Singing in Church is Bad Praxis; Here’s What Churches Should Do Instead

3.) The Songs Are All Terrible

The Horror

Why do most Christian churches insist on singing songs from centuries ago?

Most church hymnals are filled with songs by second-rate composers who wrote bland lyrics that don’t really minister to the spiritual realities of modern people.  The music is overly-simplistic and repetitive and often has nothing to satisfy modern musical sensibilities.

“Cool” “hip” churches that use modern Christian Rock are actually worse; the dusty old hymns are boring but inoffensive, while most Christian rock is actively ludicrous.  There’s a reason that not-Christian-rock bands like Creed and Evanescence are often ridiculed for being Christian rock:  nobody likes Christian rock except the types of teenagers who are really excited to go to weird Christian summer camps.

What Churches Can Do Instead

Readings from non-Biblical Christian literature, perhaps?  Go around the congregation, everyone reading a paragraph at a time, from some great novel or story, or theological treatise, or poem.  People can dislike poetry or fiction, but it doesn’t grate on people’s nerves the way terrible music does (unless it’s 50 Shades of Grey).

But if You Really Must Sing

Like I said before, there are a lot of explicitly–religious pop songs that don’t suck.  There are also a lot of implicitly-religious or spiritual ones if you’re willing to be bold and encourage people to actually think about what they’re singing.

Or, just sing a song that isn’t about religion or God at all.  I don’t think anyone will go to hell for this.  Sing a really good song that everyone loves.  If nothing else, everyone will have a good time.

2.) It’s Too Positive

The Horror

This is, again, a big problem with both the old hymns from the 18^th and 19^th centuries as well as the modern Christian rock and pop songs.  “Worship” is defined basically as singing sugary-sweet songs about how amazing God is.  What is God, an abusively-insecure spouse?  Does God really need to be constantly reminded how perfect and amazing and beautiful He/She is?

People experience a gamut of emotions, and joy is actually a relatively uncommon one, reserved for truly special moments.  As much as pastors might want every Sunday morning to be a rapturous, joyful experience, the fact is that it just isn’t, and for some people, it never is.  Some people might even be angry at God, for whatever reason.

All these songs do is make people feel guilty at best and resentful at worst.  Guilty that they aren’t as happy as the lyrics tell them they should be, resentful that these songs are telling them how they should feel at all.

What Churches Can Do Instead

Have honest conversations with your congregation about the different emotions church elicits in them.  Talk about when it might be right (if ever) to feel angry at God, or at the church.  Make sure that your church is an open, safe environment where people are encouraged to share their troubles and concerns, not just empty expressions of feigned “joy.”

But if You Really Must Sing

Mix it up.  Find a selection of songs that speak to the entire spectrum of human emotion.  Sing sad worship songs.  Sing angry worship songs.  Sing worship songs about heartache (I wrote one).  Sing silly worship songs (but out that Veggie Tales CD I know you’ve got hidden away somewhere).

This actually leads into the final point…

Continued on next page…