- RSS FeedSubscribe
- « Previous PostJohn Eldredge
- Next Post »Renaming The Doctrines of Grace
Contemporary vs Traditional Music
- 11/02/04
- 3
9 Marks Ministries has a great article about which is right: contemporary or traditional music. Too often when people write about this subject it stems from one of two opposite viewpoints. The first is that any type of contemporary music is evil. These are the people who relate stories about the children of missionaries being told by the natives that their rock music is the very same music the natives left behind when they came to the Lord. These are the people who believe that guitars are somehow inherently evil while the organ somehow is God’s own instrument. On the other side of the argument we have people who say that since we no longer listen to hymns as part of popular entertainment they have no place whatsoever in our modern worship. Hymns date a church and appeal only to the old folks in the church, thus alienating the boomers, the busters and anyone younger than that.
Both of those arguments are irrational. It seems clear from Scripture that we can worship God in different ways and that no single form of music is inherently more right before God than another. And this is what appeals to me about the article I read this morning. The author, Vell Rives, does not condemn either form of music. I will spoil the surprise by saying that he does believe hymns are a better form of worship than contemporary music, but his reasons make sense. For example, he points out that hymns are designed specifically for worship where contemporary music is designed for personal enjoyment. He also says that the hymns we sing today are particulary beauitful and well-written. This is not to say that all hymns are good - just that generally only the best ones have stood the test of time.
I agree with his arguments. However, I do believe there is a place for more modern music and certainly have no problems singing “Here I Am To Worship” on a Sunday morning. I love to mix the old with the new. I do think that when we jettison the old we lose an important link to the church of past days. There is an inspiring continuity when we realize we are singing a song that believers sang hundreds of years ago, using the same tune and the same words to worship the same God. Many of those hymns will continue to be sung long after we are dead and gone.
You can read the article here.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
Published in 2008, this book
This is a guide that calls men,
This review of the bestselling
New to the site? You can get
This is a guide written
Comments (3)
I am sixteen years old and I have a ardent sense of appreciation for traditional organ music and hymnal usage in churches of every denomination of Christendom. I believe that contemporary music in churches is a instrument used by the Devil to replace religious feeling with secular enjoyment.I am a firm adversary of Contemporary “Christian” music and I fervently pray that Traditional music and values of it return in flying clors with all things bright and beautiful. If todays Christians do not get past their infatyation with this secularized music used in churches Christendom will suffer greatly and beg for something they have rejected without knowing the benefits of what they have discarded.I hold Christianity dearly to my heart. I am baptised and I love my savior Jesus Christ. I hope what I have said influnces young people like me positively, with a new zeal for traditional religion.
I am also a young man at 17 years old and I am an upcoming gospel recording artist. I personally enjoy both traditional gospel music and contemporary gospel music. I believe they both have their places. These two types of music are there for one sole purpose, to encourage, inspire, and minister to people all over the world. Both of these musics are extremely important because traditional gospel music can reach people that would never listen to any type of contemporary music. Likewise, contemporary gospel music can reach people who will never listen to any type of traditional music. Also traditional is more for spreading the word about who Jesus is, however contemporary gospel music ministers to the situations that we deal with today. many of these are situations that traditional music does not address, because these issues were not so much of a problem during that era. I believe that everyone has the right to like or dislike either type of gospel music, but they should not condemn the other because that other music is touching someone and causing them to be a better person. Example that traditional gospel that people condemn is what is keeping that grandmother somewhere at peace and telling her that there is still hope. It’s also telling those older saints that they are not forgotten and they’re way of worship is still appreciated.That contemporary gospel people condemn is what’s keeping that young boy from ending his life and showing him that there is a better way to go. It’s also telling those teens that you can be saved and still have fun
May Heaven Smile Upon You….~Kiaree Hines~
I suppose I have a different slant on music in worship, since the popular belief of “no musical instruments” pervades my brothers and sisters.
I can see their argument, although I do not find that scripture supports it, except in a narrow interpretation that seems to leave out the big picture. However, their understanding is not really any different than that of the people who sit on the side of modern, or classical.
I’d dare to say that, while we see examples of musical worship in scripture, we also find that Psalms - sung in what most kids today would find a tedious, sing songy chant - for the most part music falls into the ‘non-issue’ realm. I do not mean to say that it was not an important part of worship. Far from it. Rather I speak from the fact that no one argued about, at least not in a form that God felt needed an example set in scripture.
From that, I infer that God does not mind what kind of music we choose, since he is listening more to our hearts, than the medium which we chose to offer that part of our worship. The person in the back pew who can’t carry a tune in a bucket may be the sweetest music of all in regards to what our Lord hears.
But the article does make some valid points that should always be considered. Thanks for the article.