Question:
I posted something in another thread about this, but the discussion kinda veered off in another direction, and I'm interested in what people think about this. The question at hand: what music is appropriate for use in worship? What music is not appropriate?
I have heard many people state something to the effect of "musical style doesn't matter in worship", and I would have to say I disagree, to a certain extent--if the music doesn't matter, then why not cut the music entirely, and just use the text? This is, after all, something St. Augustine considered--banning music from use in worship services. If music is merely a way to use the text in an entertaining way, then music should not be used at all in worship services; our purpose in worshipping has very little (if anything) in common with entertainment. It would be better to just corporately recite the text.
However, music does and can serve an important function: music is art. As such, music has the power to express the inexpressible; well done music should express more than what the words alone express.
For this reason, the music matters alot. There is music that is most definitely appropriate for use in worship, and there is music that is most definitely not appropriate for use in worship. For example, music that is excessively sappy and happy is not appropriate for a song of contrition and confession. Music written in a minor key would likely be more appropriate.
I am utterly and thoroughly convinced that one thing our worship music should be is creative. It is an act of worship to present our creative offerings to the creator who made us. Creativity in all its different forms has a place in Christian worship.
So, is rock appropriate? At times, I think so. It is appropriate because of God's immanence. In perhaps the most vulgar event in all of history, the creator of the universe became like one of his flawed creations. He became one of us, and by doing so, was able to communicate with us, because he met us where we're at. For this reason it is appropriate to use music that meets people where they're at; using the common tunes and styles of the day (such as rock, and the style commonly referred to as "praise and worship") is appropriate. I've heard of many cases where Missionaries went to another culture and imposed our westernized standards of worship music on an indigenous culture, and I think this is an absolute tragedy--this culture should be allowed to create its own worship music in its own musical forms.
At the same time, I think that is a very good thing to use worship music that is entirely different from the forms and genres we're used to. The Church (and the Kingdom of God) is something entirely different from the world; it is good and proper for this to be reflected in our worship music. It reminds us as we enter into a worship service that we're doing something special, something unique, that is only possible by the utterly incomprehendible grace of God. God is immanent (as I noted above), but he is also transcendent (one of the many paradoxes of the Gospel!), and our music should be a good reminder of this. For this reason, I love the chants of Taize. And I love Gregorian chant. Such music is (too me) some of the most appropriate music for use in worship.
There's more I could say (and may say later), but that's it for now. It should be noted that some of my thinking on this topic is shaped by Harold M. Best's excellent essay, "Christian Responsibility in Music" found in The Christian Imagination: Essays on Literature and the Arts.
Answer:
Originally Posted by R2D2 The question at hand: what music is appropriate for use in worship? What music is not appropriate?
I would say that whatever the CGR people deem as appropriate would be appropriate. And nothing else.

Answer:
Originally Posted by Splachna™ I would say that whatever the CGR people deem as appropriate would be appropriate. And nothing else.
That may be true, but what of all those poor folks who don't know about CGR? How are they to know what's appropriate and what's not?
In all seriousness, does anyone have an opinion about this? I'm surprised this hasn't generated more discussion.
Answer:
A couple things I look at when evaluating a song for coorporate worship:
1) Lyrical Integrety-Most important part, when worshipping as a group, I think it is important to be saying the same thing, and for what we are saying to be theologically correct.
2) Singability/Appropriateness of song- Is the song something people will be able to sing easily? Is the melody catchy, without being contrite?
3) Musical Quality of song-lets just admit it, some songs just plain suck.
I think some styles of music are more appropriate for coorporate worship than others. I will not bash any style of music for personal worship, an expression of one person to God could come in many forms, but for the purposes of the saints gathering together, music that is meant to be shared by groups of people is best. This is why I am less likely to employ a hip hop or rap style than a style more comfortable to a suburbian church that I attend.
Answer:
The question at hand: what music is appropriate for use in worship? What music is not appropriate? It has alot to do with who congregation involved, and the situation. For example when my church does communion, the worship band plays a song right after like say "When I Survey The Wonderous Cross". It would be innapropriate if the worship band went up after communion and started playing a song like "My Glorious" You know, even during reglular services we dont sing that song. However, it would be more appropriate to sing a song like "My Glorious" during a youth event or something.
