"It's all about ME".....the direction of....
07-08-2006, 08:02 PM
Hi Moe!
As to fluff, think about songs that are warm and fuzzy and FEEL like "worship", whatever that might mean to you today. Think about songs that have statements that are overly romantic. There's only one that comes to mind at the moment (I really do try to blot out songs that make stupid statements or statements that are based on a non-biblical, romantic image of Who God is.
The one song that comes to mind is a MercyMe song, "How Great is Your Love." It has at least one very questionable line in it: "So much higher than the heavens With faithfulness that reaches the sky." What does that mean, exactly?? FLUFF! "Faithfulness that reaches the sky." That one is really a theological issue, obliquely indicating that Jesus is fully man, but the writer is maybe unsure about His deity, since His faithfulness only reaches the sky (!). His faithfulness actually reached down from Heaven (from above all that was created, including the sky). Conversely, if His faithfulness is reaching down and only reaches the sky, we're just out of luck, right?? Fluffy song! Pretty. Lots of fuzzy feelings, nice melody, singable, memorable. But fluffy!
How 'bout "How Great is our God," a Chris Tomlin song. Very popular. VERY fluffy! I have so many aughts against this song. Sigh. I really like the melody, and I like a LOT of the lyrics, but the chorus? YUCK!!! Here's another one that starts out pretty darned good; it's another song that busies itself singing to each other, not to Him. That's always a pet peeve of mine. We call it worship and yet, only sing about Him and not TO Him. If I tell YOU how much I love my wife, does that count? Not as much as if I tell her!!! Back to the chorus: "How great is our God, sing with me How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God." Now what does this lyric say? First phrase is good, as are the third and fifth phrases which are repeats of the first. Second phrase? "Sing with me." This may well have been an exhortation during a public singing of the song that just got included in with the lyrics. Bad form, IMHO. Clutters the song terribly. Now if we parse the chorus, it says that if you sing with me "How great is our God", then all will see how great He is." That just is not scriptural. If we sing and live in sin, what will all see?? "They will know that you are my disciples in that you show your love for one another" not that you sing about your love for Me! Yes, it says "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me" and I suppose that could be a basis for an interpretation of the song, but it is at best incomplete, at worst, not quite scriptural. The rest of the song is good.
And we won't even talk about Martin Smith's "dancing upon injustice."
"But Dean, will you condemn a whole song for one less than stellar or even stupid phrase?" Yup, I will. I condemn an entire translation of the Bible for one LETTER!!!!! The Watchtower version says in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and was A God." Yup, I'll condemn the whole thing for a letter or a word or a phrase like that. Condemn is not the right word, really, but if I were the person deciding songs to be used, I would exclude those two (and lots of others!) for such evasion of scriptural concepts.
Someone said recently at a conference, "The sermon is often forgotten before the end of the service. Prophetic 'words' are often little more than warm remembrances before we leave the room. Yet the songs we sing stay with us for days and days. Should we not be very careful about what we sing and store in our minds and hearts?"
As to differences between worship and praise, this is something where you and God have to come to agreement. And sometimes, the pastor has to be included in that agreement. As I've looked at the Word over the years, and as I've looked at the words and circumstances surrounding "worship" in those studies, I keep coming back to the belief that worship MUST be addressed TO God. It can't just be about Him. That's the conclusion that we've both come to and the mindset that pervades us as we plan anything to which we attach the word "worship".
:lecture: Can I suggest a little "test"? Create a couple of song sets. In one set, use only songs that do not use the word "you". In the other set, use only songs that do use the word "you". In the first set, you'll be talking about Him. In the other set, you'll be talking TO Him. Use one set on one Sunday, and the other on the second Sunday. Do both with equal enthusiasm, but without much exhortation. Just let the songs speak to people. Watch carefully and see if you can discern a difference in the levels of anointing or "power" in each set. Try to avoid congregation favorites in your planning. This is an experiment, and you're going to be planting these things in their spirits for a week. In one, they'll go about humming and muttering words about Him. In the other, they'll go about humming and muttering words TO Him. Think that one set might change them more than the other??
