Though its meant to be a center of love and all things holy, the church is often the cause of much conflict. A common cause of discourse within a congregation is the type of music that’s played. It’s a battle of the ages, literally, as traditional is pitted against contemporary. The older members feel the contemporary music is to loud, even with their hearings aids off, while the younger crowd is put to sleep by the hymns. Who wins?
I can only imagine (no reference to the Mercy Me song intended) what the complaints in churches were like when pianos first started being played..‘Feel like I’m in a saloon’, ‘He/She pounds on those keys,’ and ‘I liked the harp much better.’ The inclusion of a guitar, keyboard, bass and drums was a near equivalent of murder in the minds of some, who felt overtaken by the devil’s music.
According to the traditionalists, the contemporary music is not only loud enough to almost break the sound barrier but the choruses go on forever. Their feet feel like they have run a marathon after standing through two praise songs. However, singing all six verses of the hymn on page 152 in the hymnal is no problem.
There’s no question that there is a difference between the two styles and I understand both sides. The elderly just want to honor God, not attend a rock concert, while the younger generation won’t attend unless there’s a praise band. What get’s lost in it all is that both genres give glory to God.
Despite their volume, and repeated chorus, most of the contemporary songs contain lyrics that are taken directly out of the Bible. Whenever I read scripture, it usually doesn’t take very long before the words of a song come to mind. If able to hear themselves think and actually concentrate, the naysayer’s might realize they shouldn’t be complaining about the word of God.
Over the past couple of years, much to my surprise, I’ve become a devoted fan of Christian music. It’s all I listen to on the radio, if not 700 WLW, and the last several concerts I’ve attended were Christian recording artists. I’d choose Matthew West over Miley Cyrus, I at least know some of his songs. However, I still have a respect for some of the traditional hymns, as ‘Amazing Grace,’ is still hard to beat, even with drums. Like with television shows like ‘I Love Lucy,’ it’s nice to take a trip back in time once in awhile, but ‘The Big Bang Theory’ is the standard of today. How a Christian can partake of a song such as ‘10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) and not feel touched is beyond me.
Some churches try to find a happy medium by offering a blended service, which is when a old hymn is occasionally added. I attend a church that is pretty contemporary but does do another classic pretty regularly ‘How Great Thou Art.’ A perfect blend, better than cappuccino, is when
‘How Great Thou Art’ is put with ‘How Great Is Our God.’
My preferences aside, its hard for me to argue against contemporary music when I’m part of a congregation in which its hard to find a seat and the hundreds of people positively respond to the music…and have also witnessed churches dwindle away to nothing because they wouldn’t stray from the hymnals. The important thing to remember is that it’s all about God, and to maybe bring some earplugs and comfortable shoes.
