and interpretation. In the final analysis, it’s about singing to God, praying to God and preaching about who God is, what he commands, what he’s done, what he will do and how we should live as a result. The triune God is the centerpiece, and we are the supporting cast that funnels all the attention to him.
TL;DR:
– Songs meant for listening are not the best songs for congregational singing, as more complex musical content can distract us from worshiping God.
– It’s not about you. Your creativity is a gift from God to you and for you to solely magnify him. I encourage you to use it to that end, which may mean you subdue it in favor of the greater good: glorifying God. Creativity, even when motivated by love for God, can still be a distraction. We need to use wisdom to determine if what we’re doing helps the church focus on, sing to and pray to God.
– Creativity and technical expression are not bad; but they can’t be the goal. The goal is giving the church the chance to sing, pray and worship. If you seek to inject creativity and technical expression for any other reason, you’re not on the right track.
– Predictability and simplicity facilitate focus. It’s about God’s people focusing their attention on him and singing to and about him. Embrace this.
I understand that there will be many who disagree. If you disagree, please provide a biblical basis contending that songs have to be musically technical, varied and/or that you are entitled to spread your musical wings on Lord’s Day. That would be a tremendous help for us all. Keep things civil and loving. We’re in good company here.
As much as we’re able, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we must objectively compare everything we do against that standard and make adjustments when necessary, and even when those adjustments go against our personal preferences.
I’m certainly curious about your thoughts, whether supporting or refuting. I tried to do this in love and with as much grace as possible. I look forward to engaging with you!
In love and in Christ,
Troy, GuitarforHISGLORY
*I’d like to express a heartfelt thank you to those who read this for me and provided feedback to ensure this communicated what was on my heart. Mike Oughton, my friend and brother-in-Christ, spent considerable time helping me refine this. Chris F., Cody F., David D. and Jeff N. also took the time to read and offer feedback. Thank you, brothers!
