here is a great thought-provoking post regarding the modern worship movement in the mainline and liberal traditions of america... but it got me thinking about the emerging church movement and how it is going to be hard to be deconstructing our theologies and even building new ones while still cuddling up to old worship favorites...
so, the challenge is finding/writing songs that will be more inclusive, that will perhaps ask questions, that will perhaps be more subversive, that will perhaps challenge people as opposed to just giving them answers... what about a song that recounts the places in scripture where different characters felt as though god had abandoned them... and the refrain could be 'god where are you? feeling so lost, feeling so numb... i thought you loved me, what am i to do?'...
perhaps that is a little too narcicistic (sp?)... but what about songs that really do affirm god's sense of justice and care for the oppressed?... ala, 'where the streets have no name' and dont just set it up as a song about 'what heaven will be like' (i have done this) but rather 'what god wants this world to look like?...
the modern worship movement panders to felt needs, either exclusive or sappy theology (i am guilty of this as a 'worship' songwriter), and simplicity that borders on naivity... perhaps we need some songs that challenge, broaden our minds, and recognize the complexity of our lives/situations...
perhaps mantras would be better suited?... or something other than music?... perhaps the 'modern worship movement' cannot be transformed into the 'postmodern worship movement'?... perhaps we are holding onto things like stained glass and hymnals by holding onto tomlin, hughes, and crowder?...
just thoughts, but i would love to hear anyone elses... this is a big deal for those of us who touch on 'worship ministries' in our churches... if we are to live by conscience and not be simple convenience, we must begin thinking about these things...
1 comment:
some really good points... i definitely think that one of the 'goals' (if i may be so american) of a worship leader is to challenge his people in their understanding of god, what worship is, who we are in light of that, how we then interact with each other and the world...
while i think it is good to have familiar songs, i find so many people (myself included) who get in the rut of songs that were once fresh and new and insightful and challenging and hope-giving that are now just tunes that just take us to a place of 'better times'...
we must be able to take our community new places, and this calls for new journals of our faith... and that plays out in new expressions in music... right?...
ah, the challenge of leaving the stale to embrace the fresh, while not sacrificing the soul... hmm...
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