The Results are In

I am now posting the long awaited results to the project I was working on earlier this year. My last two posts entitled "Picking the Best" were mainly thoughts and ideas on corporate worship song selection and from those thoughts this project was born.

This project was twofold –

1) The first mission of this project was to gain some perspective on CCLI’s top 15 Hot 100 songs. I really wanted to dig into the content of the most popular contemporary worship songs and find out what makes them tick. Why are they popular? Are they fertile soil for the growth and renewal? Do they foster an understanding of worship essentials? This was a very humbling experience as I had to take an honest look at songs I liked and didn’t like.

2) As someone who would like to teach Worship Studies, I thought this project would be a great place to test the waters of worship renewal facilitation. In this project I lead some of my friends through a similar journey of critique. Not only did I gain perspective by doing this project with others but I was able to educate those around my by giving them a venue where they could think and grow as they studied these songs. Through this group aspect I gained experience helping lead a worship renewal project.

We ran all of the songs through the criteria mentioned above. The list of questions is not perfect but was intended to be a starting point for song critique. The criteria come about originally when Dr. Brian Walrath and I wanted to put together a filter for our college's summer worship ministry teams. Instead of having the student leaders pick whatever songs they liked we really wanted them to think about the content – they aren’t there to just lead kids and kill time, they are shaping the spiritual understanding of thousands. I applied this same idea as I led my friends through this project.

As I went all through all fifteen songs the group members went through three songs each. The data I collected came to two reviews of each song. “Picking the Best,” wasn’t meant to be the end all for a song but a flexible magnifying glass where we could ask specific questions and come to our own, educated, conclusions on a song’s value. I didn’t really know what I would find in this project. But I did come to a few overarching yet important conclusions about contemporary worship songs in general:

1) The way a song is used can make or break a song. These songs were written for specific purposes and with specific ideas in mind. Scripture should not be used out of context for our own ends, the same goes for songs for worship.

2) Very few of these songs can stand on their own. For a song to be used appropriately it needs to be paired with scripture or strung together with other songs to tell a story. It need to be put into context.

3) Popular worship songs are just that, Pop-Worship. The music is catchy but weak, the content is weak, but they say nice things that are hardly disagreeable on first listen.

4) If we desire worship education through renewal, many of these songs are poor selections because they do not pursue renewal. I found more worship renewal through education in my group’s dissection of these songs than I have ever seen in people actually singing them.

5) If it is true that what we sing about God is what we know about God, then we are in trouble. Much of the content of these songs focuses on an extremely personal God who seems to owe us blessings.

6) These songs have become traditional standers for churches without traditions. In the contemporary church we criticize liturgical congregations for not being free and authentic. We mock their memorized prayers and creeds by saying “you don’t even know what is coming out of your mouth.” But at the same time, we are singing these songs that have less meaning and we never ask why.

7) There is still hope. While I will probably toss many of these songs right out of my repertoire, some of the songs are very solid. Songs like “How Great is our God,” and “Jesus Messiah,” may have a there faults, but they are Biblically solid and theologically true – however, as always, context is important.

8) Any person in a position of leadership over corporate worship needs to build a team whose sole purpose is to examine the content of every song that is sung. Prior to this project I already had some biases for and against a few songs. Through the eyes of others some of my speculations were confirmed. But in many cases things were pointed out that I hadn’t even thought of.

All in all, this project was extremely edifying. It was a challenge coordinating five others in this project. It was also difficult seeing the diet of the typical American contemporary congregation. But I learned a lot and I got to see my friends gain an understanding of worship renewal and see what I am doing at the Institute for Worship Studies. I felt like I really got to put my new found knowledge to practical use. At the same time I was able to include others on my journey and see them grow. If nothing else I am very glad for that.