This post is sort of a way for me to discuss something that I've been struggling with. I'm not looking to get anyone worked up; I'm genuinely trying to work through this. Constructive input is appreciated. Note: I make a lot of broad, blanket statements that I realize are not entirely fair to the medium. I'm not going to pick this apart, so just go with it and realize that I'm laying this out admitting that I might just be plain wrong.
My family I are regular church goers, but I assume that's obvious by now, or at least I hope it is. Our church, CenterPoint Church, is awesome. I've been to a lot of churches over the years and have enjoyed the vast majority of them, but CenterPoint is special.
Most people who latch onto a church find that it fulfills their needs. They like the music. They like the provided food. The coffee bar sells their favorite coffee brand. None of these are the reasons I've chosen CenterPoint. The reasons are many, but all those reasons could not exist and we'd still attend because the preaching is awesome. But, the preaching isn't what I want to talk about.
I hate the "worship" (I also hate calling the music time "worship", since the entire service is a time of worship) time. Let me clarify. Our worship team leader and the various musicians who play with him are great. This is not an attack on them or anyone else who plays in any worship band. This is me admitting that, when the sermon is over, I generally check out, because paying attention just makes me frustrated, maybe even angry. I should also clarify that our church has the sermon on the front end of the service and we end with the music.
God expects out best. God was displeased with Cain's sacrifice not because it was made up of vegetation, as we are lead to believe as children, but because it was not the best that Cain had to offer. The Master (that's God in parable speak) was disappointed in the servant who merely buried the talent (that's Bible speak speak for money) that was entrusted to him because he did not use it wisely like the other two servants did. In other words, the offending servant did not bring forth his best to his Master.
To bring that full circle, I feel that worship (well, Christian art in general, but let's stay focused here) is very lazy. Not just in church, but even in the Christian music industry (every time that phrase is used, somewhere, a hungry puppy's dinner is taken from him).
Tune your radio to any secular station. I don't care what one. Top 40. Oldies. Even a disco station, if such an abomination exists. Now, ignore the lyrics, especially if you're listening to a Top 40 station, as all of the songs are about sex. Listen to the music. Notice the way the melodies move, the way the beat drives the piece, the way the different sounds compliment each other. Someone put a lot of blood sweat and tears into that song. No matter what it's about, Lady Gaga didn't wake up one morning, take a dump, and walk out of her freak toilet, which I assume is made from baby chicken houses, with a recording of Poker Face. Katy Perry didn't write Teenage Dream in her sleep. Heck even the below piece of music has a lot of depth.
Now, tune to whatever "positive, encouraging" (this is marketing speak for Christian) radio station is in your area. Now, assuming you're lucky enough to hear an original song (we'll get to that soon, trust me), listen to how incredibly lazy the song is. If you're really lucky, the song will have two verses and some one chord bridge that starts soft and builds up to nothing. Chances are, when one song ends and the next begins, you won't notice unless that disgustingly happy DJ starts talking between tracks because every single one of these songs is structured the exact same way and uses the same cheap effects pedal (which is likely set to 'clean') on the guitar as the last one. Every guitar strum pattern is the same. The electric guitarist thinks he's The Edge (U2's Dave Evans) and he's obviously not. Every drum beat is the same. The bass is just playing the root of each chord in an eighth note rhythm. The same eight lines of lyrics get repeated over and over again. And, because no in the Christian world knows how to use one tastefully, the piano is just playing the same thing the guitar and the bass are playing and is, therefore, steamrolling everything else that is going on. Not to mention that the audio sounds like it was captured in a church sanctuary and mixed by the lead singer's 14-year-old kid on his MacBookAir.
Am I supposed to believe that this is the best we have to offer; that God gave the fallen all the talent and gave his own children the leftovers?
I find it very difficult to believe that when Chris Tomlin sat down to write "God in this City" that he was giving God his best. I feel this way because Chris Tomlin didn't write "God in this City", some little known band called Blue Tree did. Tomlin just capitalized on it. "But, Patty, bands cover other band's songs all the time." You are absolutely right. But, in the secular world, there's usually a good decade or two between the date it was originally written and the date that New Found Glory covered it. Also, when secular bands cover songs, they don't seek to merely copy it, but instead make it their own.
Imagine you tuned back to that secular radio station and you heard the same song 13 times in the span of a day. Okay, okay, you're right. That probably actually happens. Here's the twist. What if out of the 13 times you heard Britney Spears' "Until the World Ends", 9 of those recordings were done by 9 different bands. Now, imagine one of those bands is Lincoln Brewster. This is the world we Christians live in and encourage by not demanding better of ourselves. We live under this lie that "because it's for the glory of God that all that matters is that it's Christian." I call bull crap. The exact opposite is true. As we see in the Bible, because it's for God, it should be the absolute best you have to offer, and even then it's not good enough.