Just a thought, friend. Let me know what you think. :2:
As to fluff, think about songs that are warm and fuzzy and FEEL like "worship", whatever that might mean to you today. Think about songs that have statements that are overly romantic. There's only one that comes to mind at the moment (I really do try to blot out songs that make stupid statements or statements that are based on a non-biblical, romantic image of Who God is.
The one song that comes to mind is a MercyMe song, "How Great is Your Love." It has at least one very questionable line in it: "So much higher than the heavens With faithfulness that reaches the sky." What does that mean, exactly?? FLUFF! "Faithfulness that reaches the sky." That one is really a theological issue, obliquely indicating that Jesus is fully man, but the writer is maybe unsure about His deity, since His faithfulness only reaches the sky (!). His faithfulness actually reached down from Heaven (from above all that was created, including the sky). Conversely, if His faithfulness is reaching down and only reaches the sky, we're just out of luck, right?? Fluffy song! Pretty. Lots of fuzzy feelings, nice melody, singable, memorable. But fluffy!
How 'bout "How Great is our God," a Chris Tomlin song. Very popular. VERY fluffy! I have so many aughts against this song. Sigh. I really like the melody, and I like a LOT of the lyrics, but the chorus? YUCK!!! Here's another one that starts out pretty darned good; it's another song that busies itself singing to each other, not to Him. That's always a pet peeve of mine. We call it worship and yet, only sing about Him and not TO Him. If I tell YOU how much I love my wife, does that count? Not as much as if I tell her!!! Back to the chorus: "How great is our God, sing with me How great is our God, and all will see How great, how great is our God." Now what does this lyric say? First phrase is good, as are the third and fifth phrases which are repeats of the first. Second phrase? "Sing with me." This may well have been an exhortation during a public singing of the song that just got included in with the lyrics. Bad form, IMHO. Clutters the song terribly. Now if we parse the chorus, it says that if you sing with me "How great is our God", then all will see how great He is." That just is not scriptural. If we sing and live in sin, what will all see?? "They will know that you are my disciples in that you show your love for one another" not that you sing about your love for Me! Yes, it says "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me" and I suppose that could be a basis for an interpretation of the song, but it is at best incomplete, at worst, not quite scriptural. The rest of the song is good.
And we won't even talk about Martin Smith's "dancing upon injustice."
"But Dean, will you condemn a whole song for one less than stellar or even stupid phrase?" Yup, I will. I condemn an entire translation of the Bible for one LETTER!!!!! The Watchtower version says in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and was A God." Yup, I'll condemn the whole thing for a letter or a word or a phrase like that. Condemn is not the right word, really, but if I were the person deciding songs to be used, I would exclude those two (and lots of others!) for such evasion of scriptural concepts.
Someone said recently at a conference, "The sermon is often forgotten before the end of the service. Prophetic 'words' are often little more than warm remembrances before we leave the room. Yet the songs we sing stay with us for days and days. Should we not be very careful about what we sing and store in our minds and hearts?"
As to differences between worship and praise, this is something where you and God have to come to agreement. And sometimes, the pastor has to be included in that agreement. As I've looked at the Word over the years, and as I've looked at the words and circumstances surrounding "worship" in those studies, I keep coming back to the belief that worship MUST be addressed TO God. It can't just be about Him. That's the conclusion that we've both come to and the mindset that pervades us as we plan anything to which we attach the word "worship".
:lecture: Can I suggest a little "test"? Create a couple of song sets. In one set, use only songs that do not use the word "you". In the other set, use only songs that do use the word "you". In the first set, you'll be talking about Him. In the other set, you'll be talking TO Him. Use one set on one Sunday, and the other on the second Sunday. Do both with equal enthusiasm, but without much exhortation. Just let the songs speak to people. Watch carefully and see if you can discern a difference in the levels of anointing or "power" in each set. Try to avoid congregation favorites in your planning. This is an experiment, and you're going to be planting these things in their spirits for a week. In one, they'll go about humming and muttering words about Him. In the other, they'll go about humming and muttering words TO Him. Think that one set might change them more than the other??
Just a thought, friend. Let me know what you think. :2:
Blessings!
Dean
DeanZF
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