I remember when “worship and
praise” music was becoming popular in churches and there was such a debate,
especially between young and old, about the type of music that would be
dominate in church. This goes right back to the problem of children not
learning respect for their elders. Because this music makes ME “FEEL” good and puts ME in the mood to
worship, it has to be the best way, right? We have definitely learned the
lesson well that it is all about “ME”.
I’ve seen churches go
several different directions on this. I’ve seen churches split over it, I’ve seen
churches segregate the age groups over it, I’ve seen split services, where the
early morning service is “contemporary” and the later is “traditional” or vice
versa. I have seen churches that just leave the traditional hymns and go
strictly with praise and worship, which is where I think most have gone. Some
try to incorporate both to make everyone happy.
When we first started having
services, we did a good deal of looking back at the first church and what they
did. What did their services look like. Even though our culture is a part of
who we are, we don’t want it to rule us. Culture doesn’t dictate truth. Culture
does affect our lives, but it changes with time and from place to place. Do we
really want something that changes with the passage of time to be our standard
of truth. Of course not. So, what did the first church sing? The Bible says, “…
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” All of us knew the hymns, and spiritual
songs is a more broad term. Praise and worship music could even fall into this
category, at least some of it. When we think about psalms, I could probably
count the ones I knew on one hand. There were a few children’s songs I knew
that were based on psalms, but not many. The elders discussed it and we ordered
psalters. I have to admit when we first started singing psalms it was a little awkward.
We didn’t know these songs and so it really didn’t “feel” right. It is still
hard at times, but I can honestly say that it is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. God said
His word doesn’t return void. What could be more beautiful that singing God’s
words back to Him? We are also learning many of the psalms in 4 part harmony, which
has also been a challenge. Sometimes after singing one that we’ve been working
on for a while, the words of Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life” come to mind, “Hot Dog! It’s just like
an organ!”