Worship Cliché #2: People get Most of Their Theology from Songs

Before I rip merciless shreds into this cliché, there are two truths here I want to affirm:

1. People remember songs more than they remember sermons - basic human psychology and memory analysis tells us that music helps people remember words better.

2. Songwriters and worship leaders have a vital role in the shaping of the Church’s theology and language alongside preachers and other leaders - people take their lead from their leaders.

So we know that songs are memorable and play a part in the shaping of theology.

But seriously.... people get ‘most’ of their theology from songs and hymns?

Are you kidding me?

I take great issue with this often recited cliché - it is a favourite amongst self-righteous theologians and jealous preachers - and here is why:

1. There is some base assumption that people are idiots. That they carefully chew over every sermon they hear and book they read - but when they are singing worship songs they switch off all of their critical and analytical senses and descend to mindless sponges - soaking up every word of our songs with a senseless regard for truth and then live in accordance to the lyrics they have unwilling been hypnotised by. This view treats the Church as both gormless and feckless, revealing a belief that the people are a clueless proletariat that many theologians secretly hold them to be.

2. Of course people’s theology better resembles the songs they sing rather than the sermons they hear. This is because songs are written to reflect what people already know. It is worship - a response to revelation. The aim of the song writer is not to fill up the minds of the people with new ideas and theological nuances - it is to put words on the lips of what God is already doing in their hearts and minds. Many people are guilty of backwards logic - ‘we believe it because we sing it’ - rather than the greater truth being - ‘we sing it because we believe it’.

3. This cliché has a distorted perspective of how we form theology (by what we hear, sing, read). It is far more complicated than that. People’s experience, personal interpretation of scripture and fellowship with others play just as big a part in the formation of theology as any leader derived input. And this is not even to mention the primary, powerful and transformative work of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives. To say that ‘most’ of people’s theology comes from songs is actually a pathetically ill-thought out perspective to hold.

4. It is a view, in my experience, born out of jealousy and frustration rather than genuine pastoral concern - “How dare the people disregard my theology degree/masters/doctorate and months of diligent study and scholarly endeavour yet absorb the thoughts of some whimsical ponce with a guitar.” Biblical truth is the reserve of the learned, the studied and the schooled. Woe betide anyone who has not had the privilege of 3 years of Greek and Hebrews lessons from actually claiming to say or write or sing something that is true.

Give me a break. As far as I know it wasn’t King David Ph.D

And without doubt more thought goes into each word of a song than it does in to each word of a book or a sermon.

Now, clearly I’m not saying that songwriters and worship leaders don’t need to be diligent theologians and be aware of the wide influence they have - but this belief that ‘most’ of people’s theology comes from songs is preposterous and entirely unhelpful.

comments and thought much obliged....

dg