i wish I would have thought of this then...

Years ago when I was a part of the now infamous More Than a Song Band, we played a tune that Martin Smith wrote called, Find Me In The River. I also remember that at one point we sang the song in some context on a Sunday morning (probably and offertory or special music). Well, I remember being challenged as to the suitability of that song in the context of congregational singing. The challenge focused on the theological accuracy of the lyrics and the usefulness of said song in the congregational ‘worship’. I think at the time questions were raised about the often obscure lyrics of the then burgeoning group Jars of Clay. At the time I was flustered by the challenge and I think that cowered to a much more succinct and definitive perspective on the topic. Today, I would respond differently.

I would say:

Music speaks on so many levels. So often Christians focus on the lyrical content of the song and quite frankly they often redact the words of songs in much the same way we ‘expound’ the mysteries of the Biblical narrative. Its really a process that music was never intended to be filtered through. Music was not meant to be reduced to its theological treatise and doctrinal teaching potential.

When we look at the words that so much contemporary music employs we instantly become aware of two distinctly different dynamics in which music connects with the individual. The first what the words are actually saying. And the second is the imagery that the words are intended to evoke. Sometimes these are very similar concepts but I would suggest that in some of the most well crafted songs the nuanced meaning that arises from the marriage of these two perspectives is exquisite.

Take for instance a song we did no Sunday morning (that’s right folks I lead worship on a Sunday morning our church): The song: Your Love Is Extravagant by Casting Crowns.

Consider this line: “Spread wide in the arms of Christ is the love that covers sin” What does a line like that mean? Or this line: “Your fragrance is intoxicating in the secret place”? What these lines are doing is conjuring up an image that is more profound than the words themselves can elicit if analyzed by themselves. The first line suggests the image of Christ’s outstretched hands as also being a type of embrace. And who knows what we think of when we sing that other line.

I guess the gist of it is that I think we have totally eviscerated spiritual music. Because of our propensity to analyze and reduce everything to its theological veracity we have missed out on the power that music can be helping us develop awe and real reverence for God. It sure doesn’t help that we have deified music itself in our expression of church life.