As I was reading through some posts, one from June 20th caught my eye: Good Hymns Confess Specific Truth. Intrigued by the title, I read through this short entry. I especially appreciated this:
We have a treasure in Christian hymnody that maintains correct doctrine and faith in the Truth. Our hymns must do more than not confess false doctrine; they must confess true doctrine. It is not sufficient that we believe in a god, but the God that revealed himself to us in His holy word.Have I sung hymns with questionable or unbiblical content? Yes, back when I did not know any better. Nowadays I keep quiet rather than sing the disagreeable parts.
As pastors and musicians choose hymns for worship, they should be care not only to choose tunes that people sing but choose lyrics that embed Biblical truth into our minds and hearts.
After reading what Dan wrote, I followed a related link to here. The point of this post is that we need to agree that lyrics must be biblical before we discuss how they are delivered via the tune and instrumentation. He rightly states
The aim of a lot of Christian popular music is to praise God without laying out a lot of doctrine that would be offensive to some denominations.It is no secret that Contemporary Christian Music lyrics are written blandly as not to offend, thus improving acceptability with an end to improved sales. The church should not be in that same business. We have doctrine to teach and with an obligation to teach it well. Musical lyrics are a great tool to this end.
I am not addressing arrangement, tempo, or stylization at this time. I definitely have my preferences, like using the original melodies for hymns, but do not wish to jump into rock vs. Bach as Dan Engle mentioned. For the record, I am listening to Mozart's "Mass in C minor", K427 ("Great Mass") while writing this.
Conclusion
We need to learn proper doctrine properly. Sometime take your Bible and read Deuteronomy 10:12-11:32. What jumps out as a recurring theme? that God is to be obeyed, and to obey one must know what he requires. This should be common sense in the local church. Considering that most preachers spend about 20 hours preparing a message that correctly explains what Scripture says, should not the same level of care be put forth to ensure the music's message? I do not expect the music leader to spend a proportionate amount of time as the preacher because the roles and tools are different. However, the desire to properly express truth should be as great.
Finally, as an aside, how about we recommend to music leaders that the next time they wish to introduce a new song to the congregation, try something from a little-used author like King David or Venerable Bede or Ambrose or possibly this 9th-century work by Theodulph of Orleans:
| 1. All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King, To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring. Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David's royal Son, Who in the Lord's name comest, The King and Blessed One. | 4. All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King, To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring. To Thee, before Thy Passion, They sang their hymns of praise; To Thee, now high exalted, Our melody we raise. |
2. All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King, To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring. The company of angels Are praising Thee on high, And mortal men and all things Created make reply. | 5. All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King, To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring. Thou didst accept their praises; Accept the prayers we bring, Who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King. |
3. All glory, laud, and honor To Thee, Redeemer, King, To whom the lips of children Made sweet hosannas ring. The people of the Hebrews With psalms before Thee went; Our praise and prayer and anthems Before Thee we present. | |
Any takers?
2 comments:
You're preaching my song, brother!
Thanks for the reference! Great conclusion, too. :)
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