Back to church. Most worship bands don't have a songwriter in their roster. However, most of them are very talented musicians. You'd never know that attending a church worship service. The same boring, tired strumming patterns for every single song. The same drum pattern with an off beat just before the '2' of the measure. The same stupid build up during the bridge of the song that ultimately never goes anywhere. On an even broader scale, the set list was likely built from a list as small as 15 songs. That's right, you can look forward to hearing these songs week after week after week, with no end in sight. I really hope you like Agnus Dei (Third Day's butchered version, because the worship leader is totally unaware that Michael W. Smith wrote and recorded the only good version of it, of course) cuz you're gonna hear it every Sunday for months.
I've heard some people say that it's this way in the Church to make it easier for the people in the congregation who are not musically inclined to sing along. Again, bull crap. There's not a single person in that crowd that couldn't at least hum their way through a "complicated" song after having heard it twice. If I weren't musically inclined, I'd be a insulted if some elitist pig of a musician told me that I'm to stupid to READ WORDS OFF A FREAKING SCREEN!
Let's, however, humor them for a moment. Let's assume that we're all idiots and can't be bothered to remember the melody of a four chord song. Since when has dumbing things down for common folk been a good idea? The Catholic Church decided a very long time ago that common people were too stupid to understand the ways of God and look what happened. Yes, dumbing down scripture and dumbing down music are two completely different matters, but the principle is the same.
So that's it. I might just be an ogre. I'm willing to admit to that I might be completely bat-crazy and have no idea what I'm talking about. That's where you come in. Convince me I'm wrong. I beg you. I'm tired of going to church Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and leaving angry because I feel that our sacrifice of worship was not a sacrifice at all.
My family I are regular church goers, but I assume that's obvious by now, or at least I hope it is. Our church, CenterPoint Church, is awesome. I've been to a lot of churches over the years and have enjoyed the vast majority of them, but CenterPoint is special.
Most people who latch onto a church find that it fulfills their needs. They like the music. They like the provided food. The coffee bar sells their favorite coffee brand. None of these are the reasons I've chosen CenterPoint. The reasons are many, but all those reasons could not exist and we'd still attend because the preaching is awesome. But, the preaching isn't what I want to talk about.
I hate the "worship" (I also hate calling the music time "worship", since the entire service is a time of worship) time. Let me clarify. Our worship team leader and the various musicians who play with him are great. This is not an attack on them or anyone else who plays in any worship band. This is me admitting that, when the sermon is over, I generally check out, because paying attention just makes me frustrated, maybe even angry. I should also clarify that our church has the sermon on the front end of the service and we end with the music.
God expects out best. God was displeased with Cain's sacrifice not because it was made up of vegetation, as we are lead to believe as children, but because it was not the best that Cain had to offer. The Master (that's God in parable speak) was disappointed in the servant who merely buried the talent (that's Bible speak speak for money) that was entrusted to him because he did not use it wisely like the other two servants did. In other words, the offending servant did not bring forth his best to his Master.
To bring that full circle, I feel that worship (well, Christian art in general, but let's stay focused here) is very lazy. Not just in church, but even in the Christian music industry (every time that phrase is used, somewhere, a hungry puppy's dinner is taken from him).
Tune your radio to any secular station. I don't care what one. Top 40. Oldies. Even a disco station, if such an abomination exists. Now, ignore the lyrics, especially if you're listening to a Top 40 station, as all of the songs are about sex. Listen to the music. Notice the way the melodies move, the way the beat drives the piece, the way the different sounds compliment each other. Someone put a lot of blood sweat and tears into that song. No matter what it's about, Lady Gaga didn't wake up one morning, take a dump, and walk out of her freak toilet, which I assume is made from baby chicken houses, with a recording of Poker Face. Katy Perry didn't write Teenage Dream in her sleep. Heck even the below piece of music has a lot of depth.
It's just 8bit midi, but if you listen closely you'll hear the
many layers that make up this iconic tune.
Now, tune to whatever "positive, encouraging" (this is marketing speak for Christian) radio station is in your area. Now, assuming you're lucky enough to hear an original song (we'll get to that soon, trust me), listen to how incredibly lazy the song is. If you're really lucky, the song will have two verses and some one chord bridge that starts soft and builds up to nothing. Chances are, when one song ends and the next begins, you won't notice unless that disgustingly happy DJ starts talking between tracks because every single one of these songs is structured the exact same way and uses the same cheap effects pedal (which is likely set to 'clean') on the guitar as the last one. Every guitar strum pattern is the same. The electric guitarist thinks he's The Edge (U2's Dave Evans) and he's obviously not. Every drum beat is the same. The bass is just playing the root of each chord in an eighth note rhythm. The same eight lines of lyrics get repeated over and over again. And, because no in the Christian world knows how to use one tastefully, the piano is just playing the same thing the guitar and the bass are playing and is, therefore, steamrolling everything else that is going on. Not to mention that the audio sounds like it was captured in a church sanctuary and mixed by the lead singer's 14-year-old kid on his MacBookAir.
