Worship Cliché #3: Worship Music in the Charts Would Be Amazing!

The trouble with this is that on one level it would be. Like many I would love to see expressions of faith and worship to be heralded as the greatest pieces of art in our culture - much like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling or Handel’s Messiah. So it would make sense that worship music infiltrated the world of popular music, right? Yet I’m not so sure.

I can make sense of it to some degree - perhaps there would be some instant conversions and convictions when a song of worship was blasted over Radio 1 every 5 minutes, but I doubt it. Also I am not convinced people would hear a great worship track and think:

“Hey maybe Christianity isn’t so dusty and boring - they have catchy tunes! Maybe I’ll re-evaluate my whole life/belief system/way of living?”

Increasingly I am being invited to Facebook groups that say - “let’s get Tim Hughes to number one” or “Let’s petition to get a worship leader to sing at London 2012”. There is a growing belief that it would be amazing if the charts were full of worship music. My hunch is that although this belief is born out of good intentions (seeing God’s name worshipped and proclaimed in our culture) it slips into the trap of being dazzled by Celebrity culture and the age old distraction of using the established powers of influence for our own agenda.

This is the primary point of my argument - our focus needs to be God’s Kingdom breaking through rather than concentrating on appropriating the world’s power and influence to enforce its rule - whether that be media, government or monetary. It is a temptation that the Church constantly gives in to. We observe how much negative influence the powers of the world hold and we imagine what good could be done if we were in possession of them.

Much like many of the characters in the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy - who would desire to use the ring for good but the power the ring yields will always corrupt the wearer. We desire to ‘wear the ring’ and ‘use it for good’ but there are so many examples over the history of the Church where we have misused the powers of this world. It is a dangerous game to play and we should always approach with extreme caution - we may well cause more damage than good.

My second complaint is perhaps more subjective - I think that artistic expressions, and particularly those which are intended as worship, should be given and offered as that alone - art and worship. I don’t believe that we should use worship for any other purpose than as an offering to God, even for good things like evangelism and justice. It is when the lines become blurred that our values get compromised.

Also, I hold a very idealistic view of art:

The aim of art is not to influence, it is to express, though strong expressions leave strong impressions.

The aim of art is not to affirm, it is to challenge, though it may lead to us holding stronger convictions.

The aim of art is not to change, it is to reflect, though when seeing a clear reflection we become aware of what needs changing

Worship and art can end up doing many wonderful things - but worship is not measured by its influence or even its fruit, but by its obedience. God has already made available for us all the power and resources we need to achieve what He has called us to achieve. We are called to be ‘Culture Shapers’ but we are better off doing things His way - building the Church, helping the poor, worshipping with all our hearts.

'With that power I should have power too great and terrible. And over me the Ring would gain a power still greater and more deadly.' His eyes flashed and his face was lit as by a fire within. 'Do not tempt me! For I do not wish to become like the Dark Lord himself... I dare not take it, not even to keep it safe, unused. The wish to wield it would be too great for my strength. I shall have such need of it. Great perils lie before me.'

do you get what I’m trying to say?

dg