Highly respected Chuck Colson made some strong remarks in a ChristianityToday.com article Soothing Ourselves to Death. He begins the article:
When church music directors lead congregations in singing contemporary Christian music, I often listen stoically with teeth clenched. But one Sunday morning, I cracked. We'd been led through endless repetitions of a meaningless ditty called "Draw Me Close to You," which has zero theological content and could just as easily be sung in any nightclub. When I thought it was finally and mercifully over, the music leader beamed. "Let's sing that again, shall we?" he asked. "No!" I shouted, loudly enough to send heads all around me spinning while my wife, Patty, cringed.
Read the entire article and then read Bob Kauflin's Entering the “Draw Me Close” Conversation (a well balanced response to Colson's article), then share in the comments what you think, especially in relationship to how Korean Americans worship. Do you agree or disagree with Colson? What do you think of Kauflin's response?
May 9, 2006 at 5:44 pm
EMAIL from my friend Jimmy Choi from KCPC in Virginia…
Forgive me for writing you back so late, brother. I appreciate you e-mailing me these articles, and they definitely touch on some concerns that I’ve had on my heart re: music & worship.
I agree with you that Colson makes some good points. There are certainly far too many theologically vacuous songs out there, and I would definitely link arms with him in attacking a therapeutic trend that creates or permits them. However, it does seem like there’s some kind of leap he’s making from criticizing the song and what he believes it represents to a criticism of the “contemporary Christian music” scene he encounters in media like radio. I agree with Bob that his opening illustration wasn’t the most effective springboard to launch into his main point.
Bob, as usual, makes some great points. Balanced wisdom is exactly what I got out of his entry. I appreciate his warning against blanket genre-caricaturing, as well as his reminder that giving our flocks what they need is more of a pastoral issue than a musical (strictly speaking) one.
As I was reading Colson, I didn’t really get the sense that he places much theological value on music in general. The way he pits it against the preaching and teaching of propositional truth suggests that its sole function is to “inspire” us (emotionally?), and that it belongs outside the realm of didactic ministry. But at the same time he prefers “traditional hymns” over “contemporary” choruses — Wouldn’t an appropriate reason be because of their didactic and theological value? Now, I in no way would deny the primacy of the pulpit in corporate worship. But it seems like a sweeping criticism of the modern worship movement as entertainment-driven works all too well when you already assume that the theological value of music is merely (or even primarily) “inspirational” rather than instructional.
What were some other thoughts that you had? Have there been certain worship or musical issues that have come up down at Open Door that are related to the articles?
Jimmy Choi
May 9, 2006 at 7:53 pm
Billy, I have so much to say on this subject that I don’t want to fill up your comments section. So I posted something on my blog as well on the subject. However, just to summarize a few quick points:
1) I understand Chuck. I’ve felt the same way about cetain songs and have even wanted to shout “NO” as well a few times.
2) It’s very important that a few things are distinguished, a) melody, b) style, c) lyrics. The melody can be great, the style can be great, but if the lyrics are theologically inept, then it won’t feed the soul. But if the meldy is terrible and the style doesn’t speak to the person in light of sound lyrics, then the person will not listen at all and possibly tune the song out (literally and figuratively). There needs to be a balance of both, but I would always err on the song needing to feed my soul by the words that it projects. This is why I appreciate Sovereign Grace Music so much. I believe they are ther best at producing music that is theologically and biblically rich without ever sacrificing the excellence of musicality.
May 10, 2006 at 1:03 am
Thanks Sam. Here’s the link to two articles that Sam wrote on his website concerning this topic: “Draw Me Close to Whom?” http://www.samshua.com/blog/2006/05/09/draw-me-close-to-whom/
“True Love for Whom?”
http://www.samshua.com/blog/2006/05/09/true-love-for-whom/
I think it’s important to be discerning about the songs we sing in worship. A good example of theologically informed worship songs can be found at: http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/music/projects/crosssongs/
July 24, 2007 at 7:59 am
I have to agree that the content of “Draw me close” should be more profound. The song at it’s core hinders more on the emotional than on the theological. I cannot however deny that the musical arrangement of this song feels like a newly discovered hidden treasure. I mean the chords were always obtainable to any song but never arranged in quite this manner. It has a character that resonates in the soul due to it’s form of arrangement and we cannot easily dismiss it. Maybe it will blow over temporarily with overplay but it will definitely not go away. I think we have the opportunity to rewrite the words to fashion it into a powerful theological message without losing the essence of the original composition. This is a sweet and simple arrangement. The simplicity and the sweetness of the arrangement is what is most fascinating about the song.