How does this happen??
Blech! Got hit with what I assume is a cold that arrived abruptly between 5:30 and 6:00 p.m. last night. Swollen throat, congestion and general funk. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised after the last few weeks' schedule which didn't include enough sleep for this old man. I skipped this morning's bike ride and this afternoon's gym routine.
While we were on vacation I rec'd some site links in emails but couldn't easily check them out while sitting in a coffee shop somewhere along the Oregon coast. Now that I've been home here are some of those sites.
I liked this one so much I posted it on Facebook.
Here's a really cool video on the fishing skills of Osprey.
I got this one today. It's page one of ten with historical photos. Easy to blow half an hour before you've realized it!
I've been thinking more since Monday night's post about pronouns, specifically as they relate to worship songs, and I've decided I have some pretty strong convictions about them. ("Strong convictions? Craig??")
I listen to a lot of contemporary Christian music in an effort to find songs we can use at Pathway. If someone on Facebook posts a link to a song I almost always play it and I frequently go into iTunes and just surf, looking for music from familiar artists or poking about using their genre options. I'm often disappointed in my search for worship music we can use at Pathway.
That disappointment is usually not about the musical style (we're musically diverse at Pathway) and only occasionally about technical matters like key signature or tempo. It's usually about pronouns.
We've made a commitment to keep the first hour, our worship service, vertical in nature. We're there for God and our focus should be on him. Any blessing we receive from the hour should come as a side benefit of doing what we were designed to do - worship the God of all creation. It's not for us, it's for him. We sometimes say or pray that when we leave the worship service God should also be saying, "It was good that they came into the house of the Lord."
That's why I'm bothered by the very high percentage of Christian worship music that predominately uses the first person pronouns. The Christian life is not about I, me, my. That's the egocentrism that got Eve - and then Adam - into trouble. My life as his servant should be characterized by you and your (and in context, he, him and his). Worship is about him, not me.
Please don't misunderstand. I am well aware of the promises of Scripture re. God's care for his people, his love for us, his protection from harm, etc. Many of the psalms relate David's (et al) dependence on God. I am not saying those first person pronoun songs don't have a very legitimate place in the body of contemporary Christian music, or Christian music from any era. But in worship songs they should be at least secondary to those which are vertical in their focus, that speak to or about God's greatness for who he is and what he has done.
"Holy, Holy, Holy"
"To God Be the Glory"
"Great Is Thy Faithfulness"
"Blessed Be Your Name"
"Only a God Like You"
"Shout Your Fame" (this Sunday's new song)
I like that several artists have recorded contemporary arrangements of older vertical hymns, recasting them with more current chording and rhythms.
I've mentioned at Pathway that I react with deep hesitation when I see a book by a Christian author where that author's name or picture is the most prominent feature on the front of the dust cover. The implications seem obvious.
I have a similar reaction to worship music that makes primary use of first person pronouns. Caution, Will Robinson.
4 comments:
What about Amazing Grace? It is Well? How Great Thou Art? There are tons of worshipful hymns out there that use I, me, my, our, we.
OK, it's not a matter of counting pronouns and coming up with a total which determines. It's not about math. I meant that as an indicator. Amazing Grace clearly focuses on God's grace, not me. How Great THOU Art? same focus.
And I'm not saying there's NO place in a worship service for songs that talk about what God does in my/our lives. It's the predominance of.
That is, pronouns are *often * an obvious indicator of a song's focal point. Worship, IMHO, should primarily focus on God, not on me.
It's not about me.
*grin* Okay, I get it.
Worse than books are the church ads that dedicate half the space to a picture of the pastor and his wife. That should tell any prospective attendee everything they need to know about that church's focus/foci (I've been waiting for a chance to use "foci" and seem smart).
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