Can contemporary Christian music provide a worship experience as fulfilling as traditional hymns? Personally I think it can. I know that I love singing “Shout to the Lord” just as much as “Amazing Grace” accompanied by a church full of believers. This is a golden opportunity to create more unity between Christians.
To begin with is contemporary Christian music acceptable for worship? At most of the newer more modern churches it is normal fare. However the older churches do not tend to use these more modern God songs. Hymns are supposed to be songs that praise and worship the Lord. I feel that modern Christian music does indeed do that.
I find it hard to believe that anyone would think a song like “I Can Only Imagine” does not glorify God. The problem I feel stems from the resistance to change. People get stuck in tradition. They do not take a minute to realize that worship service has changed a great deal in the last 2000 years.
As with most problems there is more than one side. Most of the modern large churches do not use the old traditional hymns as part of their worship services. Motivated by a fear of losing the young crowd these modern churches often refrain from the old God songs. Of course the youth should be focused on, the message cannot be allowed to die off. Isn’t it possible to make both the young and old happy? The youth will not run away just because a few older God songs are added to the mix.
I am just presenting the opinion of a parishioner that has worshiped at many churches of varying denominations. I do believe that interaction between Christians is being limited by such a trivial matter. Interactions that are mutually beneficial, and also benefit the church as a whole. God songs should be used to unite Christians, not cause a divide. This problem can be fixed quite easily. Would it be so bad to include traditional hymns as well as contemporary Christian music?
I love church especially singing in church. How about a service that features “Amazing Grace” as well as “My Redeemer Lives” that would be great to me. If your favorite church tends to go one way or the other why not make a suggestion to your pastor? In the end this is all about glorifying his name. What could be better than conquering yet another divide to do that.
The generation gap seems to be the problem here to me. Historically there has always been resistance to the next generation of music, be it God songs or pop song for that matter. Do you prefer traditional hymns? Is contemporary Christian music more to your liking? I love them both. If you are set in your ways and refuse to give these newer God songs a chance you may be cheating yourself. It may be beneficial to you to listen to some of these new Christian songs. There are some very talented artists involved in Christian music these days.
Todays God songs have come a long way. Check out http://godsongsblog.com/ for more on the history of Christian music.
