In these occasional posts on the topic of worship, I am throwing a few loaded words around with relative abandon. Before I continue, I’d like to apologize and explain.

First of all, the terms “contemporary” and “traditional” are terrible ways of describing the two (or more) poles which define the present worship controversy. After all, “contemporary” really just means “recent;” it doesn’t address anything about musical genre, lyrical content, cultural interaction, or theological disposition. And “traditional” means only “received from the past,” which has little (but not nothing) to do with why we might accept or reject a piece of music for ecclesiastical use.

We might as well call the two camps “blue” and “red” or “up” and “down” or “Punch” and “Judy.” Any labels would do, and at least then the semantic baggage of the chosen labels wouldn’t confuse matters as it does with the terms I’m using. Nevertheless, I’m going to stick with these troubled adjectives. What I actually mean by them—as opposed to what the words themselves mean in everyday usage—will hopefully become clear by the time I’m done. Think of them as jargon: special-purpose words created to refer to concepts unique to this discussion.

Next is my very intentional use of the phrase “worship music” over the simpler and more common term, “worship.” While a theology of Worship qua Worship is a very important part of the discussion, I am focusing not on Worship Generally but on worship music in particular. Too often evangelicals mistake mere singing for worship; or, in particularly severe cases, watching people on the stage sing; or in the utterly decadent case, watching words bounce on a video screen while our minds are anesthetized by idyllic images. There is a hierarchy of iniquity here, which at no level is coextensive with “worship.” Forgetting for now the sense in which all of a believer’s life should be lived out with doxological intent (that is a separate and much harder topic) and concentrating only on our Lord’s Day gatherings-together, I would insist that worship involves not just singing, but also (at least) the Sacraments, the ministry of the Word, prayer, the public reading of Scripture, and giving. Whether we believe this and how we look at the other putative elements of worship will likely have a strong effect on how we look at worship music, but regardless, worship music is the primary area of my concern for now. I am not arguing for an Augustinian Sacramentology, or against topical preaching, or in support of the burgeoning ESV Only movement, or against the 10% tithe. For the time being, I am worried about music, so I will say worship music. We can talk about the rest of worship some other time.

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• Posted by Tim on Monday, August 22, 2005 at 8:20:26 am PDT
• Category: Theology
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