The question of musical style or idiom in Christian worship can be a complicated issue. Within the same culture a variety of musical expressions may coexist, some of which are less suited for use in worship than others. In any culture, including that of the West, music that fails to convey the distinctive difference between biblical faith and prevailing values can be counterproductive when used in worship.
For example, Christian faith sees God as Creator acting through history to bring about the redemption of His people whom He loves. Music that is only cyclical — repetitive, such as New Age — runs counter to the biblical principal that history and events have a purpose and goal in God's redemptive plan. Some music from other cultures, especially Eastern cultures, seems to be of the repetitive sort — not progressing from "beginning" to "ending" as we know them from "classical" music. I wonder what message this kind of music would convey about biblical faith. On the other hand, we don't know much about Israelite or early Christian music. It was probably closer to traditional African or Asiatic music than to the modern Western idiom. But the Psalms, in the Bible's book of hymn texts, do progress from start to finish. As I said, it's a complicated issue.
Music that is consistently harsh, dissonant and disjointed, as with some contemporary types both popular and symphonic, can be taken as a statement that the universe and human life are meaningless. Such music denies the biblical perspective, which sees a coherent and purposeful universe created by divine intelligence. In the opening pages of J. R. R. Tolkien's Silmarillion the author imagines Illúvatar's beautiful creation permeated by music, with its harmony marred by the discordant strains of the self-assertive Melkor. Tolkien's fantasy is a parallel to the traditional picture of Satan's rebellion (which owes more to Milton than to the Scriptures), but significantly relates discordant music to a compromise of the created order. One thinks immediately of Psalm 19: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims His handiwork" — not through spoken words but through "their voice," which the hymn writer calls "the music of the spheres" (Maltbie D. Babcock, "This Is My Father’s World").
There is something to be said for making Christian music, anywhere, different from what is heard in the streets or popular media. The holy God — Scripture is clear — is "set apart" from the profane; the true sense of His presence partakes of the numinous, or a mysterious otherness. The New Testament, in its portrayal of Jesus, brings the awareness of God's presence into the realm of human personhood and the intimate indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But it's still true that the New Testament retains a sense of the overwhelming, supramundane majesty of God as One not to be trifled with. We see this, for example, in the Revelation to John.
Music that is just like what people hear on the radio or download to their iPods can't convey this transcendent mystery. Worship music needs to bear a certain "exalted" quality, especially where it is directly addressed to the Lord — as far more of it should be. Some types of music just can't bring across this sense of exaltation. For that reason, in my opinion, popular Hispanic or American country music, to mention just a few examples, are inadequate media for Christian worship. I wonder if the overpowering electronic blast of contemporary popular-style music in some "seeker" churches also works against a sense of God’s transcendence. For that matter the trite musical idiom of the evangelical "gospel song," contemporary a century ago, now sounds dated, shallow and focused on me rather than on God.
There are those who seem to believe that when a Christian worship environment isn't "contemporary" people get the idea that the faith isn't relevant, and aren't drawn to the gospel. But was Jesus' preaching "contemporary" or did it challenge the presuppositions and expectations of His contemporaries? Sometimes the gospel needs to be presented in ways that pull people out of their cultural milieu — not immerse them in it. A "different" kind of music might be part of that proclamation.
For example, Christian faith sees God as Creator acting through history to bring about the redemption of His people whom He loves. Music that is only cyclical — repetitive, such as New Age — runs counter to the biblical principal that history and events have a purpose and goal in God's redemptive plan. Some music from other cultures, especially Eastern cultures, seems to be of the repetitive sort — not progressing from "beginning" to "ending" as we know them from "classical" music. I wonder what message this kind of music would convey about biblical faith. On the other hand, we don't know much about Israelite or early Christian music. It was probably closer to traditional African or Asiatic music than to the modern Western idiom. But the Psalms, in the Bible's book of hymn texts, do progress from start to finish. As I said, it's a complicated issue.
Music that is consistently harsh, dissonant and disjointed, as with some contemporary types both popular and symphonic, can be taken as a statement that the universe and human life are meaningless. Such music denies the biblical perspective, which sees a coherent and purposeful universe created by divine intelligence. In the opening pages of J. R. R. Tolkien's Silmarillion the author imagines Illúvatar's beautiful creation permeated by music, with its harmony marred by the discordant strains of the self-assertive Melkor. Tolkien's fantasy is a parallel to the traditional picture of Satan's rebellion (which owes more to Milton than to the Scriptures), but significantly relates discordant music to a compromise of the created order. One thinks immediately of Psalm 19: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims His handiwork" — not through spoken words but through "their voice," which the hymn writer calls "the music of the spheres" (Maltbie D. Babcock, "This Is My Father’s World").
There is something to be said for making Christian music, anywhere, different from what is heard in the streets or popular media. The holy God — Scripture is clear — is "set apart" from the profane; the true sense of His presence partakes of the numinous, or a mysterious otherness. The New Testament, in its portrayal of Jesus, brings the awareness of God's presence into the realm of human personhood and the intimate indwelling of the Holy Spirit. But it's still true that the New Testament retains a sense of the overwhelming, supramundane majesty of God as One not to be trifled with. We see this, for example, in the Revelation to John.
Music that is just like what people hear on the radio or download to their iPods can't convey this transcendent mystery. Worship music needs to bear a certain "exalted" quality, especially where it is directly addressed to the Lord — as far more of it should be. Some types of music just can't bring across this sense of exaltation. For that reason, in my opinion, popular Hispanic or American country music, to mention just a few examples, are inadequate media for Christian worship. I wonder if the overpowering electronic blast of contemporary popular-style music in some "seeker" churches also works against a sense of God’s transcendence. For that matter the trite musical idiom of the evangelical "gospel song," contemporary a century ago, now sounds dated, shallow and focused on me rather than on God.
There are those who seem to believe that when a Christian worship environment isn't "contemporary" people get the idea that the faith isn't relevant, and aren't drawn to the gospel. But was Jesus' preaching "contemporary" or did it challenge the presuppositions and expectations of His contemporaries? Sometimes the gospel needs to be presented in ways that pull people out of their cultural milieu — not immerse them in it. A "different" kind of music might be part of that proclamation.
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