(inspired by Darwin's rant)
Don't get me wrong, I am not sick of worshipping God through music. I just can't handle the worship music genre and industry and popularity. Right now, wor$hip music sells and labels can make a ton of money off of christians willing to spend money on albums that recycle the same 50 songs.
Every 2 months for the past two years, I get a box in the mail that has books and worship CD's. These are for the young adult class at my church, so I have sampled each of them and they all seem to be blah. I do have a few records in my collection that I think are good. They were made with honesty and integrity, but they were made before the industry became about the Money. Seriously, do we need every single rock and pop artist to release their own worship album that has the same songs as every other album.
I could go on but I really wanted to write about the use of that music when the heart is not focused on worshipping God through music. I need to chose my words carefully, because this can be a bit hard to explain. I try to live my life as worship to God and realize that worship is more than just music.
I hate worship music as background music. I don't know how others feel, but to me worship music involves participation on my part. We each have our own way on how we worship God through music. I feel like my mind should be on set on what I am going to do with the music. So, I have a hard to accepting worship music to be played as background noise or just as a filler over the airwaves. I believe that you just get numb to it and it loses its power on Sunday morning. So I set it aside, for when I truly will focus on God. (I hope this makes sense, because I am typing this quickly over my lunch hour.)
I realize that music means more to me than to most, so maybe this isn't a big deal to some.
I say all this to talk about the young adult BBQ and Volleyball party we had last night. We had an outdoor sound system blairing out the tunes. It was a fun time, but the tunes consisted mostly of worship CD's. We are eating hot dogs, playing volleyball and socializing to the tunes of some bland worship CD. My teamates and I are trying to figure out how to keep Dust from scoring when the songs want us to SHOUT TO THE LORD! Sorry, I can't balance both, it has got to be one or the other. Finally when someone said "haven't we heard this song 3 times already" and someone else said "we don't have very many CD's," I ran to my car to see what I might have. YES! I found a mix I made called Summer 2003. My summer mixes are more upbeat driving in your car kind of music- which is the perfect soundtrack for volleyball in the sand and sun. My mixes are usually 85% by artist who consider themselves christians and 15% who are just good music. (I hope that's okay.)...because the party just go started.
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7 comments:
Sometimes I just want good music, it can even be Christian, but not worship. I have times that I actually want to put on worship CDs because I'm wanting to focus my mind, even if I'm doing something like cleaning. I have a major hang up with live praise music cds. I do have one but I prefer it not to be live. I feel weird if they're praying and I'm just bumbling around.
I agree. There is a fine line in worship music. Some simple stuff hits me hard, and some over-produced stuff hits me hard in the belly.... I also agree that this is a tough topic. The ice can really crack under this subject!
So that means you don't like the Chicken Soup for Jabez's Left Behind Soul's worship album? I'm shocked!
Regarding the worship music played at the BBQ & volleyball party: maybe the hosts felt that they should be politically correct and not to offend anyone.
I have noticed that people who play worship CD's constantly have something in common. They are typically new christians for the first time coming from a wild past, or someone who had backslid. If they play the music that they used to listen to, it might remind them of the sinful life they used to lead. Maybe they feel like they have to listen to worship CD's all the time to stay "on fire." (sorry couldn't resist)
Golden, I think you are onto something there, but let me take it one step further...
I think these are new christians and I think they have an idea of how christians should behave, act, think, speak, etc. I wonder if some of these ideas come from a worldly point of view (preconceived notions of christians) and so to seperate themselves from their former life the take on the identity of how they perceived christians?????
It is also the idea of how to fit in with the "in" crowd. The "in" crowd here is church. You base actions, attitudes, tastes, etc. on the majority, therefore it is easier to become one of them and fit in.
On one of our wed. night discussions, there is a new believer who asked(an honest question)if a person is a christian because the read the bible. I was ashamed at the response of the crowd, because they oohed and awed with "oh, noo's" belittling his question making him feel stupid for lack of bible knowledge. To avoid that embarressment again, he'll soon pick up on the right words and sayings by watching others...Maybe, some habits too; he'll find out what music is acceptable. Maybe, he'll quit smoking. Maybe, this will all be too intimidating and he'll quit church altogether.
I think Pastor Phil got it right on the Mexican trip by playing secular jock jams to get a crowd together for their basketball tourneyment. Playing worship music might put some people off and not be relatable for those who are not christians.
I know not everybody at the volleyball last night was a believer...hmm.
hmmmmmmm.....
Uh ummmm!
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