Hey guys, I'm back. And here's my discussion question:
What is the purpose of singing during a church service? I'm not criticizing singing during church, I'd just like to hear people's opinions about why we do it.
I, for example, would answer that singing is, as all things are, first of all supposed to constitute an act of worship. Secondly, it should teach; that is, the song should have some truth value and not be overly repetitive. Finally, I would say that although it's not wrong to feel something while you're singing, there is a definite problem with making feelings the main focus of any song. Recent trends in Christian music seem to favor fluff, repetition, and a desire to sound "modern" over any kind of deep truth content--David Crowder is a prime example of this problem. I think it promotes immature Christianity, and is a result of it. Trying to instill "feelings" of worship (as if worship were a feeling) is a good sign that you have no clue what real worship is all about.
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3 comments:
I completely agree that we should not necessarily associate singing with some sort of feeling. I've heard people talk about having some kind of "feeling" or "connection" with God when they worship. I'm not sure I really understand what they mean. I've also heard people talk about very "meaningful" worship experiences they've had. Does this mean other worship experiences weren't meaningful? Were they unnecessary? Were they in vain?
Some of my favorite memories of worship were not when I was on a youth trip or something like that. They were when I was driving home from Rockford with Laura. We would talk about school, and how it hurt us to see such Godlessness. We would pray about our friends who were hurting, then we would sing together.
I believe that what is important in worship is not a feeling, but an attitude. The major difference between these two is that an attitude is a choice. My personal experience has been that if you choose to get along with your family on the way to church, forgive those around you that may have offended you, and ignore the fact that you hate the song, the feeling may come.
This brings me to my last point. My favorite songs are definitely the ones that have depth to them. But while I do not think that repetitious songs are wrong, I do find them rather irritating. I will not listen to them by choice. However, I have realized that as my attitude about worship has changed, my irritation with these songs has decreased. Not that I like them now, but I am no longer annoyed when we sing them in church. My attitude has changed, and I am much happier this way. Still, I won't listen to David Crowder. This is mostly because his voice and lack of melody annoy me.
A very interesting question you pose here, John. I am responding to this one because it was the oldest one that I hadn't read yet. Anyway, I disagree with you about repetition. I think that repeating refrains can serve to force the singer to meditate on the meaning of it and to gain greater understanding, rather than singing words with heavy theological import but not having time to grasp the meaning. I am mainly thinking of liturgical singing and the meditative qualities of Taize worship. These songs are simple and they allow the singer to let the words penetrate his being. Of course, modern repetitive songs can be different because they are so upbeat and they do not seem to be seeking this type of reflection. But I think that if we have the attitude that we always have something to learn, then we can gain greatly even from those annoying songs. As to feelings... well, I think feelings are like everything else and we cannot rely on them wholly, but we should definitely enjoy them when they bring us closer to God. This can happen when we are happy (being driven to thanksgiving) and also when we are frustrated (being driven to questioning). Those are my thoughts.
Penetrate his being?
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