The 6 Marks of Progressive Christian Worship Music

Something about the lyrics of many of the hit contemporary Christian worship songs is at best problematic for many clergy persons in mainline denominations. Sometimes the songs are downright offensive theologically to the pastor. Often the problem is rooted in a theological nuance or doctrine that the pastor does not embrace. Sometimes these contemporary worship songs use too many Christian buzz words or clichés—words or phrases that the pastor deliberately avoids in every other aspect of the liturgy. Often the problem is that the new songs show no sensitivity at all to things like “inclusive language” or the theological challenges of doctrines like “penal substitutionary atonement.” Sometimes the pastors feel that most of these new songs lack substance, that they’re too sugary, too individualistic, and too other-worldly. Sometimes there’s an emotional tone to this contemporary worship music that might work well in another kind of church but which just doesn’t feel authentic in a traditional or mainline congregation. Now I would imagine that at least some of you began to glaze over a bit as you attempted to read those last few paragraphs. Or maybe you didn’t fully understand some of the terms I just used. If so, don’t worry—that’s why I wrote this book! If you have no idea what things like “penal substitutionary atonement” or “inclusive language” are about, this book will help you understand what these terms mean and why it’s important to your pastors for you to know your way around these issues and concepts a bit as you seek new songs to bring into the worship life of your congregation. And I promise--I’ll do my best to use down-to-earth language that you’ll be able to easily understand without a seminary education! The Awkward Conversation The last thing most pastors want to do is squelch the enthusiasm of church musicians by telling the band members that the songs they’ve chosen and spent time on are somehow not “working.” And what’s most difficult and awkward for pastors is the whole process of trying to explain to the band members (and the congregation in general for that matter) why so many of the popular “contemporary praise and worship” songs are problematic. Many if not most of the musicians who play in church praise bands are not trained theologians, and most of them (us) did not attend seminary. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I personally am a seminary graduate and an ordained minister and former pastor, but I’m assuming and hoping that many of you reading this book are church musicians who do not have formal theological training. You are the ones I have in mind most as I write this. Chances are you are bright, intelligent, talented, and spiritually engaged Christians--not to mention good looking (hey, as long as I’m flattering you I may as well go all out!). But in all likelihood you probably feel a bit lost when it comes to understanding some of the theological jargon pastors tend to use when they’re trying to explain why they struggle with the lyrics of many of the praise and worship songs. And, some of you musicians probably aren’t paying that much attention to the words of the worship songs anyway. That just may not be your thing. Or perhaps you find yourselves thinking, “Hey-- thousands of people are singing this stuff in churches all the time--what can possibly be wrong with these songs if they’re being used as extensively as they are? Why can’t our pastor just chill out and not be so anal about every word we say or sing in worship?” But the simple truth is that words matter. Language matters. Theology matters. The songs we sing in worship matter. And if you’ve got a pastor who cares deeply enough about the lyrics of the songs you sing in worship to insist that they have integrity and that they reflect the best of your tradition and your own congregation’s understanding of the Gospel, then you are profoundly blessed. Try to understand the difficult position in which pastors often find themselves. As I already stated, they don’t want to throw a wet blanket on anyone’s enthusiasm, and they certainly don’t enjoy hurting anyone’s feelings. They also don’t want to seem overly nitpicky and rigid, and pastors are busy people—they may not have the time or energy or desire to go through every piece of music before worship each week to sort out problematic language or ideas in the songs. Most of them would like to be able to entrust this kind of oversight to their ministers of music. I did say “most”—I’m well aware of the control issues and battles that often take place over just who has the authority to choose the songs used in worship. We’ll return to that later as well. It probably also goes without saying that we musicians don’t enjoy having to subject our song selections to some kind of “church word police” either. So the first reason I’m writing this book is because I want to help out with this awkward conversation I’ve just described. I hope this book is something that pastors can simply hand to musicians in church worship bands, and to anyone in the congregation who cares, and say, “here—let’s read this together and talk about it. I think it will help us deepen our understanding of what we need to be doing together in and through the songs we sing in worship.” A new genre of Christian music The second reason why I’m writing this book is because I think it’s time for a whole new genre of “contemporary Christian worship music” to come into being. I want to let folks know that there’s a new kind of worship music--“Progressive Christian Worship Music”—that is now available. This book will provide some criteria—the “6 marks”-- by which we can determine whether or not a song fits this new genre and why.