Music Wars

The Music Wars have claimed another casualty. The music minister at our church resigned this week amid some controversy. Whether he was in the wrong position for his gifts or didn’t have thick enough skin, the situation remains troubling. He has talent by the bushel, so that is certainly not it.

We regularly put gifted singers, songwriters, musicians, and all around great worship leaders in high positions of responsibility in the church and then nag at them until they leave with their tails between their legs.

The basic problem is that people don’t like change and music is always changing. People get stuck with the music of their youth and refuse to listen to anything else. A healthy church body is by definition multi-generational, so conflicts about style are inevitable.

Healthy churches also have on-going dialog to help people through change and help people understand that the church is or should be adapting its style to the community of people which it serves. That doesn’t mean the message changes - God never changes – but the language, music, and culture are always changing whether we like it or not.

On several occasions the Apostle Paul said to praise God and encourage one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. It is not clear what the differences between psalms and hymns and spiritual songs were to Paul, but it is clear that he used that phrase to mean all kinds of music. I would paraphrase Paul by saying, “Sing traditional hymns, contemporary praise songs, blues, country, rock, gospel, and anything else you can think off with thanksgiving in your hearts to God.”

Another basic problem is that musicians are always looking for a new sound and audiences always want to hear the old stuff. This applies to popular secular music as well as Christian music. But the Bible says to sing with a new song and we know that God is a creative God; therefore I believe that God would have us look for new ways and new songs to praise Him.

I have heard that there are two types of people: creatives and critics. I know which group I want to be in.

The ideal music minister would chart a well-rounded program with a variety of music, and then stay focused without being strayed or discouraged by those who complain about everything that doesn’t suite their taste.