I just returned from the Jesus Culture conference in Sacramento this past weekend. Amazing! I was so blessed by the worship led by Chris Quilala, Kim Walker-Smith, Bryan & Katie Torwalt, and Matt Redman.
So it’s ironic that on my way home, I stumbled upon a recent post by Dan Cogan entitled My Journey Away from Contemporary Worship Music. It obviously struck a nerve with many people as he has received more than 500 comments (and counting) on that post. It struck a nerve with me too.
I was raised in a very traditional church with very traditional worship. I know all the old hymns by heart and love them dearly. But I have also grown to love contemporary worship.
Many of the critics complain that contemporary worship music is too loud, repetitive, just a show/performance, not deep enough, or not “spiritual” enough. I guess that would be fine to say…if worship were about you.
But worship is not about you. Not about how you feel when you’re singing it. Not about how loud it is. Not about whether the words repeat themselves too often or not.
If you leave a church service saying, “I didn’t get a lot out of the worship today” you have missed the point.
Worship isn’t provided to please you, it’s to please Jesus.
Do I think contemporary worship brings pleasure to God when He hears it? Yes, I do. I think it makes Him smile. I think He is honored. I think He helped those worship leaders write those songs. And I think He’s proud of His creation.
Christians can passionately defend their preferred style as the most honoring to God. But in reality, that’s all it is – their own preference, not God’s. There is no “best” or biblical style of music. Worship has nothing to do with the style or volume of the song. Whatever is offered to God in spirit and truth is an act of worship and He enjoys it all.
I think He likes all kinds of worship music. Fast, slow, loud, soft, traditional, and contemporary.
He likes it all. Therefore, I like it all too.
