on the walk

I have come to believe that the most significant influence on the theological understanding of most Christians is the lyrics of Christian worship music. These are the words that we repeat again and again. They are memorized and the power of memorized words affects us both consciously and subconsciously.

It is for this reason that I do not envy the difficult task of choosing songs for worship each week. It seems to me that there is little a preacher can do to overcome the damage that a poorly written piece of special music might do. Very few people will walk out and hum a sermon all week.

John Stackhouse recently wrote on a worship trend that bothers him. I haven’t encountered this one yet so I share this not to condemn any one I know but as a reminder to us all that we don’t get to take short cuts with our language. Allowing half-truths and false impressions into our worship songs shapes our theological outlook in important and often subtle ways that are not easy to root out.

His initial post is worded more strongly than I would frame the issue, but it has sparked a good conversation, and that is was is needed. We need good and serious conversations about worship lyrics. His blog is worth reading in general so check it out.

Just for the record, I have great faith in the people who are doing this at Mountain and I do not envy the very difficult task of selecting music that is satisfactory in all the many ways it should be.

on the walk

-Ethan

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