One of the blogs I like to read is Internet Monk founded by the late Michael Spencer - you may not agree with him all the time, but his writings were always worth a read and extremely thought provoking.
Recently, the blog has been re-posting some of his articles on contemporary Christian music, in one of which, Michael offers these 8 criteria from the book of Psalms to evaluate the appropriateness of a song for usage in a congregational worship:
1. The presentation of the person of God should follow the clear teaching of the Bible. Biblical words and images are to be strongly preferred. Biblical language should be used in proportion to its use in scripture, so the worship of God as King would exceed worship of him as, for instance, husband.
2. The history of redemption is the great theme of worship and personal experience cannot be divorced from what God has promised and what God has done in history. Songs that celebrate and recount the history of redemption are to be preferred, particularly as they recount God’s faithfulness, sovereignty and covenant love.
3. While songs of personal experience are appropriate, the great emphasis of worship should be the victory of God and the realities of the Gospel. Music should never obscure that fact that my own experience is not the center of redemptive history.
4. The language of a particular song may be either personal or corporate, but the clear emphasis of a corporate worship service should be the voice of the congregation speaking of their experience with their covenant God. Just as the Psalms integrate the personal into the congregational, so should our music today.
5. Songs that approach worship outside of the framework of Biblical revelation and redemption are to be considered inferior, and their limited use is more appropriate for individual worship rather than the worship of the congregation. We must be clear: They are not wrong, and they may be high expressions of reality and devotion, and still not be appropriate for congregational use.
6. Worship music should invite and encourage all God’s redeemed people to sing together in recounting the great deeds of the Lord on their behalf. Songs by individuals and groups should facilitate the worship of the congregation and not replace it. This should be an important concern for all music.
7. The Psalms have a pattern of declaring an intention to worship God in the congregation as a result of His mercy shown to an individual. Worship music should recognize this, and allow individual praise that invites the congregation to join in praising God for what he demonstrated to one that is true for all.
8. The great events and elements of redemption should joyfully occupy the worship of the church. The experiences and feelings of individuals form part of that worship, but they are not the final substance of it. (The “I” finally becomes the “We.”)
I found this list useful for the purposes of song evaluation, what about you? Would you agree with this list? Or want to add anything more?
Image: Mikeymo’s Place
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