One of the things I like about the church I belong to is its diversity. Over the last number of Thursday evenings there has been a contemplative prayer “class”. I only made it to one, but my wife made it to most of them and found them very helpful.
In the “class” I went to we did lectio divina – and I appreciated this scripture centred way of prayer and worship. The evening however started with a centring prayer,
“Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner”.
The idea with this prayer is that it sets up an honest relationship. It reminds us who Jesus is – he is Lord – and who we are, sinners given access to him through his mercy. Taking your time with this prayer is important, repeat it over and over till perhaps all you are repeating is the name of Jesus.
This way of worshiping and praying stands in stark contrast with much of our contemporary worship.
Many of our contemporary songs stand out for the lack of the use of the name of Jesus in them. The name Jesus is predominantly replaced by the word ‘you’. I fear that in this we are losing something that is both valuable and powerful. This is amplified when the use of ‘you’ for Jesus is combined with the language of intimacy and thus you end up with a love some that well you could sing to your wife or girlfriend as easy as you could sing it to Jesus.
The link to this YouTube video (there’s no code to imbed it) is a point in case. The fact that the song mentions Jesus by name twice near the very end does not IMHO rescue it as a Christian worship song.
(PS – apologise if you like this song, but we need to get beyond the feel of the songs we use in worship and take a look at their content)
According to the book, "why men hate church", one of the things which makes people feel ill at ease with worship is the strange aura of erotic hymns! When we want to describe close spiritual communion we often use words such as "intimacy" and we know what we mean, but research shows that in contemporary usage that word = sex. Not what we mean.
Ray Charles provoked a storm of outrage when in the late 1950s he took gospel songs, took out the word Jesus and sang them as raunchy love songs to his women! We seem to have come full circle now and are copying contemporary songs with somewhat erotic lyrics and directing them to God.
Perhaps (once again) our problem is in part the communal nature of the Biblical world view and the individualism of our own day. The biblical metaphor of Christ and the Church as bride and groom (and therefore marriage as a picture of that union) refers to Christ as the 'lover' of the whole church. And we do love Christ, and we are bound to him in closeness and permanant Covenant just like a husband and wife. Individualise it and the sexual metaphor gets a bit weird however.
The YouTube link you posted is illustrative of this. As you say - "you" not "Jesus" throughout, the 'beautiful' lyrics, set to pictures of a pretty girl, only to discover that the object of the singer's desire is not her, but Jesus.
Perhaps a balance also needs to be struck between singing of the beauty of Jesus in his glory and perfection; and the ugliness of the wounds he bears for us.
Posted by: That Hideous Man | Monday, September 01, 2008 at 10:38 AM
"The Jesus Prayer" is one of the great prayer traditions of the Church which is being rediscovered in today's Church. Simon Barrington-Ward has written and excellent book on using the prayer see:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jesus-Prayer-Simon-Barrington-Ward/dp/1841015881/ref=pd_sim_b_1
Posted by: Tom Allen | Monday, September 01, 2008 at 12:50 PM
"...we need to get beyond the feel of the songs we use in worship and take a look at their content" Well said, Brodie! Very valid points also from "That Hideous Man".
I have been banging on about this for ages to anyone who will listen to me!
Worth looking at the ASBO Jesus website http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/ cartoon 516 and the comments posted!
Posted by: Hazel | Saturday, September 06, 2008 at 10:14 PM
Hazel - Thanks for the comment and pointing us to ASBO!
Posted by: brodie | Monday, September 08, 2008 at 01:05 PM
Tom - I'll be sure to check that book out. Thanks for recommending it.
Posted by: brodie | Monday, September 08, 2008 at 01:06 PM
THM - I think the issue is bigger than men not liking these songs.
Posted by: brodie | Monday, September 08, 2008 at 01:08 PM
Hi Brodie - Oh I quite agree with you! My comment was intended as illustrating a particular outworking of the bigger problem you describe - and I was fascinated by the interactions between what you wrote and what I had just read.
Posted by: That Hideous Man | Monday, September 08, 2008 at 04:49 PM
Usual stuff. When people get creative - writing songs, poetry and prose; painting and sculpture - there are some people who see it completely differently from others.
Worship is creative - and therefore subjective: what is "too hot" for some is "not hot enough" for others.
Like you keep saying, we need the diversity of the church to help each other through this. We need to be able make mistakes - and be forgiven, even if we are misunderstood.
Too often I get upset by other christians who say something I don't agree with. Daft really, as I don't always agree on everything with my wife who I love, respect and still live with!
The point is, I'm pretty sure the person who wrote this song did not mean the same thing as the girl who stuck those pictures over it. I could be wrong, of course. Can you forgive me?
Posted by: Graham | Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at 05:56 PM
Graham - you are of course right in what you say about art being subjective, but we can and do still do talk about good and bad art. I'm also sure that the person who wrote the song finds it helpful in them worshiping Jesus. Part of the point I'm driving at however is that a worship song writer and a worship leader are not writing or leading for themselves. They are leading others. I also think that most people learn about God, Jesus and the Spirit from the songs we sing rather than the sermons we preach, so as well as the songs full of feeling we need songs full of content.
Not sure who you’re asking forgiveness of, as I don't think you’ve done anything wrong?
Posted by: brodie | Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at 08:34 PM
Yes, it's true. Worship songs are moderated by the amount other worshippers "agree" with them - almost independently of any musical, lyrical or theological quality. I have certainly been involved in that process.
Worship leaders, unfortunately, have two choices: either be as true as they can to how they see God, or to try to please the worshippers.
This seems to be where the problem lies, as quite often these choices don't match up. We are a diverse bunch, after all. After any service, there are those who "met God" and those who didn't, no matter who is leading/preaching/sitting next to them. And as you know, I have certainly been involved at both ends of that process.
Of course, when we all approach corporate worship as a part of a God-centered life, these issues discussed above become insignificant. They have to.
And hopefully we'll keep challenging each other to greater things.
Posted by: Graham | Wednesday, October 08, 2008 at 10:49 PM