Music Mondays

This week's Music Monday will begin a series. The inspiration for this came from two separate conversations I overheard in two different contexts that both made the same observation. 

The essence of those conversations was that the wave of popularity of contemporary worship over the past 10-15 years has created an unexpected problem. So many artists and groups are producing so much quality popular worship music that all continuity has been lost. Sure, the traditional approach of the 19th and 20th centuries gave us hymnals with 500 songs in them, but by and large there were classics that 'rose to the top' - favorites Christians loved no matter their church or denomination. These observations, one by a long-time minister, the other by a relatively young contemporary-inclined pastor recognized that each new hit replaces the old ones, so that we have nothing but brand new songs to sing. 

That's not a terrible fact - Scripture even encourages us to do so. Scripture's command is meant for us to create our own expressions of faith and praise, not merely relying on our forefather's faith and traditions. But when all we do is sing newer and newer selections, how can we learn any and truly give ourselves to worshiping through them? How can we truly make these new songs our own heartfelt expressions if we are mentally scrambling each Sunday to learn the words and keep up with the unfamiliar tune?

I believe eventually this wave will crest and the best of the best will become our generation's traditional hymnbook. Until then, I'd like to use this series to remind ourselves of some of the great contemporary songs we may have forgotten about. Some weeks I'll highlight one song, others two or more. 

For this initial post, I'm including two songs that I instantly fell in love with while I was a counselor at a summer camp during college. For two summers in a row, I spent one week at this camp in the thumb of Michigan. Each time it was led by a youth group worship band that was on the cutting edge of the newest worship music out there. I heard these two songs there in back-to-back years and still consider the live versions I heard by those kids at that camp to be better than the professional versions I would later hear on the radio. My memory may be biased, but these are two great worship songs.

Come, Now is the Time to Worship

What a great call to praise and worship our Lord! To be honest, the theologian in my wonders if it could be interpreted as promoting universalism (one day every knee will bow, still the greatest treasure remains..."Greatest"? Couldn't they have used "only" or something like that?) But I quickly get over that because that is essentially the point of the song - calling people to recognize God's greatness. Musically, it's best performed by building to a crescendo - starting slow and gaining momentum as the lyrics transform from a request into a plea.

Breathe (The Air I Breathe)

 

Speaking of songs that are best utilized by building to a crescendo...this song perfectly exemplifies just that. This specific version is as close to the Summer Camp version that I can find. I remember first hearing the lyrics and being blown away by their simplicity and profundity (is that a word-profoundness?). We are totally lost without daily communing with Christ. We need to be absolutely desperate for the Lord's presence. The first song is a great one to use to begin a time of praise and worship. This one is an ideal fit at the conclusion of such a set. 

They are bookends and great forgotten works of the contemporary music world.