Answer:
Most important: LYRICS. If the lyrics don't match up to The Bible, then dump the song. If the lyrics are filled with a bunch of "spiritualeeze phrases" that borderline on nothing more than Christian mumbo-jumbo that rhymes, dump it. I've been paying an extra amount of attention lately to that in particular (abuse of "Christianeeze phrases"). I remember back in the day when Vineyard first start churning out their endless supply of P&W CD's. Lots of good stuff came out of there, but lots of songs that just rhymed also came out of it. What IS the real meaning of "the river"? Is it from the Bible? You know the songs: they reference "jumping in the river of God", "the river of God sets our feet a' dancing", etc... Things such as that, although they may have been written from a very worshipful heart and with the best of intentions, simply have no real meaning to me without an explanation of what these phrases are supposed to mean. I'm not saying that these songs are categorically "wrong", so don't start flaming me, but without that explanation, they're pretty meaningless (especially since it's not a phrase, expression or term that's gleaned from God's Word).
Secondary importance: MUSIC. Let's face it, we all have our own distinct musical tastes. I love acoustic-driven "rock" styled worship. I simply have no interest in "southern gospel" (ala Bill Gaither, gospel quartets, etc). Nothing about that style of music "speaks" to me. That's not to say that it's wrong, but just to say: "pick music that's appropriate for the congregation you're ministering to". In the main service of the church I attend, they have almost nothing BUT gospel styled music. It's no surprise that the largest age-group there is people between 40-60, either. The number of college aged people that actively attend on a Sunday morning is shockingly low. Due to that, it's no surprise that our college group suffers in attendance many times as our flavor of music is far different than that of the rest of the church (except for youth group, obviously). All that to say, "pick music that's appropriate to the age group".
Other considerations: TECHNICALITY. Don't pick songs with 17 different verses. Pick songs that can be easily sung along with. If a song is too technically difficult in a lyrical sense (even a musical sense), many people will spend too much time staring at the overheads or powerpoint slides trying to follow along with the words.
Others: WORSHIP or PERFORMANCE. Let's once again face another fact: some songs simply have a "performance" edge to them. If we try to duplicate some songs as they're sung on a CD, they might have to be "tamed down" a bit. IF the musical expression in a song whether vocally or musically (I'm thinking along the lines of long guitar solos, potentially some drum rhythms, yadda yadda yadda) distract from God and draw the attention to us, then we're doing the biggest dis-service of all to Christ. What it all comes down to is "who are we there to pay attention to"? I heard it said once (and I'll try to repeat this quote verbatim here) that "drawing attention to ourselves in a worship setting vs. reflecting it towards Christ is just as insulting, wrong and dishonoring as the best-man in a wedding flirting with the groom's bride as she walks up the aisle".
There's some food for thought. At least it was for me.
For me (as a worship leader), those are the main considerations that I face each week in picking out songs.
Answer:
Secondary importance: MUSIC. Let's face it, we all have our own distinct musical tastes. I love acoustic-driven "rock" styled worship. I simply have no interest in "southern gospel" (ala Bill Gaither, gospel quartets, etc). Nothing about that style of music "speaks" to me. That's not to say that it's wrong, but just to say: "pick music that's appropriate for the congregation you're ministering to". In the main service of the church I attend, they have almost nothing BUT gospel styled music. It's no surprise that the largest age-group there is people between 40-60, either. The number of college aged people that actively attend on a Sunday morning is shockingly low. Due to that, it's no surprise that our college group suffers in attendance many times as our flavor of music is far different than that of the rest of the church (except for youth group, obviously). All that to say, "pick music that's appropriate to the age group".
Yes, this is the reason why a lot of Christian music is neutralized. You can't totally turn people off like that.. but I think a mature worshipper would realize that the particular style that the music is in shouldn't prevent them from worshipping. This is why I say style isn't a particular matter. I would fully agree that the artistic qualities of music should be expressed, and whatever style or rhythm it happens to be in is not entirely relevant, at least not to somebody who realizes what I mentioned above.
Answer:
Oh, absolutely. I should've added that to my post, but didn't think about it until you brought up that point.
Even though I don't particularly care about the music played on Sundays at my church, that's not to say that I'm somehow "unable" to worship. Like R2D2 said, music is simply an expressive art form. It's not "necessary", but rather is just an extra. It IS the lyrics that are important. I often liken attending on a Sunday morning to riding a bike. I used to be quite the cycling enthusiast and so this analogy is descriptive for me (maybe for some of you): riding up a hill is alot of work. That's not to say that it's bad for you, because it's not. It's just alot of work. I can CHOOSE to enjoy it and look at the positive aspects of it, but truthfully, I'd much rather be riding on some flat-out, unencumbered stretch or flying down a long long hill. All three options are fun and healthy. One or two are just a whole lot more enjoyable than the other (to me).