Am I supposed to believe that this is the best we have to offer; that God gave the fallen all the talent and gave his own children the leftovers?
I find it very difficult to believe that when Chris Tomlin sat down to write "God in this City" that he was giving God his best. I feel this way because Chris Tomlin didn't write "God in this City", some little known band called Blue Tree did. Tomlin just capitalized on it. "But, Patty, bands cover other band's songs all the time." You are absolutely right. But, in the secular world, there's usually a good decade or two between the date it was originally written and the date that New Found Glory covered it. Also, when secular bands cover songs, they don't seek to merely copy it, but instead make it their own.
It's a cover, but it's very different from Cyndie Lauper's original recording.
The original was recorded 22 years before what you are hearing now.
Imagine you tuned back to that secular radio station and you heard the same song 13 times in the span of a day. Okay, okay, you're right. That probably actually happens. Here's the twist. What if out of the 13 times you heard Britney Spears' "Until the World Ends", 9 of those recordings were done by 9 different bands. Now, imagine one of those bands is Lincoln Brewster. This is the world we Christians live in and encourage by not demanding better of ourselves. We live under this lie that "because it's for the glory of God that all that matters is that it's Christian." I call bull crap. The exact opposite is true. As we see in the Bible, because it's for God, it should be the absolute best you have to offer, and even then it's not good enough.
Back to church. Most worship bands don't have a songwriter in their roster. However, most of them are very talented musicians. You'd never know that attending a church worship service. The same boring, tired strumming patterns for every single song. The same drum pattern with an off beat just before the '2' of the measure. The same stupid build up during the bridge of the song that ultimately never goes anywhere. On an even broader scale, the set list was likely built from a list as small as 15 songs. That's right, you can look forward to hearing these songs week after week after week, with no end in sight. I really hope you like Agnus Dei (Third Day's butchered version, because the worship leader is totally unaware that Michael W. Smith wrote and recorded the only good version of it, of course) cuz you're gonna hear it every Sunday for months.
I've heard some people say that it's this way in the Church to make it easier for the people in the congregation who are not musically inclined to sing along. Again, bull crap. There's not a single person in that crowd that couldn't at least hum their way through a "complicated" song after having heard it twice. If I weren't musically inclined, I'd be a insulted if some elitist pig of a musician told me that I'm to stupid to READ WORDS OFF A FREAKING SCREEN!
Let's, however, humor them for a moment. Let's assume that we're all idiots and can't be bothered to remember the melody of a four chord song. Since when has dumbing things down for common folk been a good idea? The Catholic Church decided a very long time ago that common people were too stupid to understand the ways of God and look what happened. Yes, dumbing down scripture and dumbing down music are two completely different matters, but the principle is the same.
So that's it. I might just be an ogre. I'm willing to admit to that I might be completely bat-crazy and have no idea what I'm talking about. That's where you come in. Convince me I'm wrong. I beg you. I'm tired of going to church Sunday after Sunday after Sunday and leaving angry because I feel that our sacrifice of worship was not a sacrifice at all.
Well put, Patrick. I used to listen to CCM radio but I don't anymore, for many of the same reasons you cite in your blog. I select the songs we use at my church, and I find myself wading through a lot of music in order to find songs that are both lyrically and musically solid and inspiring. But there are good songs out there. Worship leaders need to cultivate the practice of aesthetic as well as theological discernment, and follow through by selecting and using the best music they can find, not merely the trendiest songs of the moment.
ReplyDeleteI think a good place to start deceyphering where you are at and where you see worship should be headed is to find our what worship music you connect with. Is there someone or something you have in mind that exists already? Has there been a moment when you thought "yeah, this is more like it!" Even if it didn't quite get there in the end. Thats where I would like to hear your thoughts. Because its easy for me to sit here and say, "well patrick, it shouldn't matter if its an accapella feuge, or a mostly out if tune worship leader, your sacrifice in worship should be the same". I do believe that but I understand the view from your perspective as well, I frequent it often as well. We can all learn to be better worshippers in general, music or not, so if you have thought on what it could be or "what it almost was this one time." Let's keep that conversation going.
ReplyDeleteThanks for replying, guys. Honestly, I recently feel much more in a worshipful place when listening to music that is not considered by the average person to be "worship". Audio Adrenaline, Switchfoot, The Newsboys (pre-worship fad). I find myself lost in the music and lyrics of these artists. The lyrics are powerful and truthful. The layers are deep and complicated. Melodies I didn't hear the first time I listened to them can be found. Sometimes it's chaotic, but the rhythm ties it all together. It's enjoyable to listen to because it's good. It also helps that any piano present is being used to compliment what's around it and not just mimic what's around it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying I'm in the right. What's going on on stage should have very little to do with where my heart is. But if someone doesn't stand up and say "That's not good enough" nothing will ever change. Why does it have to simple? Why is it okay for it to be "just good enough". Why can't it be excellent?