Years ago when I was a young woman I had a discussion with a youth minister. I was concerned with some changes in the choice of music at the church. The move was toward new contemporary worship songs. I didn’t actually have an issue with the new music. I have always loved music of all types and genres. I was upset with the attitude to the old music. There was a philosophy that suggested we needed to upgrade. The old-fashioned music was out of touch, ‘unrelatable’, old and dusty. I didn’t see it this way. At the time I loved the old hymns and even now I still do.
I had an instinctual reaction to this shift. At the time I was offended musically. I thought it narrow-minded, ignoring music of such an incredible quality. Some of these old hymns were written by brilliant people, both the music and lyrics. This didn’t mean I couldn’t see brilliance in some new music. I thought it arrogant to shove the old music out the door.
I realize now there was a greater danger in this. This attitude toward music signified a much bigger problem. In the early 1990s churches started to worry about being relevant. We needed to be cooler, more hip to the culture. The music needed to be updated. The topics of discussion needed to be updated. We needed cool “full service” Sunday school programs and coffee shops and lots of palaver.
And yet humans are as they ever were. There is nothing new under the sun.
I have come to understand that this was a kind of human vanity, a desire to be a “kingdom builder.” When in the past it was enough to be a part of the kingdom. This attitude sought to bring glory to God by being more culturally recognizable. This on the surface is an excellent goal. But somewhere in that process we felt we needed to help God be more approachable. Yikes!!
I see now the vanity in this. We were the centre of this movement (I say we, because I got swept up in it too). God doesn’t actually need our help. He can use the willing and the unwilling. He can use the Christian and the non-christian. He can use blessings, and He can use suffering to bring people to Him.
These old hymns have in them the suffering of centuries. They recognize our shared humanity (as do many of the new songs). We don’t need to improve on the past, we need to take our place in it. This is God’s story, not ours.
Roberta Writes 