Each Sunday morning when I show up, I have to CHOOSE to worship regardless of what the music sounds like, regardless of what the worship leader's manerisms and methods of directing worship are, etc. It's not about me, or them. It's about our mutual Creator. Sometimes, that choosing that I have to do is easy, sometimes, it's like trying to crawl up a rock climbing wall while wearing roller-skates.
In the point I was making in my previous post, as a worship leader, I'd much rather choose music that won't make people feel as if they're climbing up a rock wall while wearing roller-skates however. Granted, my tastes will likely vary from those of some people who attend our college group, and due to that, I must then choose to be flexible. After all, again, it's not about me.
Very good point ShredCheddar.
Answer:
For congregational worship, the songs have to be singable (as has already been pointed out). For non-musicians/singers this means that they have to be reasonably simple. I do believe that there is a place for worship music that is not congregational. When I put a CD on at home I generally want something that is good musically. The CD that I listen to at home can be worshipful but not the type of stuff that necessarily would work in church. I think its always been this way - look at Handel's Messiah - great music worshipping God but not suitable for congregational worship.
We definitely need more creativity and inspiration in worship music. The music we make to worship God should be the best music we can possibly make but we do need the right music in the right context.
Al
Answer:
People gotta understand the song but you could and some rock elements to spice it up
Answer:
Making the music more interesting is something I try to do. However, it's extremely frustrating as a guitarist that the backdrop to add on to is I IV V IV. I think I am at my most musically interesting point when I'm playing to a song that is not completely diatonic, yet does not modulate excessively. Just a dissonant tonality is what I like, and what I think I work best with. In other words, I find it difficult to do interesting things with a diatonic progression. A vii opens a door or two, but once again, it's straight-up diatonic.
I don't consider the chord progression in the music in worship to be a completely trivial thing. I don't know how much the congregation enjoys being beat with the same familiar tonality and chord progression, but I don't enjoy it. I'd rather do something interesting with the progression.. however, that would mean changing the melodies, thus altering the harmonies. The vocalists would freak out even if I was able to write vocal melodies and harmonies in correct contrapuntial form. Plus, as my praise band leader doesn't think changing things up is really neccessary, I'm stuck where I am. Like I said, frustrating. Perhaps I need to practice more often with exposure to purely major, diatonic chord progressions if it's something I need to work on.. but it's still boring.
Answer:
Yeah, when did someone along the lines decide that there shall be no tension and release in modern P/W? Kinda hard to get that from a I IV V...
Answer:
Originally Posted by R2D2 I am utterly and thoroughly convinced that one thing our worship music should be is creative. It is an act of worship to present our creative offerings to the creator who made us. Creativity in all its different forms has a place in Christian worship.
I'd like to pull this out and bring it up again. As I think about the guitar solos thread, I'm not so sure. When I write a computer program, there's an element of creativity in that. Does that have a place in corporate worship? Is everybody in the congregation entitled to be creative? What if somebody with terrible rhythm wants to play the tambourine?
It seems like, in practice, we limit creativity to 1) the fine arts, and 2) a select group of "leaders". Is this truly corporate worship? A guitar solo may be a tremendous expression of worship for the guitarist, but what about everyone else in the room?
Answer:
I read a interesting think about this subject in "the purpose driven life" by Rick warren. In chapter 8, pg 65-66, he talks about how there is no christian music, just christian lyrics, and that all music was created by God. Since worship is not for us, but for God, and he enjoys all styles of music, then any music with christian lyrics would be appropriate right?
Answer:
Originally Posted by Akshay626 I read a interesting think about this subject in "the purpose driven life" by Rick warren. In chapter 8, pg 65-66, he talks about how there is no christian music, just christian lyrics, and that all music was created by God. Since worship is not for us, but for God, and he enjoys all styles of music, then any music with christian lyrics would be appropriate right?
No, I wouldn't say that. Most "christian" lyrics are pretty petty and not really bringing glory to our God. I could say anything with biblical worshipfull lyrics CAN be appropriate. Being that the lyrics are what determine what is "worship" music, the style is relative. You need to choose a style that will become most transparent to the audience. If you play thrash metal worship for a congregation of 80 year olds, they'd be disgusted by the music of it. If you play a "modern" style of worship for a youth group and they view it as like a concert instead of worship, you've equally failed. The ideal style is a transparent one where they people can sing to God and it isn't some big "experience." Its them singing to God regardless of everything else.
I'm not a big fan of the whole Purpose-Driven Life thing, but the book does teach some really solid stuff on musical worship.