Worship Is Like a Bowl of Ice Cream

speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, (Ephesians 5:19 NKJV)

There has been much discussion about the place of worship in the church. Specifically, there has been conflict and division about the types of worship that can be used. This verse speaks about the different types of worship. Many people say that we should only use traditional songs. But what about the psalms? If we are to be truly traditional, shouldn’t we just sing the psalms found in the Old Testament? The answer is no. We have the opportunity to sing other songs as well, not just those written 3000 years ago.

However, some people will ask: Why should we be singing contemporary songs. They are just a few words that are repeated over and over. And they do not have the theological depth of hymns. That may be true. But at the same time, some contemporary songs are very theologically oriented. And many songs in the past were contemporary when they were introduced. So a contemporary song today will be a traditional song in ten to twenty years. So this is not a good argument against contemporary spiritual songs.

How should I look at worship songs then? Imagine worship songs like a bowl of ice cream. You can go to an ice cream shop or the grocery store and get one flavor of ice cream – vanilla for example. Maybe you are a vanilla ice cream type of person. But there are other people who like chocolate or strawberry. These are the different songs.

Maybe you like soft-serve (spiritual songs), or homemade (psalms), or store-bought (hymns) ice cream. You like contemporary music, but you like a specific brand of contemporary music. Maybe you like ice cream (contemporary music) brands like Baskin-Robins (British), or Bluebell (American), or Ben and Jerrys (Australian).

It’s all just ice cream (worship). It still takes good, no matter how it is made.

Photo by Evan Kirby on Unsplash