Music and singing in particular predate recorded history. It is readily apparent that music and singing are a component of worshiping God. Music and singing are referenced many times throughout the Old Testament of the Bible, often in connection with worship of God. It is also noteworthy that instruments were recorded with angelic events, such as the birth of Christ. Music and singing are a fact of life.
The question before us today is how should music and singing interface with the Christian life? A more direct question would be: Can we afford to be indiscriminate with music, especially if it negatively impacts our holiness? (Can music impact our holiness? Perhaps we must admit this possibility before moving ahead.)
Let’s begin with a few basics which will guide our thoughts in today’s post. First, singing expresses what we believe. The words which cross our lips proclaim our beliefs. Second, music has a powerful role in stirring emotion. Third, the content of a song is the lyrics, and the content is cognitive, which appeals to the intellect. So there we have it, belief, emotion, and intellect are all inherent in music and singing.
The emotional aspect of music enables the message to be heard. (1) “Message” may be interpreted in a variety of ways. The message of the song, the message of the preacher, and the message of the songwriter and singer can all be used interchangeably. As an emotional tool, music can be designed to elicit a variety of responses, including motion, spiritual conviction, erotic arousal, or even consumer purchase. In church, music may be used as an evangelistic appeal, to prepare the audience for the main speaker, or to bring a response of genuine worship. Response is the key because music and song often elicit a response from the hearer/singer.
The most troubling of emotional responses in music within the church setting would be preparing the mind for a false message, and this does appear to be occurring.
The cognitive content of music appeals to the intellect through instruction. Hymns, for example, often have a certain theological content which is a type of instruction. In this way, hymns are an aid to belief and can reinforce theological and Biblical concepts. An example of this would be putting Scripture verses to melody or using theologically rich lyrics. Of course, the songs we like to sing can also be low in cognitive content, meaning they have limited or distorted theological content.
There must be a healthy balance between emotion and intellect for belief in Christ to grow through music. In the church setting, music should serve the role of instilling a correct fear of God, evangelism, and moving the worshipper onto Christian perfection. This test should be applied to all songs introduced into the worship service.
Down through history, various eras and denominations have emphasized the cognitive or the emotional. For example, music from the Reformation era largely avoids all emotional response. The concern at that time was ensuring that humans had no role in the beginnings of faith. This coincides with the Reformers’ emphasis on sola fide – faith alone. Too much emotion is certainly a valid concern, for belief born primarily out of an emotional response is likely to be a shallow belief and not one arising out of the Holy Spirit’s conviction. This is an important thought, so hold that thought.
Various denominations, even today, avoid all musical accompaniment, preferring instead to only have human voices lift praise to God. Again, this approach reduces or eliminates the emotional aspect of music.
Today’s postmodern, relativistic influences on the culture are pushing a more extreme shift toward emotional response, at the cost of cognitive content. The result in many churches, especially those focusing on contemporary or rock music, is that people come to church primarily for the emotional stimulation. The object is not genuine Christian perfection, but to instill a feeling that the individual is in Christ. This approach leads to a shallow belief.
While musical accompaniment can increase or decrease the emotional response, musical accompaniment alone does not set the emotion, intellect, or belief. The lyrics are the key driver of emotion, intellect, and belief.
The key role of the denominational hymnal committee is to select hymns and spiritual songs which are doctrinally and theologically correct and are an aid to belief and Christian perfection. Hymnals do not address the style of musical accompaniment. Hymnals only seek to reinforce doctrinal and theological instruction which is an aid to belief.
When we are intending to worship God through music, a lack of theological instruction or intellectual content in music coupled with a focus on emotion are problematic. An emphasis primarily on emotion turns the focus of music inward, which can quickly become a form of idolatry. Examples of this are found in syncopation and repetition, which are integral to most modern “Christian” music.
Syncopation, very briefly, was first noted in the 1800s in German music. Syncopation only gained popularity around the 1950s with the rise of jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll styles of music. Syncopation makes the music easier to listen to and more appealing. The purpose of syncopation is to emphasize off-beats and generate an emotional response to the unexpected. The focus is to engage the audience and those who will sing the music.
Repetition is inserted only to generate an emotional response, and the primary purpose of repetition is to increase sales of albums (emotional response). We can borrow from tried and true marketing tactics to better understand repetition. Listen to any old AM radio commercial or modern television commercial. Repetition is used to generate a response. In consumerism, repeating a name, phone number, or suggestion seven times is generally regarded to be the right amount to trigger a response. Repetition is only aimed at an emotional response.
If the music we sing is intended to worship God, then we must arrange our music so that it pleases God, not ourselves. When we make ourselves the focus of music, by making the music easier to listen to or to jazz up our emotions, the focus is no longer on God but on self. Thus, the wrong type of lyrics change the focus of our worship into self-worship, a/k/a idolatry, the opposite of Christian perfection.
Besides selling more albums and making more money, the emotional aspect of music is also often associated with charismatic churches. But there, the tenor of the church service is on the imitation of a feeling or sensation of a movement of the Holy Spirit and utilizing music to create the sensation. The Holy Spirit is not actually at work; it is just the music psyching up the people to imitate the perceived presence of the Holy Spirit.
Why does it matter? Why write this post? Well, if I can do anything, it would be to make a few observations and recommendations.
1. If we abandon our hymnals, then we take onto ourselves the responsibility of undertaking a theological and doctrinal review of the songs we sing. We take for granted that hymns just appear in our hymnals, and we prefer to assume that the hymnals will include modern songs in the next update. We forget that a wide variety of people were assigned the task of researching, praying, fasting, and studying to determine that each hymn and song in the hymnal was selected deliberately and purposefully to aid in increasing belief, increasing Christian perfection, and increasing fear of God.
When we choose songs which are not in the hymnal, we are responsible for developing our own process of reviewing the lyrics and melodies to confirm that each song meets theological and doctrinal criteria. We are also responsible for determining the criteria. Is this review happening?
The undeniable fact is that the vast majority of modern songs contain theological error and questionable lyrics. These songs deserve to undergo scrutiny before bringing them into church. The reality is that most worship leaders, pastors, and church leaders are not engaging theologically with modern songs.
2. Because a song may contain error and singing professes what we believe, it falls on those in attendance at churches to take a stand and not sing. Sitting out songs is a matter of conscience, and we should not discourage those who do not feel at liberty to sing certain songs. Those in leadership must be aware, however, that they are disenfranchising people from worshipping God.
3. Because modern songs are not in the hymnal, churches opt for projectors and handouts instead. With all respect to churches who use these practices, this is a most uninviting and disenfranchising approach especially for visitors. Because there are no musical notes provided, those in attendance are assumed to be in the “know”, and those who do not know are suddenly marginalized and made to feel unwelcome. It is ironic that projectors were popularized by the seeker-sensitive movement, but projectors convey the opposite message when we hope to achieve evangelism.
What is it that we desire when listening to syncopated and repetitive music? What desire is being fulfilled from songs that primarily focus on emotion? How does the music we listen to increase the Holy Spirit’s influence on our lives? We must consider these questions. Because it is all too easy to engage in self-deception and self-righteousness, it is very possible that the music we choose to use in worshipping God is reducing our holiness and Christian perfection.
(1) The ‘cognitive’ and the ‘emotive’ component in Christian songs: Tracing the shifts in traditional and contemporary songs, J. Gertrud Tönsing, Cas J. Wepener, and Cas Vos, Department of Practical Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa, originally published May 20, 20215
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